scholarly journals Stepwise Reversion of Multiply Mutated Recombinant Antitrypsin Reveals a Selective Inhibitor of Coagulation Factor XIa as Active as the M358R Variant

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Hamada ◽  
Varsha Bhakta ◽  
Sara N. Andres ◽  
William P. Sheffield

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT, also known as alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor or SERPINA1) is the most abundant member of the serpin superfamily found in human plasma. The naturally occurring variant AAT M358R, altered at the P1 position of the critical reactive center loop (RCL), is re-directed away from inhibition of AAT's chief natural target, neutrophil elastase, and toward accelerated inhibition of thrombin (FIIa), kallikrein (Kal), and other proteases such as factor XIa (FXIa). FXIa is an emerging target for the development of antithrombotic agents, since patients with FXI deficiency are protected from thromboembolic disease and do not exhibit a strong bleeding tendency. Previously, we used phage display, bacterial lysate screening, and combinatorial mutagenesis to identify AAT-RC, an engineered AAT M358R with additional changes between RCL positions P7-P3', CLEVEPR-STE [with changes bolded and the P1-P1' (R358-S359) reactive center shown as R-S]. AAT-RC was 279- and 16-fold more selective for FXIa/IIa or FXIa/Kal than AAT M358R; the increased selectivity came at a cost of a 2.3-fold decrease in the rate of FXIa inhibition and a 3.3-fold increase in the stoichiometry of inhibition (SI). Here, we asked which alterations in AAT-RC were most important for the observed increases in selectivity for FXIa inhibition. We back-mutated AAT-RC to AAT-RC-1 (P7-P3' FLEVEPRSTE), AAT-RC-2 (P7-P3' FLEAEPRSTE), and AAT RC-3 (P7-P3' FLEAIPR-STE). Proteins were expressed as cleavable, hexahistidine-tagged glutathione sulfotransferase fusion proteins in E. coli and purified by proteolytic elution from glutathione agarose, with polishing on nickel chelate agarose. Selectivity for FXIa over Kal of AAT-RC-1, −2, and −3 was 14, 21, and 2.3, respectively. AAT-RC-2 inhibited FXIa 31% more rapidly than AAT M358R, with the same SI, and enhanced selectivity for FXIa over Kal, FXa, FXIIa, activated protein C, and FIIa of 25-, 130-, 420-, 440-, and 470-fold, respectively. Structural modeling of the AAT-RC-2/FXIa encounter complex suggested that both E (Glu) substitutions at P3 and P3' may promote FXIa binding via hydrogen bonding to K192 in FXIa. AAT-RC-2 is the most selective and active AAT variant reported to date for FXIa inhibition and will be tested in animal models of thrombosis and bleeding.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Varsha Bhakta ◽  
Mostafa Hamada ◽  
Amy Nouanesengsy ◽  
Jessica Lapierre ◽  
Darian L. Perruzza ◽  
...  

AbstractCoagulation Factor XIa (FXIa) is an emerging target for antithrombotic agent development. The M358R variant of the serpin alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) inhibits both FXIa and other proteases. Our aim was to enhance the specificity of AAT M358R for FXIa. We randomized two AAT M358R phage display libraries at reactive centre loop positions P13-P8 and P7-P3 and biopanned them with FXIa. A bacterial expression library randomized at P2′-P3′ was also probed. Resulting novel variants were expressed as recombinant proteins in E. coli and their kinetics of FXIa inhibition determined. The most potent FXIa-inhibitory motifs were: P13-P8, HASTGQ; P7-P3, CLEVE; and P2-P3′, PRSTE (respectively, novel residues bolded). Selectivity for FXIa over thrombin was increased up to 34-fold versus AAT M358R for these single motif variants. Combining CLEVE and PRSTE motifs in AAT-RC increased FXIa selectivity for thrombin, factors XIIa, Xa, activated protein C, and kallikrein by 279-, 143-, 63-, 58-, and 36-fold, respectively, versus AAT M358R. AAT-RC lengthened human plasma clotting times less than AAT M358R. AAT-RC rapidly and selectively inhibits FXIa and is worthy of testing in vivo. AAT specificity can be focused on one target protease by selection in phage and bacterial systems coupled with combinatorial mutagenesis.


2012 ◽  
Vol 107 (05) ◽  
pp. 972-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise J. Eltringham-Smith ◽  
Varsha Bhakta ◽  
Sharon Gataiance ◽  
William P. Sheffield

SummaryThe variant serpin α1-PI M358R inhibits thrombin and other proteases such as activated protein C (APC) and factor XIa. We previously described recombinant proteins HAPI M358R (α1-PI M358R containing an N-terminal extension corresponding to residues 1–75 of heparin cofactor II) and HAPI RCL5 (HAPI M358R with F352-I356 and I360 substituted for the corresponding residues of antithrombin), with enhanced selectivity for thrombin over APC inhibition. We tested the hypotheses that these recombinant proteins would limit thrombosis in three mouse models, and that the HAPI chimeric proteins would be more effective than α1-PI M358R. Recombinant serpins were purified from Escherichia coli by nickel chelate and ion exchange affinity chromatography, and administered to mice intravenously. HAPI RCL5 reduced incorporation of radiolabelled fibrin(ogen) into thrombi in the ferric chloride-injured vena cava in a dose-dependent manner; HAPI M358R was less effective and α1-PI M358R was without effect. In a model of murine endotoxaemia, HAPI RCL5 was more effective than α1-PI M358R in reducing radiolabelled fibrin(ogen) deposition in heart and kidneys; immunohis-tochemistry of tissue sections showed lesser staining with anti-fibrin(ogen) antibodies with both treatments. In the ferric chloride-injured murine carotid artery, administration of both recombinant serpins was equally effective in lengthening the vessel’s time to occlusion. Our results show that the antithrombotic efficacy of the recombinant serpins correlates with their potency as thrombin inhibitors, since HAPI RCL5 inhibits thrombin, but not factors Xa, XIa, XIIa, or neutrophil elastase, more rapidly than α1-PI M358R.


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (03) ◽  
pp. 445-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo ten Cate ◽  
Bart J Biemond ◽  
Marcel Levi ◽  
Walter A Wuillemin ◽  
Kenneth Bauer ◽  
...  

SummaryCoagulation factor XI is a glycoprotein of the contact factor system. Its deficiency is associated with a highly variable bleeding tendency, thus a role in relation to hemostasis appears to exist. However, the importance of factor XI for stimulating intrinsic coagulation in vivo has not yet been determined. To study the procoagulant effects of human factor Xla in vivo, we infused the purified enzyme into normal chimpanzees (100 Μg) in the absence or presence of the thrombin inhibitor rec-hirudin (1.0 mg/kg loading dose plus 0.3 mg/kg body wt continuous infusion). Factor Xla elicited an immediate activation of factors IX, X, and prothrombin, as measured by their respective activation fragments. However, whereas the activation of factors IX and X was immediate and shortlasting, (peak increments of 6- and 1.4-fold of baseline at 5 minutes after injection), the conversion of prothrombin gradually increased, reaching a summit of 6-fold baseline values after 60 min, and remaining elevated during the course of the experiments. Thrombin-antithrombin complexes also remained elevated during the study period. In the presence of hirudin, the initial activation of factors IX, X, and prothrombin was unchanged, however the further increment in prothrombin fragment FI+2 was markedly inhibited. These results demonstrate that factor Xla is a potential agonist of the intrinsic cascade in vivo, which activity is enhanced in the presence of thrombin.


1998 ◽  
Vol 80 (08) ◽  
pp. 344-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasra Arnutti ◽  
Motofumi Hiyoshi ◽  
Wichai Prayoonwiwat ◽  
Oytip Nathalang ◽  
Chamaiporn Suwanasophon ◽  
...  

1989 ◽  
Vol 61 (03) ◽  
pp. 386-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guido Tans ◽  
Truus Janssen-Claessen ◽  
Jan Rosing

SummaryIn this paper we report a method via which enzymatically active products formed during prothrombin activation can be detected by simple photographic means after SDS-gel electrophoresis, blotting onto a nitrocellulose membrane and visualization with the chromogenic substrate, S2238. After amidolytic detection the same nitrocellulose membrane can also be used for immunologic detection of prothrombin activation products, thus allowing a complete description of product formation during prothrombin activation.The detection limit of the so-called “amidoblot” is approximately 3 ng thrombin per gel sample which is comparable to the sensitivity of immunoblotting.It is further shown that the amidoblot technique can also be applied to other coagulation factors for which a suitable chromogenic substrate is available (factor XIIa, kallikrein, factor XIa, factor Xa, plasmin and activated protein C).


1995 ◽  
Vol 74 (04) ◽  
pp. 1079-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus-P Radtke ◽  
José A Fernández ◽  
Bruno O Villoutreix ◽  
Judith S Greengard ◽  
John H Griffin

SummarycDNAs for protein C inhibitor (PCI) were cloned from human and rhesus monkey 1 liver RNAs by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. Sequencing showed that rhesus monkey and human PCI cDNAs were 93% identical. Predicted amino acid sequences differed at 26 of 387 residues. Pour of these differences (T352M, N359S, R362K, L3631) were in the reactive center loop that is important for inhibitory specificity, and two were in the N-terminal helix (M8T, E13K) that is implicated in glycosaminoglycan binding. PCI in human or rhesus monkey plasma showed comparable inhibitory activity towards human activated protein C in the presence of 10 U/ml heparin. However, maximal acceleration of the inhibition of activated protein C required 5-fold lower heparin concentration for rhesus monkey than for human plasma, consistent with the interpretation that the additional positive charge (E13K) in a putative-heparin binding region increased the affinity for heparin.


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (02) ◽  
pp. 313-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J Kim ◽  
A Girolami ◽  
H L James

SummaryNaturally occurring plasma factor XFriuli (pFXFr) is marginally activated by both the extrinsic and intrinsic coagulation pathways and has impaired catalytic potential. These studies were initiated to obtain confirmation that this molecule is multi-functionally defective due to the substitution of Ser for Pro at position 343 in the catalytic domain. By the Nelson-Long site-directed mutagenesis procedure a construct of cDNA in pRc/CMV was derived for recombinant factor XFriuli (rFXFr) produced in human embryonic (293) kidney cells. The rFXFr was purified and shown to have a molecular size identical to that of normal plasma factor X (pFX) by gel electrophoretic, and amino-terminal sequencing revealed normal processing cleavages. Using recombinant normal plasma factor X (rFXN) as a reference, the post-translational y-carboxy-glutamic acid (Gla) and (β-hydroxy aspartic acid (β-OH-Asp) content of rFXFr was over 85% and close to 100%, respectively, of expected levels. The specific activities of rFXFr in activation and catalytic assays were the same as those of pFXFr. Molecular modeling suggested the involvement of a new H-bond between the side-chains of Ser-343 and Thr-318 as they occur in anti-parallel (3-pleated sheets near the substrate-binding pocket of pFXFr. These results support the conclusion that the observed mutation in pFXFr is responsible for its dysfunctional activation and catalytic potentials, and that it accounts for the moderate bleeding tendency in the homozygous individuals who possess this variant procoagulant.


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (04) ◽  
pp. 1193-1201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saulius Butenas ◽  
Maria E DiLorenzo ◽  
Kenneth G Mann

SummarySelective, sensitive assays for the quantitation of serine proteases involved in coagulation and fibrinolysis have been developed employing fluorogenic substrates containing a 6-amino-1-naphthalenesulfonamide leaving group (PNS-substrates). Over one hundred substrates were evaluated for hydrolysis by the serine proteases of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis, and substrate structure-efficiency correlations were examined. PNS-substrates which contain Lys in the P1 position are specific for Lys-plasmin and are either not hydrolyzed or hydrolyzed at a relatively low rate by factor Xa, thrombin, or urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). These substrates allow quantitation of Lys-plasmin at concentrations as low as 1 pM. Eighteen of over 90 substrates tested for factor XIa are hydrolyzed by this enzyme at a relatively high rate reaching a kcat value of 170 s-1 and allowing quantitation of factor XIa at 10 fM. Eighteen of almost 90 PNS-substrates tested display high specificity for thrombin, some exceeding that for factor Xa by > 10,000-fold and > 100-fold for activated protein C (APC). Seven of these substrates have a over 100 s-1 and three of them have a KM below 1 μM. They allow the quantitation of thrombin at concentrations as low as 20 fM. For APC, uPA and the factor Vila/tissue factor complex, quantitation is feasible at 1 pM concentration. For factor Xa and factor VIIa the limits are 0.4 pM and 40 pM respectively. The PNS-substrates presented in this study may be employed for the development of direct and sensitive serine protease assays.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document