MUTANTS OF TPA AND THEIR CATALYTIC PROPERTIES
Mutants of tPA were obtained by in vitro mutagenesis to study the effects of N-linked glycosylation, and to gain insight into the properties of pure single-chain tPA. The glycosylation mutants were obtained by modification of the last residue of the sequence Asn.X.Ser/Thr, . known to be specific for N-linked glycosylation, whereas the plasmin sensitive sequence Arg275 Ile276 was modified to Asp 275 Ile276 to obtain a plasmin insensitive tPA. Mutant proteins were expressed in yeast under the control of the repressible acid-phosphatase promoter, and in CHO-cells. The novel proteins were isolated mainly by affinity chromatography using the selective protease inhibitor DE-3. A tPA mutant containing a modification in the sequence Asnl84 Glyl85 Ser 186 showed similar results as compared to recombinant yeast tPA in the clot lysis test, a direct fluoresence assay (FU test), and the indirect double rate assay according to Verheyen (Verheyen test). A mutant with modifications in the sequences Asnll7 Ser 118 Serll9, Asnl84 Glyl85 Serl86, and Asn448 Arg449 Thr450, showed an increased clot lysis activity with no increase in activity in the FU test and Verheyen test. However, the stimulation by fibrinogen fragments in the Verheyen assay was found to be doubled as compared to yeast tPA. An even further increase in stimulation by fibrinogen fragments, upto 500% over yeast tPA, was observed with the plasmin insensitive tPA, although this mutant only showed 20% of the yeast tPA activity in the FU and Verheyen tests