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

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) circulates as an inactive proenzyme of a carboxypeptidase B-like enzyme (TAFIa). It functions by removing C-terminal lysine residues from partially degraded fibrin that are important in tissue-type plasminogen activator mediated plasmin formation. TAFI was classified as a metallocarboxypeptidase, which contains a Zn(2+), since its amino acid sequence shows approximately 40% identity with pancreatic carboxypeptidases, the Zn(2+) pocket is conserved, and the Zn(2+) chelator o-phenanthroline inhibited TAFIa activity. In this study we showed that TAFI contained Zn(2+) in a 1:1 molar ratio. o-Phenanthroline inhibited TAFIa activity and increased the susceptibility of TAFI to trypsin digestion. TAFIa is spontaneously inactivated (TAFIai) by a temperature-dependent intrinsic mechanism. The lysine analogue epsilon-ACA, which stabilizes TAFIa, delayed the o-phenanthroline mediated inhibition of TAFIa. We investigated if inactivation of TAFIa involves the release of Zn(2+). However, the zinc ion was still incorporated in TAFIai, indicating that inactivation is not caused by Zn(2+) release. After TAFIa was converted to TAFIai, it was more susceptible to proteolytic degradation by thrombin, which cleaved TAFIai at Arg(302). Proteolysis may make the process of inactivation by a conformational change irreversible. Although epsilon-ACA stabilizes TAFIa, it was unable to reverse inactivation of TAFIa or R302Q-rTAFIa, in which Arg(302) was changed into a glutamine residue and could therefore not be inactivated by proteolysis, suggesting that conversion to TAFIai is irreversible.
 ...
PMID:Role of zinc ions in activation and inactivation of thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor. 1180 20

Since the discovery of Carboxypeptidase U (CPU) in 1988, considerable information has been gathered about its biochemistry and function in physiological and pathophysiological circumstances. A variety of tools such as assays to measure proCPU and CPU, antibodies raised against (pro)CPU, selective CPU inhibitors and knock-out mice have been developed and are currently being used to explore the role of this metallocarboxypeptidase in different in vivo and in vitro settings. The knowledge that proCPU can be activated by thrombin and plasmin, enzymes with a key function in coagulation and fibrinolysis, and the ability of CPU to remove C-terminal lysine residues has led to the hypothesis that the proCPU/CPU pathway plays a role in the balance between coagulation and fibrinolysis. The maintenance of the equilibrium between coagulation and fibrinolysis is crucial for normal haemostasis and disturbance of this delicate balance can lead either to bleeding tendency or thrombosis. This review provides an update on several aspects of CPU known at the moment, including an extensive overview on the clinical studies performed up till now.
 ...
PMID:Carboxypeptidase U (TAFIa): a metallocarboxypeptidase with a distinct role in haemostasis and a possible risk factor for thrombotic disease. 1689 72

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is a pro-metallocarboxypeptidase that can be proteolytically activated (TAFIa). TAFIa is unique among carboxypeptidases in that it spontaneously inactivates with a short half-life, a property that is crucial for its role in controlling blood clot lysis. We studied the intrinsic instability of TAFIa by solving crystal structures of TAFI, a TAFI inhibitor (GEMSA) complex and a quadruple TAFI mutant (70-fold more stable active enzyme). The crystal structures show that TAFIa stability is directly related to the dynamics of a 55-residue segment (residues 296-350) that includes residues of the active site wall. Dynamics of this flap are markedly reduced by the inhibitor GEMSA, a known stabilizer of TAFIa, and stabilizing mutations. Our data provide the structural basis for a model of TAFI auto-regulation: in zymogen TAFI the dynamic flap is stabilized by interactions with the activation peptide. Release of the activation peptide increases dynamic flap mobility and in time this leads to conformational changes that disrupt the catalytic site and expose a cryptic thrombin-cleavage site present at Arg302. This represents a novel mechanism of enzyme control that enables TAFI to regulate its activity in plasma in the absence of specific inhibitors.
 ...
PMID:Crystal structures of TAFI elucidate the inactivation mechanism of activated TAFI: a novel mechanism for enzyme autoregulation. 1880 67

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is a metallocarboxypeptidase (MCP) that links blood coagulation and fibrinolysis. TAFI hampers fibrin-clot lysis and is a pharmacological target for the treatment of thrombotic conditions. TAFI is transformed through removal of its prodomain by thrombin-thrombomodulin into TAFIa, which is intrinsically unstable and has a short half-life in vivo. Here we show that purified bovine TAFI activated in the presence of a proteinaceous inhibitor renders a stable enzyme-inhibitor complex. Its crystal structure reveals that TAFIa conforms to the alpha/beta-hydrolase fold of MCPs and displays two unique flexible loops on the molecular surface, accounting for structural instability and susceptibility to proteolysis. In addition, point mutations reported to enhance protein stability in vivo are mainly located in the first loop and in another surface region, which is a potential heparin-binding site. The protein inhibitor contacts both the TAFIa active site and an exosite, thus contributing to high inhibitory efficiency.
 ...
PMID:Structure of activated thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor, a molecular link between coagulation and fibrinolysis. 1872 83

Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is an important regulator in the balance of coagulation and fibrinolysis. TAFI is a metallocarboxypeptidase that circulates in plasma as zymogen. Activated TAFI (TAFIa) cleaves C-terminal lysine or arginine residues from peptide substrates. The removal of C-terminal lysine residues from partially degraded fibrin leads to reduced plasmin formation and thus attenuation of fibrinolysis. TAFI also plays a role in inflammatory processes via the removal of C-terminal arginine or lysine residues from bradykinin, thrombin-cleaved osteopontin, C3a, C5a and chemerin. TAFI has been studied extensively over the past three decades and recent publications provide a wealth of information, including crystal structures, mutants and structural data obtained with antibodies and peptides. In this review, we combined and compared available data on structure/function relationships of TAFI.
 ...
PMID:Structure-function relationships in thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor. 2734 43