Abstract
Lachesis venom plasminogen activator (LV-PA) is a 33-kDa serine proteinase isolated from bushmaster (Lachesis muta muta) snake venom, which activates the fibrinolytic system in vitro. This study has examined the effect of the plasma proteinase inhibitor α2-macroglobulin (α2-M) towards LV-PA and compares it with the effect on tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA). The proteolytic activity of LV-PA alone or previously incubated with human plasminogen (Plg) on the large molecular mass protein substrates, dimethylcasein (DMC) and fibrinogen (Fg) was completely inhibited by human α2-M. However, the synthetic peptides Tos-Gly-Pro-Lys-pNA and H-D-Pro-Phe-Arg-pNA (S-2302) were hydrolyzed with almost no reduction in rate. At pH 7.4 and 37 °C the proteinase (0.15 μM over 15 min) interacted with α2-M, and each mole of α2-M bound 2 mol of enzyme. Sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis of reduced samples showed that the interaction of α2-M with either LV-PA or t-PA preincubated with Plg resulted in the formation of ∼90 kDa fragments and high molecular mass complexes (Mr 180 kDa), generated by the incubation mixture (LV-PA or t-PA) and Plg. The data suggest that LV-PA is a direct-type PA and its fibrinolytic effect can be reduced by α2-M in vivo.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 490-494 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Toxicon |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 15 Mar 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by Brazilian agencies Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) Processos CBB 306/2 and EDT- 24000/01.
Keywords
- Fibrinolysis
- Lachesis muta
- Plasminogen activator
- Serineproteinase
- α2-macroglobulin