Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.7 (plasmin)
 9,023 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The concept of the haemostatic balance was reviewed, and its potential role in the regulation of tissue repair and the pathogenesis of thrombotic processes was surveyed. Physiological activation of coagulation appears to be dominated by effects of degenerated and injured cells of the vascular wall causing local release of thromboplastin and exposition of activating surfaces. Inhibition of coagulation impairs its progression and the non-thrombogenic nature of the normal endothelium is chiefly caused by the binding of inhibitory components (antithrombin-III, protein C) to specific receptor sites. Physiological activation of fibrinolysis appears to be triggered by and limited to the fibrin because of a specific affinity to fibrin of plasminogen and plasminogen activators. Systemic activation of fibrinolysis is prevented by primary (alpha 2-antiplasmin) and secondary (alpha 2-macroglobulin, alpha 1-antitrypsin) plasmin inhibitors. A plasminogen binding protein (histidine-rich glycoprotein), plasmin inhibitors and activator inhibitors appear to contribute to the regulation of the initial phase of fibrinolysis. A deviation from normal of the dynamic balance, regulating fibrin formation and resolution, may lead to a haemorrhagic and/or a thrombophilic state. Described were the optimization of selected methods for assessment of variables involved in the haemostatic balance. An overestimation of plasminogen concentrations in plasma may occur in patients with elevated levels of fibrinogen or fibrin degradation products, when using assays based on the activation of plasminogen by streptokinase followed by the hydrolysis of a synthetic chromogenic substrate. This source of error could be eliminated by presence of fibrinogen in excess in the plasminogen assay, thereby securing maximum stimulation of the plasminogen-streptokinase complex. The presence of cryoglobulin in plasma interferes with the assessment in euglobulins of plasminogen activator activities. Experiments indicate that tissue-type plasminogen activator adsorb cryoglobulins and that a cold-promoted activation of the factor XII-dependent proactivator system of fibrinolysis is related to the presence of cryoglobulins. Experiments supported the existence of an as yet not characterized factor XII-dependent proactivator. Strictly optimized procedures for the preparation of euglobulins for the accurate determination of plasminogen activators were recommended. The determination of plasminogen activator inhibition in plasma was optimized and simplified. The amidolytic assay of antithrombin-III was shown to be influenced by adsorption to laboratory utensils and aggregation of thrombin. This error could be corrected by protection with additives (Tween 80, polyethyleneglycol 6,000), which also improved the solubility of the chromogenic substrates in aqueous media. The role of thrombosis in myocardial infarction was reviewed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:The haemostatic balance in groups of thrombosis-prone patients. With particular reference to fibrinolysis in patients with myocardial infarction. 219 35

We have isolated three cDNA clones for human alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor (alpha 2-PI). Two clones are from human hepatoma cell line, Hep G2, and cover the entire protein coding region plus the 3'-flanking region up to the poly(A) sequence, and the other clone is from human liver and contains the carboxyl-terminal half. The total length of the cDNAs is 2.29 kb, corresponding to more than 95% of the full-length mRNA. alpha 2-PI seems to consist of 452 amino acid residues plus 39 amino acid residues for the signal peptide. The amino acid sequence shows 23 to 28% homology to those of five other protease inhibitors, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI), protein C inhibitor (PCI), alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT), antithrombin III (AT III), and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin (alpha 1-AC). alpha 2-PI seems to be the most distantly related among these inhibitors. Comparison of the phylogenetic trees of proteases and their inhibitors indicates that four proteases, namely elastase (or trypsin), chymotrypsin, plasminogen activator, and thrombin, may have evolved concurrently with the corresponding inhibitors. However, alpha 2-PI and PCI seem to have evolved asynchronously from their substrates. The data suggest that alpha 2-PI may originally have inhibited some protease other than plasmin, and protein C may have had an inhibitor different from the present one early in its evolutionary history.
 ...
PMID:Structure of human alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor deduced from the cDNA sequence. 283 Feb 48

The inhibiting action in vitro of urinastatin on blood coagulation was studied for the purpose of therapeutic application against thrombotic disorders, and the following results were obtained: 1) Partial thromboplastin time of normal human plasma was prolonged dose-dependently by the addition of urinastatin to the reaction mixture, but prothrombin time was little inhibited by the addition of urinastatin. Thrombin time was also prolonged with urinastatin dose-dependently. 2) Using chromogenic synthetic peptide substrates, the amydolytic activities of XIIa, plasma kallikrein and Xa activated with RVV were inhibited by the addition of urinastatin to the reaction mixtures. 3) Activated partial thromboplastin time of normal plasma was prolonged by the addition of urinastatin or heparin, and simultaneous application of both urinastatin and heparin to the reaction mixture resulted in an additional inhibitory effect on APTT. Therefore, it was assumed that the different molecular structures of the clotting factors were concerned with the inhibitory actions of urinastatin and antithrombin III. Furthermore, urinastatin was indicated to have an important role in antithrombotic remedy, since it has no inhibitory action against protein C. 4) In the comparison with purified human plasmin and plasma plasmin activated with streptokinase, the strong inhibitory action of urinastatin on purified plasmin was demonstrated, but the inhibitory action of urinastatin was decreased markedly in plasma. Therefore, it is suggested that plasma may contain an inhibitory factor against the action of urinastatin.
 ...
PMID:[In vitro observations on antithrombotic action of urinastatin]. 296 16

The addition of thrombin (9 nM) to primary cultures of human endothelial cells induces a 6- to 7-fold increase in the rate of release of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Several other serine proteases which specifically interact with endothelial cells were also analyzed for their effect on tPA release. Gamma-thrombin, an autocatalytic product of alpha-thrombin, promoted tPA release but was less effective than alpha-thrombin. A maximum increase of 5.5-fold was observed, although a concentration of gamma-thrombin 20 times greater than alpha-thrombin was required. The response to Factor Xa was similar to alpha-thrombin, although the stimulation was significantly reduced by the addition of hirudin or DAPA suggesting that prothrombin activation was occurring. The simultaneous addition of prothrombin with Factor Xa resulted in enhanced tPA release equal to that observed with an equimolar concentration of active alpha-thrombin. Thus, under these conditions, Factor Xa-cell surface mediated activation of prothrombin can lead to a secondary effect resulting from cell-thrombin interaction. Activated protein C, which has been implicated as a profibrinolytic agent, was also tested. No change in tPA release occurred after the addition of up to 325 nM activated protein C in the presence or absence of proteins. Factor IXa and plasmin were also ineffective. The effect of thrombin on the endothelial cell derived plasminogen activator specific inhibitor was also studied. Thrombin produced a small but variable release of the inhibitor with an increase of less than twice that of non-thrombin treated controls.
 ...
PMID:Specificity of the thrombin-induced release of tissue plasminogen activator from cultured human endothelial cells. 310 Dec 18

An inherited association of dysfibrinogenaemia and protein C deficiency was found in three members of the same family. The propositus was a 48-year-old man who suffered from severe and rapidly complicated atherosclerosis of the aorta and lower limbs arteries, which perhaps suggests that the association of these two molecular abnormalities may have enhanced the thrombotic process. The abnormal fibrinogen had a reduced ability to bind thrombin which may be thrombogenic. We found the same inherited association of dysfibrinogenaemia and protein C deficiency in a patient with venous thrombosis. The functional abnormality of the fibrinogen, which could have been responsible for thrombosis, was delayed proteolysis by plasmin. Not only fibrinogen, but also fibrin clots were resistant to plasmic degradation. These observations raise two questions: (1) Is the association of a protein C deficiency with a dysfibrinogenaemia fortuitous or the result of a common mechanism? (2) Is there a link between an increased thrombotic tendency and either both of the defects of haemostasis that we have found, or only one of them?
 ...
PMID:Association of inherited dysfibrinogenaemia and protein C deficiency in two unrelated families. 335 91

The important role of protein C (PC) in the regulation of hemostasis has been appreciated since the description of patients who were deficient in PC and presented with severe thromboembolic events. The potentially fatal complications associated with PC-deficiency require an early and reliable identification of those patients affected with this inherited disorder. The present study introduces a test procedure for the functional assessment of PC in plasma samples. The test utilizes the thrombin/thrombomodulin complex to achieve complete and rapid formation of activated PC whose proteolytic capacity is subsequently determined with a chromogenic substrate. Homogenate obtained from rabbit lung effectively substituted the purified component thrombomodulin in the assay system. This new approach simplifies the test procedure without losing specificity and accuracy. Proteases, such as plasmin, streptokinase and urokinase did not influence the assay and the inhibitory effect of heparin on the PC-activation could easily be overcome by the addition of protamine sulphate. The PC-activity in a group of unselected patients (n = 50), who did not reveal any abnormalities in global coagulation tests, amounted to 100 +/- 12% (mean +/- SD) with a range from 54 to 143% when analyzed in comparison to a plasma pool constituted from healthy volunteers. Since the synthesis of PC depends on the availability of vitamin K, patients receiving phenprocoumon have also been analyzed. These patients (n = 103) presented 40 +/- 11% residual PC-activity accompanied by a concomitant decrease in PC-antigen levels to 43 +/- 10% (mean +/- SD). The test described is specific, sensitive, less time-consuming and can be performed on a routine basis.
 ...
PMID:A simplified functional assay for protein C in plasma samples. 351 73

Numerous investigators have postulated that a hypercoagulable state exists in humans for a period of time before the development of thrombotic episodes. A clear biochemical definition of the prethrombotic state, however, has proved elusive due in part to the lack of reliable techniques for monitoring pertinent changes in blood coagulability. Based on recent advances in our knowledge of the biochemistry of the coagulation system, a series of highly sensitive and specific immunochemical tools has been developed that can quantitate the activities of various steps of the hemostatic mechanism in vivo at the subnanomolar level. We have established assays for F1+2 and the protein C activation peptide, which measure the cleavage of the prothrombin molecule by factor Xa and the scission of protein C by the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex, respectively. Nossel and coworkers had previously constructed similar assays for fibrinopeptide A (FPA) and fragment B beta 1-42, which monitor the cleavage of fibrinogen by thrombin and the proteolysis of fibrin I by plasmin, respectively. Substantial elevations in the levels of these markers have been found in patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation and many subjects with acute deep venous thrombosis. The F1+2 and FPA assays have been used to demonstrate that significant increments in factor Xa activity but not thrombin activity regularly occur in the blood of nonanticoagulated individuals with congenital deficiencies of antithrombin or protein C. These two disorders are known to be correlated with the subsequent development of thrombosis. Patients with protein C deficiency have also been noted to have significantly reduced plasma levels of protein C activation peptide. By using the immunoassays for FPA and B beta 1-42 in studies of postoperative patients, it has been shown that an imbalance between the procoagulant action of thrombin and the anticoagulant effect of plasmin on fibrin I polymer may induce an acquired thrombotic diathesis. Finally, we have recently demonstrated that prothrombin activation as measured by the F1+2 assay is suppressed by oral anticoagulants in the blood of patients with thrombotic diatheses. These investigations suggest that these assay techniques can be used to improve our understanding of the hypercoagulable state as well as to develop more effective treatment strategies for the prevention of thromboembolic events.
 ...
PMID:The pathophysiology of the prethrombotic state in humans: insights gained from studies using markers of hemostatic system activation. 360 75

In separate experiments, antibodies to plasminogen, factor X and protein C were applied to microtitre trays as commonly used in enzyme-linked immunoassays. After incubation with dilute normal human plasma as a source of the corresponding proenzyme antigen, the wells were exposed to dilutions of various snake venoms. After thorough washing, the microtitre tray wells were tested overnight with chromogenic tripeptide substrates known to be relatively specific for the activated forms of the above factors, i.e., plasmin, factor Xa and activated protein C. The immunochromometric assay described detected two new activators of protein C in Agkistrodon piscivorus and Agkistrodon contortrix venoms and a new factor X activator in Agkistrodon rhodostoma venom. Gel filtration of the latter venom indicated that the factor X activator eluted with high molecular weight, was clearly distinct from the peak fibrinogen clotting activity (Ancrod) and appeared to have no procoagulant activity. Although several Bothrops venoms appeared to contain plasminogen activator by this technique, the observed strong chromogenic activity was observed in microtitre wells independently of plasminogen and represented nonspecific amidase activity.
 ...
PMID:Detection of specific proenzyme activators in snake venoms by a new immunoabsorbant-chromogenic substrate method. 384 Oct 12

The effects of various concentrations of plasmin and activated protein C on the factor VIII procoagulant activity (VIII:C) and coagulant antigen (VIII:CAg) were studied in factor VIII concentrates and normal plasma. Small amounts (0.1 CTA U/ml) of plasmin rapidly destroyed VIII:C, and affected, but did not destroy VIII:CAg, in factor VIII concentrates. In normal plasma larger amounts of plasmin (1.8 CTA U/ml) was required to inactivate VIII:C in order to exceed the neutralizing capacity of alpha 2-antiplasmin. VIII:CAg was unchanged indicating a limited proteolysis. The difference between VIII:C and VIII:CAg was found also in urokinase-activated plasma. Activated protein C (5 micrograms/ml), in the presence of Ca2+ and phospholipids, inactivated VIII:C without affecting VIII:CAg in a high purity factor VIII concentrate. Higher concentrations of activated protein C (25 micrograms/ml) caused a slight decrease of VIII:CAg, even in the absence of Ca2+ and phospholipids, but did not change VIII:CAg in normal plasma or serum.
 ...
PMID:The effects of plasmin and protein Ca on factor VIII:C and VIII:CAg. 622 18

A DEAE-Sephadex column chromatography step utilized to purify human Factor VII consistently yields a protein peak between the factor VII activity peak and prothrombin, factor X and factor IX activity peak (S.P. Bajaj, S.I. Rapaport, and S.F. Brown: J. Biol. Chem. 251, 253-259, 1981). We now report that this protein peak contains protein C and protein S. Preparative disc polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the proteins in this peak permitted a complete separation of protein C from protein S. Protein C at this step usually contained approximately 5-10% of Factor X, which could be removed by a goat anti-human Factor X antibody column. For a typical preparation, starting with 10L of plasma, the yield of Protein C was 5 mg and of protein S was 4 mg. Both proteins revealed apparent homogeneity in sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoretic system. beta-Protein C and beta-protein S were not observed in our preparations starting with plasma collected directly into citrate anticoagulant containing benzamidine and soybean trypsin inhibitor, suggesting that these beta forms of protein C and protein S, isolated by other investigators, are slightly degraded forms of the native proteins. Antisera generated to these proteins were monospecific and could be used to monitor column fractions during purification. When examined by immunoelectrophoresis, the electrophoretic mobility of protein S in plasma was slower than that of isolated protein S. When exposed to plasmin, protein C was activated slightly and then rapidly degraded.
 ...
PMID:A procedure for isolation of human protein C and protein S as by-products of the purification of factors VII, IX, X and prothrombin. 622 44


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>