Fibrinolytic properties of one-chain and two-chain human extrinsic (tissue-type) plasminogen activator.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D C Rijken.
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The plasminogen activator secreted by a cultured human melanoma cell line was purified and compared with urokinase and with tissue plasminogen activator from human uterus. The purification procedure consisted of chromatography on zinc chelate-agarose, concanavalin A-agarose, and Sephadex G-150 in the presence of 0.01% (v/v) Tween 80. The purified material was obtained from the culture medium with a yield of 46% and a purification factor of 263. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed one main band with a molecular weight of about 72,000, and in the presence of reducing agents, two bands of 33,000 and 39,000. Addition of the protease inhibitor Aprotinin to the culture media and column buffers yielded a one-chain plasminogen activator with a molecular weight of about 72,000. One molecule of activator reacted with about one molecular of [3H]diisopropylfluorophosphate. The melanoma plasminogen activator and the uterine tissue plasminogen activator appeared to be very similar on dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, amino acid analysis, and amidolytic properties. Both activators bound to fibrin clots, while urokinase did not. In immunodiffusion, as well as in quenching experiments of the fibrinolytic activities, the melanoma plasminogen activator appeared to be immunologically identical with the uterine tissue plasminogen activator, but unrelated to urokinase. All these findings indicate that the plasminogen activator secreted by human melanoma cells in culture is very similar to, or identical with, the plasminogen activator found in normal tissue, but different from urokinase.
The relative fibrinogenolytic, fibrinolytic and thrombolytic properties of human tissue plasminogen activator and human urokinase were compared in purified systems, in whole human plasma and in a system composed of a radioactive human blood clot (125I-fibrinogen) hanging in circulating human plasma. The human tissue plasminogen activator was highly purified from the culture fluid of a human melanoma cell line. In purified systems composed of fibrinogen of fibrin, plasminogen and alpha 2-antiplasmin as well as in whole plasma, tissue plasminogen activator digested fibrin without degrading fibrinogen significantly. Urokinase did not have this specific fibrinolytic effect. In the circulating plasma system, the degree of fibrinolysis was proportional to the amount of activator added, tissue plasminogen activator being about 10 times more efficient than urokinase. In addition, tissue plasminogen activator appeared to cause negligible fibrinogen degradation. Tissue plasminogen activator still induced significant thrombolysis at a concentration of 10 IU per ml whereas no effect of urokinase was observed at 20 IU per ml. Infusion of 100 IU (1 microgram) of tissue plasminogen activator per ml resulted in moderate activation of the fibrinolytic system as judged from a decrease of plasminogen and alpha 2-antiplasmin to 40-50 percent. Nevertheless, extensive fibrinolysis (50 to 80 percent of radioactivity released after 12 hrs) and only very limited fibrinogenolysis were observed. An equivalent amount of urokinase (100 IU per ml) only induced approximately 15 percent lysis in 12 hrs. At higher concentrations of urokinase (260 IU per ml or more) extensive activation of the fibrinolytic system was obtained as evidenced by a depletion of plasminogen, alpha 2-antiplasmin and fibrinogen. This was associated with extensive fibrinolysis (approximately 60 percent after 12 hrs). It is concluded that human tissue plasminogen activator is a more specific and effective fibrinolytic-thrombolytic agent than human urokinase.
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Human plasminogen activators were compared immunologically in both a double-diffusion technique and quenching experiments on the fibrinolytic activities of the activators. Antisera against HMW and LMW urokinase and an antiserum against highly purified tissue plasminogen activator from human uterus were used. It was found that uterine tissue plasminogen activator and urokinase are two immunologically distinct plasminogen activators. The occurrence of the two kinds of plasminogen activators in human tissues and body fluids was studied on the basis of the quenching of the activities by antibodies. In tissue extracts, mainly tissue plasminogen activator was found. Seminal plasma exhibited a high plasminogen activator activity, consisting of both urokinase and tissue plasminogen activator-related activators. Urine contained a small amount of tissue plasminogen activator-related activator in addition to urokinase. The low plasminogen activator activities of saliva and tears were completely attributed to activators related to tissue plasminogen activator.
The plasminogen activator secreted by a cultured rat brain tumor cell line (RT4-71-1) (Imada M. and Sueoka N., Develop. Biol. 69, 97-107, 1978) was purified by chromatography on zinc chelate-agarose, concanavalin A-agarose and Sephadex G-150 in the presence of 0.01% (vol/vol) Tween 80. Aprotinin was added to the culture medium to a concentration of 20 KIU per ml and to the buffers in the first two chromatographic steps to a concentration of 10 KIU per ml. Approximately 90 microgram purified material was obtained from 11 of culture medium with a yield of 39% and a purification factor of 200. Sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of reducing agents showed one main band with Mr of about 60,000, and a minor band with Mr about 30,000. Fibrinolytic activity was associated with the main band. The rat brain tumor plasminogen activator bound to a fibrin clot to a similar extent as human tissue plasminogen activator, whereas urokinase did not bind. In quenching experiments of the fibrinolytic activities the purified rat brain tumor plasminogen activator appeared to be immunologically related to the human tissue plasminogen activator but unrelated to urokinase.
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A procedure was developed for the purification of a plasminogen activator from human uterine tissue. It involves six consecutive steps: (1) extraction of the plasminogen activator from delipidated uterine tissue with 0.3 M potassium acetate buffer, pH 4.2; (2) ammonium sulphate precipitation; (3) zinc chelate-agarose chromatography; (4) n-butyl-agarose chromatography; (5) concanavalin A-agarose chromatography; and (6) gel filtration on Sephadex G-150. The specific activity of the final plasminogen activator preparation was increased by a factor 4500 as compared with the crude extract. The purified plasminogen activator showed a strong tendency to adsorb to surfaces. This could be effectively prevented by Tween-80. The molecular weight of the plasminogen activator was 64 000 as estimated by gel filtration in 1.0 M NaCl and 69 000 as estimated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. The plasminogen activator consisted of two chains (molecular weights 31 000 and 38 000) connected by disulphide bridges. The smallest chain contained the serine residue of the active site as deduced from the incorporation of the tritium label of [3H]diisopropylphosphofluoridate.
Endothelial cells were isolated from arteries and veins obtained from elderly people at autopsy and propagated for 37 to 69 population doublings. The cells secreted tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and PA inhibitor-1, and, after subculturing, urokinase-type PA (u-PA) antigen. The following differences between endothelial cells from adult arteries and veins were observed: 1) The cells had the potential to be propagated as a healthy monolayer. The diameter of aortic endothelial cells increased after 8 to 19 population doublings, while a homogeneous population of small diameter vena cava cells was retained for 35 population doublings. 2) The amount of secreted t-PA varied. Vena cava cells produced four times more t-PA than aorta cells, and 20-fold more than umbilical artery or vein endothelial cells. The t-PA mRNA content of vena cava cells did not exceed that of aorta cells, but was fourfold greater than that of umbilical cord endothelial cells. 3) The release of u-PA antigen varied. No u-PA antigen was detectable in conditioned medium of primary cultures of human aorta and vena cava endothelial cells or of early passage vena cava cells. After prolonged subculturing, vena cava cells started to secrete u-PA. Endothelial cells from aorta and other adult arteries, however, started secreting u-PA after one to four passages, parallel to the occurrence of enlarged endothelial cells. u-PA was present as a u-PA/inhibitor complex and as a single-chain u-PA. These differences may be developmentally related to their artery or vein origin or may reflect differences acquired during the "life history" of these blood vessels in vivo. Our data suggest that the release of u-PA antigen by human macrovascular endothelial cells can be used as an indicator of cell senescence.