Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.21.5 (thrombin)
33,306 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Protease-nexin (PN), a component released by normal human fibroblasts into culture medium, forms covalent linkages with thrombin (Th) and the urinary plasminogen activator urokinase, apparently with their catalytic site serines. The present studies explored the function of PN by examining the interaction of protease-PN complexes with human fibroblasts and the consequences of this interaction. Th-PN and urokinase-PN complexes bind to cells via the PN portion of the complexes. The binding is selectively inhibited by heparin. Because PN has a heparin-binding site, this indicates that protease-PN complexes might bind to a cellular heparin-like site. After binding, the complexes are internalized. By inhibiting endocytosis with phenylarsine oxide, which does not affect cellular binding of Th-PN complexes, we showed that complexes must be internalized before they are degraded. Kinetic analysis of internalization and degradation of Th-PN showed that complexes are internalized more rapidly than they dissociate from the cell surface; by 120 min of incubation at 37 degrees C most cell-bound Th-PN complexes are degraded to amino acids. The results are summarized in a model showing how PN mediates the cellular binding, internalization, and degradation of serine proteases through formation of protease-PN complexes. This series of events may be involved in the regulation of serine protease activity at the cell surface and in the extracellular environment.
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PMID:Released protease-nexin regulates cellular binding, internalization, and degradation of serine proteases. 701 31

We previously reported that human and mouse fibroblast-like cells release into their growth medium a protein that we termed protease nexin. Protease nexin forms a covalent acyl linkage with thrombin and certain other serine proteases via the protease active site and mediates their binding, internalization and degradation by cells. Binding of thrombin-protease nexin to cells is mediated by the protease nexin portion of the complex to a high-affinity cellular binding site. As thrombin is a potent mitogen for a variety of fibroblast-like cells in culture, we examined whether protease nexin itself regulates thrombin-stimulated cell division. Recently, we showed that heparin virtually blocked the binding of thrombin-protease nexin complexes to both mouse and human cells without affecting the ability of these cells to respond to thrombin. Thus, protease nexin does not appear to be a positive modulator in thrombin-induced cell division. Here, we show that protease nexin negatively regulates the mitogenic response of cells in culture to thrombin.
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PMID:Cells regulate their mitogenic response to thrombin through release of protease nexin. 708 92

This investigation presents data which indicate that the plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) activity secreted from U138 cells is composed of three separate PAIs: PAI-1, PAI-2, and PN-1. It was demonstrated that the U138 PAI-1-like protein had an apparent molecular mass of 50 kilodaltons (kDa) and was purified to apparent homogeneity by elution from an anti-PAI-1 immunoaffinity column. These fractions were also reactive with a second anti-PAI-1 monoclonal antibody using immunoblotting techniques. Northern blot analysis of RNA isolated from unstimulated U138 cells demonstrated positive hybridization with the cDNA specific for human PAI-1. The U138 PAI-2-like protein was adherent to an anti-PAI-2 immunoaffinity column and was demonstrated to be nonadherent to concanavalin A-agarose, heparin-Sepharose, and the anti-PAI-1 immunoaffinity column. The eluted U138 PAI-2-like protein was demonstrated to have an apparent molecular mass of 60 kDa and was also reactive with a second anti-PAI-2 monoclonal antibody using immunoblotting techniques. Further, the cDNA specific for PAI-2 was demonstrated to hybridize to a 2.5-kilobase message from RNA isolated from U138 cells. A third PAI was detected that was nonadherent to concanavalin A-agarose and both of the anti-PAI columns. This 50-kDa PAI was adherent to heparin-Sepharose and thrombin-agarose columns, and was not reactive with any antibodies for either PAI-1 or PAI-2. Northern blot analysis of U138 RNA demonstrated positive hybridization with an oligodeoxynucleotide specific for PN-1. This investigation demonstrates with biochemical, immunological, and molecular data that the U138 glioblastoma constitutively produces three PAIs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Purification and characterization of the plasminogen activator inhibitors PAI-1, PAI-2, and PN-1 from the human glioblastoma U138. 750 41

Molecular mechanisms of activity-dependent synapse reduction were studied in an in vitro mammalian neuromuscular preparation. Synapse reduction in this model is activity-dependent and is substantially reduced by the broad-spectrum protease inhibitor, leupeptin, suggesting the role of activity-dependent proteolytic action in the process. Our present experiments show that a potent and specific thrombin inhibitor, hirudin, at nanomolar concentration completely blocked the activity-dependent synapse reduction. Furthermore, a naturally occurring serine protease inhibitor, protease nexin I (PNI), which closely colocalizes with acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction, inhibited the synapse reduction at the same low concentration. In contrast, neither cystatin, a cysteine protease inhibitor, nor aprotinin, a serine protease inhibitor that does not inhibit thrombin, blocked the synapse reduction. Similarly, neither of the inhibitors of the calcium-activated proteases calpain I and II prevented the reduction of synapses. These results strongly suggest that serine proteolytic action by thrombin or thrombin-like molecules is required for synapse reduction in our in vitro model of the mammalian neuromuscular junction.
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PMID:Proteolytic action of thrombin is required for electrical activity-dependent synapse reduction. 752 91

The role of thrombin's catalytic groove in the interaction with serpin has been investigated by comparing the association rate constant (kon) of several mutated thrombins with various serpins. The results indicated that Glu192, located three residues prior to the catalytic serine, and the major insertion in the sequence of thrombin compared with trypsin (residues Tyr60A-Trp60D) play an important role in modulating thrombin's interactions with serpins. Replacement of Glu192 by glutamine increased by 3 orders of magnitude the kon value with alpha 1-antitrypsin (which has a P1 methionine) but did not markedly alter the kon value with serpins containing a P1 arginine. The des-PPW thrombin mutant (lacking residues Pro60B, Pro60C, and Trp60D) exhibited a similar kon value as thrombin with protease nexin-1 but a kon value 2 orders of magnitude lower with antithrombin III. Thus, the 60-loop insertion of thrombin appears critical for its interaction with antithrombin III but dispensable for the formation of a complex with protease nexin-1. Heparin increased markedly the kon values for antithrombin III and protease nexin-1 with all thrombin variants tested, but a more dramatic effect was observed with a thrombin mutant (des-ETW) lacking residues Glu146, Thr147, and Trp148 (on the opposite side of the catalytic site relative to the 60-loop insertion). At the optimum concentration, heparin increased the kon value of the des-ETW--antithrombin III interaction by nearly 5 orders of magnitude, considerably more than for thrombin, suggesting that heparin is able to compensate in part for the adverse effects of the des-ETW mutation on the structure of thrombin.
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PMID:Identification of thrombin residues that modulate its interactions with antithrombin III and alpha 1-antitrypsin. 754 66

Thrombin is a multifunctional serine protease that is rapidly produced from prothrombin at sites of tissue injury and catalyzes the final steps in blood coagulation. Thrombin also regulates gene expression and process outgrowth in neurons and astrocytes and stimulates proliferation of astrocytes. Since thrombin is produced immediately upon breakdown of the blood-brain barrier we examined its effects on astrocytes and neurons cultured under conditions which resemble those found in vivo following cerebrovascular injury. These studies showed that thrombin markedly protected rat primary astrocytes from cell death induced by hypoglycemia or oxidative stress. Thrombin also protected rat primary hippocampal neurons from cell death produced by hypoglycemia or growth supplement deprivation. Synthetic peptides which directly activate the thrombin receptor also protected astrocytes and neurons from these environmental insults, demonstrating that the thrombin effects were mediated through the thrombin receptor. In contrast to these results with stressed cells, high concentrations of thrombin killed both astrocytes and neurons cultured under normal conditions. All of the effects of thrombin on astrocytes and neurons were blocked by the brain thrombin inhibitor, protease nexin-1 (PN-1). This shows that the effects required the proteolytic activity of thrombin and is consistent with the known proteolytic mechanism by which thrombin activates its receptor. These results indicate that thrombin and PN-1 may regulate the viability of both astrocytes and neurons in early moments following trauma to the CNS or other conditions that alter the blood-brain barrier.
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PMID:Thrombin receptor activation protects neurons and astrocytes from cell death produced by environmental insults. 762 61

Amyloid beta-peptide (A beta) is the principal component of neuritic plaques in the brain in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies revealed that A beta can be neurotoxic by a mechanism involving free radical production and loss of cellular ion homeostasis, thus implicating A beta as a key factor in the pathogenesis of AD. However, other proteins are present in plaques in AD, including the protease thrombin and protease nexin-1 (PN1), a thrombin inhibitor. We therefore tested the hypothesis that thrombin and PN1 modify neuronal vulnerability to A beta toxicity. In dissociated rat hippocampal cell cultures the toxicity of A beta was significantly enhanced by coincubation with thrombin, whereas PN1 protected neurons against A beta toxicity. A beta induced an increase in levels of intracellular peroxides and calcium. Thrombin enhanced, and PN1 attenuated, the accumulation of peroxides and calcium induced by A beta. Taken together, these data demonstrate that thrombin and PN1 have opposing effects on neuronal vulnerability to A beta and suggest that thrombin and PN1 play roles in the pathogenesis of neuronal injury in AD.
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PMID:Opposing actions of thrombin and protease nexin-1 on amyloid beta-peptide toxicity and on accumulation of peroxides and calcium in hippocampal neurons. 764 22

Protease nexin-I (PN-1) is a 44 kDa serine proteinase inhibitor that rapidly inhibits thrombin by forming SDS stable complexes with serine at the catalytic site of the protease. Levels of both PN-1 and thrombin are increased in the brain in response to insults such as ischemia, suggesting roles in neural injury and repair processes. We now report that PN-1-protected cultured rat hippocampal neurons against glucose deprivation- induced damage (GDID), and the protection was abolished by equimolar thrombin. PN-1 reduced resting intracellular free calcium levels ([Ca2+]i) and attenuated the elevation of [Ca2+]i normally associated with GDID. Thrombin reduced neuronal survival and caused a significant increase in [Ca2+]i. Submaximally toxic levels of thrombin exacerbated GDID. Calcium responses to thrombin were attenuated in neurons contacting PN-1 immunoreactive astrocytes. These findings suggest that PN-1 and thrombin play important roles in modulating neuronal calcium responses, and vulnerability, to metabolic/excitotoxic insults.
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PMID:Protease nexin-1 and thrombin modulate neuronal Ca2+ homeostasis and sensitivity to glucose deprivation-induced injury. 764 24

The clotting protease thrombin might contribute to the pathophysiology of central nervous system (CNS) injury and certain diseases by its ability to retract processes on neurons and astrocytes and to stimulate astrocyte proliferation. Protease nexin-1 (PN-1) is a 43 kDa thrombin inhibitor found predominantly in the brain where much of it resides around capillaries and large blood vessels. This location of PN-1 prompted the hypothesis that it may play a protective role against extravasated thrombin released following cerebrovascular injury or under certain pathological conditions. Recent studies indicated that the levels of PN-1 are markedly reduced in the postmortem brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). It was suggested that this reduction in PN-1 levels was due to the sequestration of PN-1 by extravasated thrombin. In the present study we examined the specific nature of this reduction by immunohistochemical staining of sections from control and AD brains using PN-1 specific antibodies. We show that the levels of PN-1 immunoreactivity around blood vessels and the number of blood vessels exhibiting PN-1 immunoreactivity were markedly reduced in the brains of patients with AD compared to age-matched controls; this reduction was reflected by a decrease in the levels of PN-1 activity and PN-1 protein. Thus an imbalance between PN-1 and thrombin may be a contributing factor in the pathology of AD.
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PMID:Protease nexin-1, a potent thrombin inhibitor, is reduced around cerebral blood vessels in Alzheimer's disease. 770 2

The mechanism for the inhibition of thrombin by the serpins antithrombin and protease nexin 1 has been investigated using several kinetic techniques at pH 7.9 and 37 degrees C with an ionic strength of 0.3 M. Rapid kinetic studies demonstrated that a two-step mechanism for the formation of the stable thrombin-serpin complex applied to both serpins. The inhibition constant for the initial thrombin-antithrombin complex was 265 microM, and the rate constant for the conversion of this complex to the final one was 3.9 s-1; the corresponding values for PN1 were 3.4 microM and 6.0 s-1. By using slow-binding kinetics, it was possible to obtain estimates of the second-order rate constants for the formation of the stable thrombin-serpin complexes (1.2 x 10(4) and 1.5 x 10(6) M-1 s-1 for antithrombin and protease nexin 1, respectively) and the dissociation constants for these complexes (< 1 nM for both serpins). The influence of viscosity on the reactions indicated that the rate of interaction of both serpins with thrombin was diffusion-controlled. Moreover, the results indicated that the initial complex reacted more rapidly to form the stable complex than it dissociated to free enzyme and inhibitor; i.e., the behavior of the serpins was analogous to that of "sticky" substrates. By using the results from slow-binding, viscosity, and rapid kinetic studies, it was possible to set values for all of the rate constants for the interactions of antithrombin and protease nexin 1 with thrombin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Inhibitory mechanism of serpins. Interaction of thrombin with antithrombin and protease nexin 1. 771 Oct 36


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