Harpel (Harpel, P.C. (1981) J. Clin. Invest 68, 46-55) reported that levels of α2M-plasmin complexes are elevated in patients receiving urokinase. He found that the distribution of plasmin between the two inhibitors, α2M and α2-plasmin inhibitor (α2PI) is dependent upon whether plasmin is added directly to plasma, or whether plasminogen in plasma is activated to plasmin by urokinase. In order to investigate possible mechanisms regulating the distribution of plasmin between these two inhibitors, a study was initiated to examine the effects of antifibrinolytic agents on the reaction of plasmin with α2M. The kinetics of the reaction were measured by monitoring conformational changes in the inhibitor resulting from exomplex formation. In order to minimize nonspecific proteolysis of the inhibitor by plasmin, the reaction was performed under conditions where the concentration of α2M was greater than that of the enzyme. The reaction between Lys77-plasmin and α2M followed second order kinetics with a rate constant of 1.8 X 105M-1 s-1. This rate was not affected 1 mM EACA or by 10 uM histidine rich glycoprotein (HRG). Further, it was found that the rate of Val442-plasmin was essentially the same as that found for Lys77-plasmin. Therefore, the binding of these ligands to the lysine binding sites of plasmin do not affect the association rate between plasmin and α2M. This is in contrast to the reaction of plasmin with α2-PI, where the binding of ligands to the lysine binding sites of plasmin reduce the rate of the reaction (Petersen & Clerrmensen (1981) Biochem. J. 199, 121-127). The kinetic constants measured predict that under conditions when the lysine binding sites of plasmin are occupied, α2M will effectively compete with α2PI in inhibiting plasmin. Further, these studies inplicate HRG as a molecule capable of regulating the distribution of plasmin between these two inhibitors.
Comparison of Textilinin-1 with Aprotinin as Serine Protease Inhibitors and as Antifibrinolytic Agents
