Peptides as inhibitors of thrombin coagulation activity and of thrombocyte aggregation]

The analysis of literature and our own data of regulatory peptides influence on the blood coagulation system is presenting. Various natural and synthetic peptides inhibit the activity of thrombin and platelet aggregation. Direct specific inhibitors of thrombin are peptides developed on the base of D-Phe-Pro-Arg sequence. Strong specific inhibitors of the prothrombinase complex factor Xa were isolated from tissues and saliva of the blood-sucking organisms. These inhibitors decrease thrombin generation at the early stage of blood coagulation cascade Anticoagulating peptides from the tick Ornithodoros moubata tissue (TAP), the recombinant rTAP from the saliva glands of tick Ornithodoros savignyi and peptide with even greater anticoagulating activity from saliva glands of fly Glossina morsitans morsitans were isolated and characterised. For complete and reliable suppression of thrombus formation simultaneous administration of thrombin and platelet aggregation inhibitors is necessary. Main terminal stage of platelet aggregation is the interaction of receptor GP IIb/IIIa with adhesive fibrinogen sequence Arg-Pro-Asp (RGD). Peptides derived on the base of this sequence compete with fibrinogen in reaction with platelet receptors. A lot of corresponding peptidomimetics were synthesised, e.g. MK-852, RO-44 and particularly effective compound integrelin. Many direct platelet aggregation inhibitors were found in snake venoms. Recombinant peptide TAP mentioned above exerts both antithrombin and antiaggregation activity. Peptides and peptide mimetics of this type rapidly and irreversibly bound with receptor GP IIb/IIIa. They have short half life time in the blood plasma. Their preference in comparison with other drugs is particularly rapid and strong action. In our experiments it was demonstrated, that simple proline-containing peptides Pro-Gly, Trp-Pro, Pro-Gly-Pro (putative fragments of collagen and elastin) possesses significant antithrombotic and anticoagulant potential in vitro and in in vivo. Perhaps these peptides are members on intrinsic complex of haemostasis regulators.     

Macromolecular specificity determinants on thrombin for fibrinogen and thrombomodulin

The endothelial cell surface membrane protein thrombomodulin binds thrombin with high affinity and acts as both a cofactor for protein C activation and an inhibitor of fibrinogen hydrolysis. We have previously shown that bovine thrombomodulin is a competitive inhibitor of fibrinogen binding to thrombin but has no effect on thrombin activity toward tripeptide substrates or antithrombin III. Hence, thrombomodulin and fibrinogen may share macromolecular specificity sites on thrombin which are distinct from the active site. In this investigation, we have studied the interaction of thrombin-thrombomodulin with fibrinogen and various thrombin derivatives. We show that fibrinogen is a competitive inhibitor of thrombomodulin binding to thrombin, with a Kis = 10 microM. Thrombin derivatives (bovine (pyridoxal phosphate)4-thrombin and human thrombin Quick I), which bind fibrinogen with much reduced affinity, are shown to also interact with thrombomodulin with greatly reduced affinity. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that thrombomodulin and fibrinogen share macromolecular specificity sites on thrombin.     

The effect of thrombomodulin on the cleavage of fibrinogen and fibrinogen fragments by thrombin

Thrombomodulin acts as a linear competitive inhibitor of thrombin with respect to the substrate fibrinogen. In the present study the effect of thrombomodulin on the activity of thrombin with fragments of the A alpha and B beta chain of fibrinogen has been examined. The cleavage of fibrinopeptide A from the N-terminal disulphide knot, fragment 1-44 and fragment 1-51 of the A alpha chain was inhibited by thrombomodulin. The average value for the inhibition constant obtained with these substrates was 0.83 +/- 0.09 nM, which was in good agreement with the values obtained previously for the inhibition of thrombin by thrombomodulin with native fibrinogen as the substrate [Hofsteenge, J., Taguchi, H. & Stone, S. R. (1986) Biochem. J. 237, 243-251]. In contrast, the cleavage of fibrinopeptide A from fragment 1-23 and fragment 1-29 of the A alpha chain was not affected by thrombomodulin. Although the cleavage of the B beta chain in the intact fibrinogen molecule was inhibited by thrombomodulin [Hofsteenge, J., Taguchi, H. & Stone, S. R. (1986) Biochem. J. 237, 243-251], the release of fibrinopeptide B from the N-terminal disulphide knot and the N-terminal 118-residue fragment of the B beta chain was not inhibited by thrombomodulin. In addition, we determined the second-order rate constants of cleavage of these substrates using human thrombin. Fragments of the A alpha chain whose cleavage was inhibited by thrombomodulin were found to have values for kcat/Km that were within one order of magnitude of that for the native fibrinogen, whereas those for A alpha chain fragments whose cleavage was not inhibited by thrombomodulin were found to be more than two orders of magnitudes lower. From these results we conclude that only a relatively small portion of the A alpha chain of the fibrinogen molecule is responsible for the specific binding to thrombin that is affected by thrombomodulin. Moreover, residues 30-44 of the A alpha chain play an important role in this thrombin-fibrinogen interaction.     

Effect of etmozin on thrombocyte aggregation capacity

It was shown in in vitro experiments that etmozin at a concentration of 100 micrograms/ml significantly suppressed (by 21%) platelet aggregation induced by ADP, but it had no effect on platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid. In in vivo experiments etmozin was found to cause a marked suppression of tendon collagen-induced platelet aggregation in the doses 2-5 mg/kg having antiarrhythmic activity. Under suppressed platelet aggregation induced by indomethacin, the prostaglandin biosynthesis blocker etmozin displayed no antiaggregation effect. It is suggested that etmozin effects on ADP release from platelets play the main role in the mechanism of its antiaggregation action.     

Effect of phospholipase A on erythrocyte and thrombocyte aggregation]

A study was made of the effect of plasmin and trypsin on the phospholipase activation, and also of the action of phospholipase A (cobra venom) on the release reaction and the erythrocyte and thrombocyte aggregation. Trypsin and fibrinolysin proved to activate phospholipase, this being accompanied by the accumulation of nonesterified fatty acids in the blood serum. Phospholipase A caused a release of the thromboplastic factor from erythrocytes and thrombocytes and their aggregation. The later is inhibited by albumin and EDTA. It is suggested that the action of the proteolytic enzymes on the blood formed elements was realized through the phospholipase activation.     

Involvement of fibrinogen specific binding in erythrocyte aggregation

Respiratory oscillations in continuous yeast cultures can be accounted for by cyclic energization of mitochondria, dictated by the demands of a temperature-compensated ultradian clock with a period of 50 min. Inner mitochondrial membranes show both ultrastructural modifications and electrochemical potential changes. Electron transport components (NADH and cytochromes c and c oxidase) show redox state changes as the organisms cycle between their energized and de-energized phases. These regular cycles are transiently perturbed by uncouplers of energy conservation, with amplitudes more affected than period; that the characteristic period is restored after only one prolonged cycle, indicates that mitochondrial energy generation is not part of the clock mechanism itself, but is responding to energetic requirement.     

Effect of CO2 on thrombocyte aggregation in the cat

The antiaggregation ability of CO2 during ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation has been discovered in cats under hypercapnia. The effect persisted after Pco2 normalization. The inhibition of cyclooxygenase by indomethacin suppressed the antiaggregation activity of CO2 in vivo but not in vitro. While estimating the regulatory role of CO2 in the metabolic control of cerebral circulation, it is also of importance to take into account the antiaggregation ability of CO2.     

Effect of tetracaine on thrombocyte aggregation and mobilization of the intracellular calcium

Tetracaine (1 mM), a local anesthetics, lowers a degree of aggregation of human thrombocytes which is induced by thrombin (0.15 u/ml) and suppresses its appearance. Aggregation of thrombocytes induced by phorbol ester, TPA (10-8 M), an activator of protein kinase C, is inhibited completely by the mentioned doses of the anesthetics. In the presence of tetracaine the release of intracellular Ca is lower to some extent, but then it surpasses the control level. It is established that under the action of ionophore A23187 tetracaine exerts no effect on mobilization of intracellular Ca2+.     

Effect of rabbit thrombomodulin on the inhibition of thrombin by the antithrombin-heparin complex: role of the acid domain of thrombomodulin

Acidic and non-acidic forms of rabbit thrombomodulin were studied with regard to their effects on the inhibition of thrombin by antithrombin in the presence of exogenous heparin. The non acidic form was obtained by proteolytic cleavage of a polyanionic component (presumably a sulfated polysaccharide) from the parent acidic form of thrombomodulin, and purified by ion-exchange chromatography. It was previously found that the acidic form of thrombomodulin increases the rate of thrombin inactivation by antithrombin. The present study showed that thrombin bound to acidic thrombomodulin was inactivated at a lower rate by antithrombin in the presence of exogenous heparin than was free thrombin or thrombin bound to the non-acidic form of thrombomodulin. The data suggest that the acidic component of thrombomodulin is primarily responsible for the retardation of thrombin-antithrombin complex formation in the presence of exogenous heparin. It is proposed that the polyanionic component of thrombomodulin blocks a site on thrombin required for heparin binding, thus rendering the antithrombin-heparin complex ineffective.     

Equilibrium binding of thrombin to recombinant human thrombomodulin: effect of hirudin, fibrinogen, factor Va, and peptide analogues

Thrombomodulin is an endothelial cell surface receptor for thrombin that acts as a physiological anticoagulant. The properties of recombinant human thrombomodulin were studied in COS-7, CHO, CV-1, and K562 cell lines. Thrombomodulin was expressed on the cell surface as shown by the acquisition of thrombin-dependent protein C activation. Like native thrombomodulin, recombinant thrombomodulin contained N-linked oligosaccharides, had Mr approximately 100,000, and was inhibited or immunoprecipitated by anti-thrombomodulin antibodies. Binding studies demonstrated that nonrecombinant thrombomodulin expressed by A549 carcinoma cells and recombinant thrombomodulin expressed by CV-1 and K562 cells had similar Kd's for thrombin of 1.3 nM, 3.3 nM, and 4.7 nM, respectively. The Kd for DIP-thrombin binding to recombinant thrombomodulin on CV-1(18A) cells was identical with that of thrombin. Increasing concentrations of hirudin or fibrinogen progressively inhibited the binding of 125I-DIP-thrombin, while factor Va did not inhibit binding. Three synthetic peptides were tested for ability to inhibit DIP-thrombin binding. Both the hirudin peptide Hir53-64 and the thrombomodulin fifth-EGF-domain peptide Tm426-444 displaced DIP-thrombin from thrombomodulin, but the factor V peptide FacV30-43 which is similar in composition and charge to Hir53-64 showed no binding inhibition. The data exclude the significant formation of a ternary complex consisting of thrombin, thrombomodulin, and hirudin. These studies are consistent with a model in which thrombomodulin, hirudin, and fibrinogen compete for binding to DIP-thrombin at the same site.     

Inhibition of thrombocyte aggregation by antioxidants

The effects of antioxidants (3-hydroxypyridines, 5-hydroxypyrimidines, hindered phenols) on platelet aggregation were studied. All the compounds under study possessed low anti-aggregation activity against indometacin-sensitive aggregation (activation with arachidonic acid, 50 M). Half-maximal inhibition of aggregation was achieved at a concentration similar to that of the compounds used (10(-3) M in cases of indomethacin-insensitive aggregation, platelet activation by thrombine 1.5 mu/ml and Ca2+-ionophore A23187 1.5 g/ml). 4-methyl-2.6-ditretbutyl phenol (BHT) in the concentration range of 10(-5)-4 X 10(-5) M inhibited and in the concentration range of 4 X 10(-5)-10(-4) M activated indomethacin-sensitive aggregation. The latter effect was not observed in the absence of Ca2+ ions in the incubation medium. It is concluded that the effects of the antioxidants studied on platelet aggregation were due to their non-specific action on platelet membranes.     

Standardization of ADP-induced thrombocyte aggregation]

It is the purpose of this study to standardize platelet aggregation according to the method of Born. It was found that aggregation is influenced by the time of storage, the pH and temperature of plasma. However, there is no significant correlation between platelet number versus aggregation in healthy subjects. To get reproducible results, the plasma samples should be investigated within 2 hours after venipuncture. During storage temperature of all samples should be constant.     

Effect of redox-modified fibrinogen on blood leukocyte functions

The influence of oxidized fibrinogen on the intensity of luminol-dependent chemilumin escence of blood leukocytes, stimulated by opsonized zymosan was studied. It was shown that the introduction of fibrinogen modified by UV-irradiation in to a suspension of cells resulted in a significant increase in the intensity of the luminol-dependent chemiluminescence of leukocytes. It was suggested that oxidized fibrinogen can influence blood leukocytes, enhancing their functional activity.     

Mechanisms of thrombocyte aggregation in experimental hypoparathyroidism

Inhibitors of thromboxane synthetase (imidazole), cyclooxygenase (indomethacin), phospholipase A2 (Mepacrine) were used in the experiments on rabbits with experimental hypoparathyroidism to study the role of aggregation factors in the changes of ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. The enhancement of arachidonic acid metabolism and the release of platelet aggregation factor are discussed.     

Effect of thrombomodulin on the kinetics of the interaction of thrombin with substrates and inhibitors.

Thrombomodulin decreased by 20-30% the Michaelis constant of two tripeptidyl p-nitroanilide substrates of thrombin. Thrombomodulin increased the rate of inactivation of thrombin by two peptidyl chloromethane inhibitors by a similar amount. This effect appeared to be due to a decrease in the dissociation constants of the inhibitors. An improved method for the separation of fibrinopeptides A and B by h.p.l.c. was developed, and this method was used to study the effect of thrombomodulin on the thrombin-catalysed cleavage of fibrinogen. In this reaction, thrombomodulin was a competitive inhibitor with respect to the A alpha-chain of fibrinogen. The release of fibrinopeptide B was also inhibited by thrombomodulin. Analysis of the inhibition caused by thrombomodulin with respect to fibrinopeptides A and B yielded the same dissociation constant for the thrombin-thrombomodulin complex. In the presence of thrombomodulin, the rate of inactivation of thrombin by antithrombin III was stimulated 4-fold. This stimulation showed saturation kinetics with respect to thrombomodulin. Thrombomodulin was found to compete with hirudin for a binding site on thrombin. As a result of this competition, hirudin became a slow-binding inhibitor of thrombin at high thrombomodulin concentrations. Estimates of the dissociation constant for thrombomodulin were obtained in several of the above experiments, and the weighted mean value was 0.7 nM.     

Effect of thrombin inhibitors on positive feedback in the coagulation cascade

The coagulation cascade is a series of sequential reactions of limited proteolysis of protein factors resulting in generation of thrombin. Thrombin mediates both positive and negative feedback in regulating this cascade by taking part in activation of several factors. Some thrombin inhibitors, by affecting positive feedback, inhibit generation of thrombin itself. In the current study, we used two thrombin inhibitors: argatroban, a low molecular weight reversible competitive inhibitor that binds to the active site, and bivalirudin, a bivalent oligopeptide that blocks the active site and binding center of protein substrates (exosite I). Appearance rate and total amount of thrombin were measured in a thrombin generation assay (TGA) using a fluorescent substrate. We found that argatroban slows the appearance of thrombin and lowers its amount. Bivalirudin also slows appearance of thrombin, but it does not decrease its amount, perhaps because the region being bound to the active site undergoes hydrolysis so that the inhibitor stops binding to thrombin. Many reactions of the coagulation cascade proceed on the surface of phospholipid micelles (PLMs). In the case of argatroban, PLMs do not affect the results of the TGA, whereas for bivalirudin they lower its inhibitory activity. It seems that PLMs stabilize protein complexes (wherein thrombin exosite I is hindered) mediating positive feedback in the coagulation cascade, e.g. complexes of thrombin with factor V and VIII.