Biomedical subjects

James H Morrissey

Publications and source records attributed to James H Morrissey.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

The local phospholipid environment modulates the activation of blood clotting.

Examples abound of membrane-bound enzymes for which the local membrane environment plays an important role, including the ectoenzyme that triggers blood clotting, the plasma serine protease, factor VIIa, bound to the integral membrane protein, tissue factor. The activity of this enzyme complex is markedly influenced by lipid bilayer composition and further by tissue factor partitioning into membrane microdomains on some cell surfaces. Unfortunately, little is known about how membrane microdomain composition controls factor VIIa-tissue factor activity, as reactions catalyzed by membrane-tethered enzymes are typically studied under conditions in which the experimenter cannot control the composition of the membrane in the immediate vicinity of the enzyme. To overcome this problem, we used a nanoscale approach that afforded complete control over the membrane environment surrounding tissue factor by assembling the factor VIIa.tissue factor complex on stable bilayers containing 67 +/- 1 phospholipid molecules/leaflet (Nanodiscs). We investigated how local changes in phospholipid bilayer composition modulate the activity of the factor VIIa.tissue factor complex. We also addressed whether this enzyme requires a pool of membrane-bound protein substrate (factor X) for efficient catalysis, or alternatively if it could efficiently activate factor X, which binds directly to the membrane nanodomain adjacent to tissue factor. We have shown that full proteolytic activity of the factor VIIa.tissue factor complex requires extremely high local concentrations of anionic phospholipids and further that a large pool of membrane-bound factor X is not required to support sustained catalysis.

Blood Coagulation↗

PubMed2006

Raising the active site of factor VIIa above the membrane surface reduces its procoagulant activity but not factor VII autoactivation.

Tissue factor, the physiologic trigger of blood clotting, is the membrane-anchored protein cofactor for the plasma serine protease, factor VIIa. Tissue factor is hypothesized to position and align the active site of factor VIIa relative to the membrane surface for optimum proteolytic attack on the scissile bonds of membrane-bound protein substrates such as factor X. We tested this hypothesis by raising the factor VIIa binding site above the membrane surface by creating chimeras containing the tissue factor ectodomain linked to varying portions of the membrane-anchored protein, P-selectin. The tissue factor/P-selectin chimeras bound factor VIIa with high affinity and supported full allosteric activation of factor VIIa toward tripeptidyl-amide substrates. That the active site of factor VIIa was raised above the membrane surface when bound to tissue factor/P-selectin chimeras was confirmed using resonance energy transfer techniques in which appropriate fluorescent dyes were placed in the active site of factor VIIa and at the membrane surface. The chimeras were deficient in supporting factor X activation by factor VIIa due to decreased k(cat). The chimeras were also markedly deficient in clotting plasma, although incubating factor VII or VIIa with the chimeras prior to the addition of plasma restored much of their procoagulant activity. Interestingly, all chimeras fully supported tissue factor-dependent factor VII autoactivation. These studies indicate that proper positioning of the factor VII/VIIa binding site on tissue factor above the membrane surface is important for efficient rates of activation of factor X by this membrane-bound enzyme/cofactor complex.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Restoring full biological activity to the isolated ectodomain of an integral membrane protein.

Integral membrane proteins, which include many cellular effector proteins and drug targets, can be difficult to produce, purify, and manipulate. Although the isolated ectodomains of many membrane proteins can be expressed as water soluble proteins, biological activity is frequently lost when these proteins are released from the membrane surface. An example is tissue factor, the integral membrane protein that triggers the blood clotting cascade and for which membrane anchoring is essential. Its isolated ectodomain (soluble tissue factor) can be expressed with high yield in bacteria but is orders of magnitude less active than the intact, membrane-anchored protein. We now report full restoration of biological activity to the isolated tissue factor ectodomain via the engineering of a hexahistidine tag onto its C-terminus and its use in combination with membrane bilayers containing nickel-chelating lipids. When soluble tissue factor was tethered to the membrane surface via such metal-chelating lipids, it bound factor VIIa with the same high affinity as wild-type tissue factor, and the resulting factor VIIa-tissue factor complexes supported factor X activation and factor VII autoactivation with essentially wild-type enzyme kinetic constants. Furthermore, when such bilayers were immobilized onto solid supports, they efficiently captured histidine-tagged soluble tissue factor directly from crude culture supernatants, with full biological activity, obviating the need for purification or laborious membrane reconstitution procedures. This strategy is rapid, efficient, scalable, and automatable and should be applicable to other integral membrane proteins, especially those with a single transmembrane domain. Applications include high-throughput screening of mutants or drugs, flow reactors, clinical assays, and point-of-care instrumentation.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Polyphosphate modulates blood coagulation and fibrinolysis.

Inorganic polyphosphate is an abundant component of acidocalcisomes of bacteria and unicellular eukaryotes. Human platelet dense granules strongly resemble acidocalcisomes, and we recently showed that they contain substantial amounts of polyphosphate, which is secreted upon platelet activation. We now report that polyphosphate is a potent hemostatic regulator, accelerating blood clotting by activating the contact pathway and promoting the activation of factor V, which in turn results in abrogation of the function of the natural anticoagulant protein, tissue factor pathway inhibitor. Polyphosphate was also found to delay clot lysis by enhancing a natural antifibrinolytic agent, thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor. Polyphosphate is unstable in blood or plasma, owing to the presence of phosphatases. We propose that polyphosphate released from platelets or microorganisms initially promotes clot formation and stability; subsequent degradation of polyphosphate by blood phosphatases fosters inhibition of clotting and activation of fibrinolysis during wound healing.

Anticoagulants↗

PubMed2005

A soluble tissue factor-annexin V chimeric protein has both procoagulant and anticoagulant properties.

Tissue factor (TF) initiates blood coagulation, but its expression in the vascular space requires a finite period of time. We hypothesized that targeting exogenous tissue factor to sites of vascular injury could lead to accelerated hemostasis. Since phosphatidylserine (PS) is exposed on activated cells at sites of vascular injury, we cloned the cDNA for a chimeric protein consisting of the extracellular domain of TF (called soluble TF or sTF) and annexin V, a human PS-binding protein. Both the sTF and annexin V domains had ligand-binding activities consistent with their native counterparts, and the chimera accelerated factor X activation by factor VIIa. The chimera exhibited biphasic effects upon blood coagulation. At low concentrations it accelerated blood coagulation, while at higher concentrations it acted as an anticoagulant. The chimera accelerated coagulation in the presence of either unfractionated or low-molecular-weight heparins more potently than factor VIIa and shortened the bleeding time of mice treated with enoxaparin. The sTF-annexin V chimera is a targeted procoagulant protein that may be useful in accelerating thrombin generation where PS is exposed to the vasculature, such as may occur at sites of vascular injury or within the vasculature of tumors.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

The cofactor function of the N-terminal domain of tissue factor.

Tissue factor (TF) is an integral membrane protein cofactor for factor VIIa (fVIIa) that initiates the blood coagulation cascade during vascular injury. TF has two fibrinonectin type III-like domains, both of which make extensive interactions with both the light and heavy chains of fVIIa. In addition to interaction with fVIIa, the membrane proximal C-terminal domain of TF is also known to bind the natural substrates factors IX and X, thereby facilitating their assembly and recognition by fVIIa in the activation complex. Both fVIIa and TF are elongated proteins, and their complex appears to be positioned nearly perpendicular to the membrane surface. It is possible that, similar to fVIIa, the N-terminal domain of TF also contacts the natural substrates. To investigate this possibility, we substituted all 23 basic and acidic residues of the N-terminal domain of TF with Ala or Asn and expressed the mutants as soluble TF(2-219) in a novel expression/purification vector system in the periplasmic space of bacteria. Following purification to homogeneity, the cofactor properties of mutants in promoting the amidolytic and proteolytic activity of fVIIa were analyzed in appropriate kinetic assays. The amidolytic activity assays indicated that several charged residues spatially clustered at the junction of the N- and C-terminal domains of TF are required for high affinity interaction with fVIIa. On the other hand, the proteolytic activity assays revealed that none of the residues under study may be an interactive site for either factor IX or factor X. However, it was discovered the Arg(74) mutant of TF was defective in enhancing both the amidolytic and proteolytic activity of fVIIa, suggesting that this residue may be required for the allosteric activation of the protease.

Allosteric Regulation↗

PubMed2004

Tissue factor: a key molecule in hemostatic and nonhemostatic systems.

Tissue factor (also known as tissue thromboplastin or CD142) is the protein that activates the blood clotting system by binding to, and activating, the plasma serine protease, factor VIIa, following vascular injury. Because of its essential role in hemostasis, tissue factor plays a role in pathology associated with hemostasis, triggering the coagulation system in many thrombotic diseases and the coagulopathies associated with sepsis and other forms of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Recent research has also implicated tissue factor in a variety of nonhemostatic roles, including cell signaling, inflammation, vasculogenesis, and tumor growth and metastasis. This review focuses on both the well-known roles of tissue factor in hemostasis and thrombosis and the newer concepts of tissue-factor biology including how it functions as a signaling receptor and the possible role of blood-borne tissue factor in thrombosis.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Tissue factor alters the pK(a) values of catalytically important factor VIIa residues.

Blood coagulation is triggered when the serine protease factor VIIa (fVIIa) binds to cell surface tissue factor (TF) to form the active enzyme-cofactor complex. TF binding to fVIIa allosterically augments the enzymatic activity of fVIIa toward macromolecular substrates and small peptidyl substrates. The mechanism of this enhancement remains unclear. Our previous studies have indicated that soluble TF (sTF; residues 1-219) alters the pH dependence of fVIIa amidolytic activity (Neuenschwander et al. (1993) Thromb. Haemostasis 70, 970), indicating an effect of TF on critical ionizations within the fVIIa active center. The pKa values and identities of these ionizable groups are unknown. To gain additional insight into this effect, we have performed a detailed study of the pH dependence of fVIIa amidolytic activity. Kinetic constants of Chromozym t-PA (MeSO(2)-D-Phe-Gly-Arg-pNA) hydrolysis at various pH values were determined for fVIIa alone and in complex with sTF. The pH dependence of both enzymes was adequately represented using a diprotic model. For fVIIa alone, two ionizations were observed in the free enzyme (pK(E1) = 7.46 and pK(E2) = 8.67), with at least a single ionization apparent in the Michaelis complex (pK(ES1) similar 7.62). For the fVIIa-TF complex, the pK(a) of one of the two important ionizations in the free enzyme was shifted to a more basic value (pK(E1) = 7.57 and pK(E2) = 9.27), and the ionization in the Michaelis complex was possibly shifted to a more acidic pH (pK(ES1) = 6.93). When these results are compared to those obtained for other well-studied serine proteases, K(E1) and K(ES1) are presumed to represent the ionization of the overall catalytic triad in the absence and presence of substrate, respectively, while K(E2) is presumed to represent ionization of the alpha-amino group of Ile(153). Taken together, these results would suggest that sTF binding to fVIIa alters the chemical environment of the fVIIa active site by protecting Ile(153) from deprotonation in the free enzyme while deprotecting the catalytic triad as a whole when in the Michaelis complex.

Catalysis↗

PubMed2002

Tissue factor as a proinflammatory agent.

Tissue factor (TF) is a transmembrane glycoprotein and the main triggering element of blood coagulation. TF expression on monocytes and endothelial cells is induced by exposure to endotoxin, tumor necrosis factor, and IL-1 and is considered to appear in consequence of inflammation. In order to assess the proinflammatory capacity of TF itself, the recombinant extracellular domain of TF was injected intra-articularly into healthy mice. To characterize the role of immune cells in the TF-induced arthritis, mice deprived of lymphocytes, neutrophils and monocytes were used. Histomorphological analysis of the joints with respect to inflammatory cell infiltration, pannus formation and erosion formation revealed development of arthritis in 80% of animals injected with TF. In most of the cases synovial proliferation was accompanied by pannus formation and cartilage destruction. Inflammatory cell infiltrate consisted of CD4-Mac1+ macrophages. Depletion of monocytes was, however, not enough to abolish inflammation. Indeed, combined deficiency of monocytes and lymphocytes was required to prevent inflammation following the injection of TF. We observed that TF induced chemokine production (MIP-1alpha and RANTES), but did not induce a proliferative response nor cytokine release by mouse spleen cells. TF has strong inflammatogenic properties mediated predominantly by monocytes and their release of chemokines. Our study shows that TF can simultaneously trigger the immune and coagulation systems.

Animals↗