Endothelial binding sites for heparin. Specificity and role in heparin neutralization.

The specificity of endothelial binding sites for heparin was investigated with heparin fractions and fragments differing in their Mr, charge density and affinity for antithrombin III, as well as with heparinoids and other anionic polyelectrolytes (polystyrene sulphonates). The affinity for endothelial cells was estimated by determining I50 values in competition experiments with 125I-heparin. We found that affinity for endothelial cells increases as a function of Mr and charge density (degree of sulphation). Binding sites are not specific receptors for heparin. Other anionic polyelectrolytes, such as pentosan polysulphates and polystyrene sulphonates, competed with heparin for binding to endothelial cells. Fractions of standard heparin with high affinity for antithrombin III also had greater affinity for endothelium. However, these two properties of heparin (affinity for antithrombin III and affinity for endothelial cells) could be dissociated. Oversulphated heparins and oversulphated low-Mr heparin fragments had lower anticoagulant activity and higher affinity for endothelial cells than did their parent compounds. Synthetic pentasaccharides, bearing the minimal sequence for binding to antithrombin III, did not bind to endothelial cells. Binding to endothelial cells involved partial neutralization of heparin. Bound heparin exhibited only 5% and 7% of antifactor IIa and antifactor Xa specific activity, respectively. In the presence of 200 nM-antithrombin III, and in the absence of free heparin, a limited fraction (approx. 30%) of bound heparin was displaced from endothelial cells during a 1 h incubation period. These data suggested that a fraction of surface-bound heparin could represent a pool of anticoagulant.     

A method to determine the affinity of heparin to thrombin and antithrombin III on equilibrium gel permeation chromatography

Equilibrium gel permeation chromatography was employed to determine the ability of heparin to form complexes with thrombin and antithrombin III. In the eluate from a Sephacryl S-200 column, heparin caused a peak and then a trough in the fluorescence of 48 nM antithrombin III or 63 nM thrombin. The peak-heights with known amounts of heparin were used for standard curves to determine the extent of complex formation by test heparin preparations. Only heparin species with high-affinity for antithrombin III specifically formed a complex with antithrombin III under the conditions used. The ability to form a complex of heparin preparations with different anticoagulant activities for thrombin and antithrombin III could be determined satisfactorily. The heparin species with different affinities for antithrombin III did not coincide those with different affinities for thrombin. Of 4 preparations with one low-affinity and three high-affinity subfractions of heparin for antithrombin III, the species with the lowest affinity for antithrombin III had the highest affinity for thrombin. All of these observations showed that the method could be used to determine the ability to form a complex of test heparin preparations.     

Studies on the mechanism of the rate-enhancing effect of heparin on the thrombin-antithrombin III reaction.

The rate of the reaction between thrombin and antithrombin III is greatly increased in the presence of heparin. Several mechanisms for this effect are possible. To study the problems commercial heparin was fractionated into one fraction of high anticogulant activity and one of low anticoagulant activity by affinity chromatography on matrix-bound antithrombin III. The strength of the binding of the two heparin fractions to antithrombin III and thrombin, respectively, was determined by a crossed immunoelectrophoresis technique. As was to be expected, the high activity fraction was strongly bound to antithrombin III while the low activity fraction was weakly bound. In contrast, thrombin showed equal binding affinity for both heparin fractions. The ability of the two heparin fractions to catalyse the inhibition of thrombin by antithrombin III was determined and was found to be much greater for the high activity heparin fraction. A mechanism for the reaction between thrombin and antithrombin III in the presence of small amounts of heparin is suggested, whereby antithrombin III first binds heparin and this complex then inhibits thrombin by interaction with both the bound heparin and the antithrombin III.     

Structure and biological activity of finback-whale (Balaenoptera physalus L.) heparin octasaccharide. Chemical, carbon-13 nuclear-magnetic-resonance, enzymic and biological studies.

Finback-whale (Balaenoptera physalus L.) heparin was partially digested with a purified heparinase and an octasaccharide with high affinity for antithrombin III was isolated from the digest by gel filtration, followed by affinity chromatography on a column of antithrombin III immobilized on Sepharose 4B. This octasaccharide possessed high inhibitory activity for Factor Xa in the presence of antithrombin III, but was essentially inactive for thrombin-antithrombin III reaction. The anticoagulant activity determined by the activated-partial-thromboplastin-time method was very low (40-70 units/mg), although the initial whale heparin exhibited high activity (252 units/mg). On the basis of the results of chemical analyses, 13C n.m.r. spectrum and enzymic studies with purified heparinase, heparitinases 1 and 2, the predominant structure of the octasaccharide was proposed as follows: delta UA(2S) alpha 1 leads to 4GlcNS alpha 1 leads to 4IdUA alpha 1 leads to 4GlcNAc(6S) alpha 1 leads to 4GlcUA beta 1 leads to 4GlcNS(3S) alpha 1 leads to 4IdUA(2S) alpha 1 leads to 4GlcNS. Comparing this structure with those of the heparin octasaccharides so far reported, the presence of the critical structural elements for binding to antithrombin III was suggested in the pentasaccharide region situated at the reducing end of this octasaccharide. Binding to antithrombin III of the critical structural elements alone would appear to elicit the acceleration of the Factor Xa-antithrombin III reaction. Additional structural elements required for the acceleration of the thrombin-antithrombin III reaction and for the manifestation of high anticoagulant activity are discussed.     

Measurement of the affinities of heparins, naturally occurring glycosaminoglycans, and other sulfated polymers for antithrombin III and thrombin

Heparin, other glycosaminoglycans, and synthetic sulfated polymers have antithrombotic and anticoagulant activities, which may be mediated through a range of interactions with different proteins. A simple, quantitative method has been developed for assessing the affinity of interaction between sulfated polymers and proteins in the liquid phase. This has been used to compare the binding of a range of glycosaminoglycans and other sulfated polymers to antithrombin III and thrombin, a major inhibitor of and a central protease in the coagulation system, respectively. The results are consistent with the binding of naturally occurring glycosaminoglycans to antithrombin III solely through the well-defined antithrombin III-binding pentasaccharide found in heparin, the apparent affinity of a preparation depending upon its content of this pentasaccharide. Highly sulfated synthetic polymers will, however, bind antithrombin III by a second mechanism. The affinity of heparin for thrombin decreased with decreasing molecular weight. However, results obtained with heparan sulfate preparations did not indicate any clear relationship between either molecular weight or sulfate content and thrombin binding, but suggested that there may be an oligosaccharide sequence containing N-sulfate residues which confers high affinity for thrombin. In addition, some of the synthetic sulfated polymers bound thrombin with very high affinity.     

Inactivation of human antithrombin by neutrophil elastase. Kinetics of the heparin-dependent reaction

Human neutrophil elastase catalyzes the inactivation of antithrombin by a specific and limited proteinolytic cleavage. This inactivation reaction is greatly accelerated by an active anticoagulant heparin subfraction with high binding affinity for antithrombin. A potentially complex reaction mechanism is suggested by the binding of both neutrophil elastase and antithrombin to heparin. The in vitro kinetic behavior of this system was examined under two different conditions: 1) at a constant antithrombin concentration in which the active anticoagulant heparin was varied from catalytic to saturating levels; and 2) at a fixed, saturating heparin concentration and variable antithrombin levels. Under conditions of excess heparin, the inactivation could be continuously monitored by a decrease in the ultraviolet fluorescence emission of the inhibitor. A Km of approximately 1 microM for the heparin-antithrombin complex and a turnover number of approximately 200/min was estimated from these analyses. Maximum acceleratory effects of heparin on the inactivation of antithrombin occur at heparin concentrations significantly lower than those required to saturate antithrombin. The divergence in acceleratory effect and antithrombin binding contrasts with the anticoagulant functioning of heparin in promoting the formation of covalent antithrombin-enzyme complexes and is likely to derive from the fact that neutrophil elastase is not consumed in the inactivation reaction. A size dependence was observed for the heparin effect since an anticoagulantly active octasaccharide fragment of heparin, with avid antithrombin binding activity, was without effect on the inactivation of antithrombin by neutrophil elastase. Despite the completely nonfunctional nature of elastase-cleaved antithrombin and the altered physical properties of the inhibitor as indicated by fluorescence and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the inactivated inhibitor exhibited a circulating half-life in rabbits that was indistinguishable from native antithrombin. These results point to an unexpected and apparently contradictory function for heparin which may relate to the properties of the vascular endothelium in pathological situations.     

The interaction between heparin and antithrombin III: a comparison of two different heparin-dye conjugates

The interactions of antithrombin III with two heparin-dye conjugates have been compared using their fluorescence anisotropy. The first, heparin labelled with 5-isothiocyanatofluorescein, where the dye was mostly bound to unsulphated glucosamine residues, exhibited binding which was characteristic of heparin with a low affinity for antithrombin III. The second, heparin labelled with a reactive naphthalene dye (DENMT), showed similar binding character. However, when the heparin was treated with an amino group blocking agent prior to labelling with DENMT, the resultant heparin-dye conjugate showed binding behaviour, the strength of which was consistent with heparin molecules having both high and low affinity for antithrombin III. Heparin molecules with a high affinity for antithrombin III did not possess free amino groups. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to the reliability of the data obtained using heparin-fluorescein conjugates.     

[Identification and characterization of two phospholipase A2 activities in resident mouse peritoneal macrophages.]

The interaction between bovine antithrombin, a plasma proteinase inhibitor, and heparin species of different molecular weights was studied. A commercial heparin preparation was divided by gel chromatography into a number of fractions with average molecular weights ranging from 6000 to 34700. Each of these fractions was further fractionated by affinity chromatography on matrix-bound antithrombin. In the latter procedure, those heparin fractions that had molecular weights lower than about 14000 were separated into three peaks. The material in the first of these was not adsorbed on the column, and the other two peaks corresponded to the low-affinity and high-affinity peaks described previously. In contrast, high-molecular-weight heparin samples gave only the low-affinity and high-affinity fractions. U.v. difference absorption studies showed that the non-adsorbed heparin fraction bound to antithrombin in solution with a binding constant at physiological ionic strength only slightly lower than that of low-affinity heparin. The division between the two fractions thus is arbitrary and only dependent on the conditions selected for the affinity-chromatography experiment. Stoicheiometries and binding constants for the binding of several high-affinity heparin species to antithrombin were determined by fluorescence titrations. High-affinity heparin fractions of equal elution positions in the beginning of the peaks of the affinity chromatographies, but with different molecular weights, showed stoicheiometries that were not experimentally distinguishable from 1:1 and also had no appreciable differences in binding constants. However, the anticoagulant activities, calculated on a molar basis, of these fractions increased markedly with molecular weight, a behaviour that thus cannot be explained by differences in the binding of the fractions to antithrombin. In contrast, high-affinity samples of similar molecular weights, which were eluted at increasing ionic strengths from matrix-linked antithrombin, were found to have an increasing proportion of chains with two binding sites for antithrombin and also to have progressively higher binding constants. These binding properties at least partly explain the increasing anticoagulant activities that were observed for these fractions.     

Neutralization and binding of heparin by S protein/vitronectin in the inhibition of factor Xa by antithrombin III. Involvement of an inducible heparin-binding domain of S protein/vitronectin

The interference of the heparin-neutralizing plasma component S protein (vitronectin) (Mr = 78,000) with heparin-catalyzed inhibition of coagulation factor Xa by antithrombin III was investigated in plasma and in a purified system. In plasma, S protein effectively counteracted the anticoagulant activity of heparin, since factor Xa inhibition was markedly reduced in comparison to heparinized plasma deficient in S protein. Using purified components in the presence of heparin, S protein induced a concentration-dependent reduction of the inhibition rate of factor Xa by antithrombin III. This resulted in a decrease of the apparent pseudo-first order rate constant by more than 10-fold at a physiological ratio of antithrombin III to S protein. S protein not only counteracted the anticoagulant activity of commercial heparin but also of low molecular weight forms of heparin (mean Mr of 4,500). The heparin-neutralizing activity of S protein was found to be mainly expressed in the range 0.2-10 micrograms/ml of high Mr as well as low Mr heparin. S protein and high affinity heparin reacted with apparent 1:1 stoichiometry to form a complex with a dissociation constant KD = 1 X 10(-8) M as determined by a functional assay. As deduced from dot-blot analysis, direct interaction of radiolabeled heparin with S protein revealed a dissociation constant KD = 4 X 10(-8) M. Heparin binding as well as heparin neutralization by S protein increased significantly when reduced/carboxymethylated or guanidine-treated S protein was employed indicating the existence of a partly buried heparin-binding domain in native S protein. Radiolabeled heparin bound to the native protein molecule as well as to a BrCN fragment (Mr = 12,000) containing the heparin-binding domain as demonstrated by direct binding on nitrocellulose replicas of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Kinetic analysis revealed that the heparin neutralization activity of S protein in the inhibition of factor Xa by antithrombin III could be mimicked by a synthetic tridecapeptide from the amino-terminal portion of the heparin-binding domain. These data provide evidence that the heparin-binding domain of S protein appears to be unique in binding to heparin and thereby neutralizing its anticoagulant activity in the inhibition of coagulation factors by antithrombin III. The induction of heparin binding and neutralization may be considered a possible physiological mechanism initiated by conformational alteration of the S protein molecule.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Behavior of antithrombin III isoforms on immobilized heparins. Evidence that the isoforms bind to different numbers of low-affinity heparin sites

Antithrombin III exists in plasma as major and minor isoforms differing in affinity for heparin. The nature of the binding of each purified isoform to immobilized heparins was investigated. Unfractionated, mixed-affinity heparin bound each isoform with both high affinity and concentration-dependent low affinity. The isoforms were resolved when filtered through low-affinity heparin (heparin repeatedly passed over immobilized antithrombin III) columns. Following chemical modification of a specific tryptophan residue required for heparin binding, each isoform failed to bind to either low-affinity or mixed-affinity heparin-agarose, but elution of the modified higher-affinity isoform was retarded on both gels. Because the modified lower-affinity isoform eluted with the similarly sized bovine serum albumin in these experiments, the difference in isoform affinity for heparin appears to be the result of a unique, secondary heparin-binding site in the higher-affinity isoform that can bind a heparin site with low affinity for antithrombin III. This interpretation was supported by the chromatographic behavior of the isoforms on mixed-affinity agarose during reverse gradient elution. Two other populations of each of the tryptophan-modified isoforms were identified. Since these isoforms bound tightly to mixed-affinity heparin-agarose but eluted at lower salt concentrations than the corresponding unmodified isoforms, both isoforms may contain additional secondary sites that interact weakly with heparin. A general model of heparin-antithrombin III interaction is proposed in which a high-affinity heparin site initially interacts with a primary site on antithrombin III. The subsequent conformational change leads to a cooperative, entropy-driven association between secondary sites on the protein and low-affinity sites on heparin, stabilizing antithrombin III in its activated form.     

Heparin-, dextran sulfate- and protamine-induced release of extracellular-superoxide dismutase to plasma in pigs

Intravenous heparin has previously been shown to release the high-heparin-affinity fraction C of extracellular-superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) to plasma in man and other mammals. This paper reports on further studies of the phenomena in the pig. A dose-response curve of the effect of heparin revealed that 1000 IU/kg body weight is needed for maximal release of EC-SOD C. This dose is an order of magnitude larger than that needed for the maximal release to plasma of factors such as lipoprotein lipase, hepatic lipase, and diamine oxidase, which are distributed between plasma and endothelium similarly to EC-SOD C. Thus EC-SOD C appears to have an unusually high affinity for endothelial cell-surface sulfated glycosaminoglycans relative to the affinity for heparin. There was no significant difference in releasing potency between unfractionated heparin and heparin subfractions with high or low affinity for antithrombin III. The heparin structure conferring high-affinity binding to antithrombin III is thus not specifically involved in binding to EC-SOD C. The non-biosynthetic compound dextran sulfate 5000 was an order of magnitude more efficient than heparin. Protamine displayed dual effects. Given alone in high dose it released EC-SOD to plasma, probably due to binding to endothelial cell-surface sulfated glycosaminoglycans displacing fraction C of the enzyme. When given after heparin, in a dose just below that expected to neutralize the heparin, protamine reversed the heparin-induced EC-SOD release.     

A method for rapid quantitation and preparation of antithrombin III-high-affinity heparin fractions

An electrophoretic method for the quantitation and preparation of antithrombin III-high-affinity heparin using agarose beds is described. The method allows the determination of high-affinity heparin fractions in several samples in one single step. The incubation mixture containing heparin and antithrombin III is submitted to agarose gel electrophoresis in 0.06 m barbital buffer, pH 8.6. A sharp separation between free antithrombin III, the complex antithrombin III-heparin, and free heparin occurs under these conditions. Around 30% of heparin molecules present in commerical preparations bind to antithrombin. This bound heparin has an anticoagulant activity of 240 IU. Negligible binding of other sulfated mucopolysaccharides to antithrombin III was observed. The whole procedure takes less than 6 h and can also be used as a semipreparative method for high-affinity heparin.     

Heparin binding to antithrombin III: Variation in binding sites and affinity

Heparin fractions of different molecular weights and anticoagulant activities were prepared by chromatography on protamine-Sepharose, and the association constants and stoichiometry for binding to antithrombin III were determined by measurement of enhancement of tryptophan fluorescence. A 7,900 molecular weight heparin preparation bound to antithrombin III with a stoichiometry of close to 2:1, whereas 14,300 and 21,600 molecular weight fractions bound at approximately 1:1 with the protein. Apparent association constants were 0.66 × 10⁶ M^?1 for the low molecular weight preparation and 2.89 × 10⁶ M^?1 for the high molecular weight material. Maximal fluorescence enhancement was greater with the higher molecular weight heparin. These results suggest a model of heparin-antithrombin III binding in which two sites on antithrombin III can accommodate one large heparin molecule with high affinity or two smaller molecules with low affinity.     

Anticoagulant activities of heparin oligosaccharides and their neutralization by platelet factor 4.

Oligosaccharides of well-defined molecular size were prepared from heparin by nitrous acid depolymerization, affinity chromatography on immobilized antithrombin III (see footnote on Nomenclature) and gel chromatography on Sephadex G-50. High affinity (for antithrombin III) octa-, deca-, dodeca-, tetradeca-, hexadeca- and octadeca-saccharides were prepared, as well as oligosaccharides of larger size than octadecasaccharide. The inhibition of Factor Xa by antithrombin III was greatly accelerated by all of these oligosaccharides, the specific anti-Factor Xa activity being invariably greater than 1300 units/mumol. The anti-Factor Xa activity of the decasaccharide was not significantly decreased in the presence of platelet factor 4, even at high platelet factor 4/oligosaccharide ratios. Measurable but incomplete neutralization of the anti-Factor Xa activities of the tetradeca- and hexadeca-saccharides was observed, and complete neutralization of octadeca- and larger oligo-saccharides was achieved with excess platelet factor 4. The octa-, deca-, dodeca-, tetradeca- and hexadeca-saccharides had negligible effect on the inhibition of thrombin by antithrombin III, whereas specific anti-thrombin activity was expressed by the octadeca-saccharide and by the larger oligosaccharides. An octadecasaccharide is therefore the smallest heparin fragment (prepared by nitrous acid depolymerization) that can accelerate thrombin inhibition by antithrombin III. The anti-thrombin activities of the octadecasaccharide and larger oligosaccharides were more readily neutralized by platelet factor 4 than were their anti-Factor Xa activities. These findings are compatible with two alternative mechanisms for the action of platelet factor 4, both involving the binding of the protein molecule adjacent to the antithrombin III-binding site. Such binding results in either steric interference with the formation of antithrombin III-proteinase complexes or in displacement of the antithrombin III molecule from the heparin chain.     

Anti-thrombin activities of heparin. Effect of saccharide chain length on thrombin inhibition by heparin cofactor II and by antithrombin.

The interactions of two proteinase inhibitors, heparin cofactor II and antithrombin, with thrombin are potentiated by heparin. Using two methods, we have studied the potentiating effects of a series of heparin (poly)saccharides with high affinity for antithrombin and mean Mr ranging from approx. 1700 to 18,800. First, catalytic amounts of heparin (poly)saccharide were added to purified systems containing thrombin and either heparin cofactor II or antithrombin. Residual thrombin activity was determined with a chromogenic substrate. It was found that only the higher-Mr polysaccharides (Mr greater than 8000) efficiently catalysed thrombin inhibition by heparin cofactor II, there being a progressive catalytic effect with increasing Mr of the polysaccharide. Weak accelerating effects were noted with low-Mr saccharides (Mr less than 8000). This contrasted with the well-characterized interaction of heparin with antithrombin and thrombin, where heparin oligosaccharides of Mr less than 5400 had absolutely no ability to accelerate the reaction, while (poly)saccharides of Mr exceeding 5400 showed rapidly increasing catalytic activity with increasing Mr. Secondly, these and other heparin preparations were added in a wide concentration range to plasma with which 125I-labelled thrombin was then incubated for 30 s. Inhibited thrombin was determined from the distribution of labelled thrombin amongst inhibitor-thrombin complexes, predominantly antithrombin-thrombin and heparin cofactor II-thrombin complexes. In this situation, where the inhibitors competed for thrombin and for the (poly)saccharides, it was found that, provided the latter were of high affinity for antithrombin and exceeded a Mr of 5400, thrombin inhibition in plasma was mediated largely through antithrombin. Polysaccharides of Mr exceeding 8000 that were of low affinity for antithrombin accelerated thrombin inhibition in plasma through their interaction with heparin cofactor II. High concentrations of saccharides of Mr 1700-5400 exhibited a size-dependent acceleration of thrombin inhibition, not through their interaction with antithrombin, but through their interaction with heparin cofactor II.     

Involvement of heparin chain length in the heparin-catalyzed inhibition of thrombin by antithrombin III

The mechanism of the heparin-promoted reaction of thrombin with antithrombin III was investigated by using covalent complexes of antithrombin III with either high-affinity heparin (Mr = 15,000) or heparin fragments having an average of 16 and 12 monosaccharide units (Mr = 4,300 and 3,200). The complexes inhibit thrombin in the manner of active site-directed, irreversible inhibitors: (Formula: see text) That is, the inhibition rate of the enzyme is saturable with respect to concentration of complexes. The values determined for Ki = (k-1 + k2)/k1 are 7 nM, 100 nM, and 6 microM when the Mr of the heparin moieties are 15,000, 4,300, 3,200, respectively, whereas k2 (2 S-1) is independent of the heparin chain length. The bimolecular rate constant k2/Ki for intact heparin is 3 X 10(8) M-1 S-1 and the corresponding second order rate constant k1 is 6.7 X 10(8) M-1 S-1, a value greater than that expected for a diffusion-controlled bimolecular reaction. The bimolecular rate constants for the complexes with heparin of Mr = 4,300 and 3,200 are, respectively, 2 X 10(7) M-1 S-1 and 3 X 10(5) M-1 S-1. Active site-blocked thrombin is an antagonist of covalent antithrombin III-heparin complexes: the effect is monophasic and half-maximum at 4 nM of antagonist against the complex with intact heparin, whereas the effect is weaker against complexes with heparin fragments and not monophasic. We conclude that virtually all of the activity of high affinity, high molecular weight heparin depends on binding both thrombin and antithrombin III to heparin, and that the exceptionally high activity of heparin results in part from the capacity of thrombin bound nonspecifically to heparin to diffuse in the dimension of the heparin chain towards bound antithrombin III. Increasing the chain length of heparin results in an increased reaction rate because of a higher probability of interaction between thrombin and heparin in solution.     

Kinetic analysis of various heparin fractions and heparin substitutes in the thrombin inhibition reaction

Kinetic characteristics of several heparin preparations and substitute heparins were determined to help understand the bases for activity differences. Several materials were highly active in factor Xa inhibition and the reaction rate at constant factor Xa concentration appeared to be predicted by the extent of intrinsic antithrombin III fluorescence change induced by the polysaccharide. Heparin fractions of different molecular weight and affinity for antithrombin III showed similar kinetic parameters in catalysis of the thrombin-antithrombin III reaction when these parameters were expressed on the basis of antithrombin III-binding heparin. The latter was determined by stoichiometric titration of the antithrombin III fluorescence change by the heparin preparation. However, the various heparin fractions showed very different specific activities per mg of total polysaccharide. This indicated that functional heparin molecules had similar kinetic properties regardless of size or antithrombin III-binding affinity and is possible because the Km for antithrombin III is determined by diffusion rather than by binding affinity. Substitute heparins and depolymerized heparin were poor catalysts for thrombin inhibition, due at least partially to their affinity for thrombin. This latter binary interaction inhibits thrombin reaction in the heparin-catalyzed reaction.     

Anticoagulant properties of a sulfated galactan preparation from a marine green alga, Codium cylindricum

An anticoagulant was isolated from a marine green alga, Codium cylindricum. The anticoagulant was composed mainly of galactose with a small amount of glucose, and was highly sulfated (13.1% as SO3Na). The anticoagulant properties of the purified anticoagulant were compared with that of heparin by assays of activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT) and thrombin time (TT) using normal human plasma. The anticoagulant showed similar activities with heparin, however, weaker than heparin. On the other hand, the anticoagulant did not affect PT even at the concentration at which APTT and TT were strongly prolonged. The anticoagulant did not potentiate antithrombin III (AT III) and heparin cofactor II (HC II), thus the anticoagulant mechanism would be different from that of other anticoagulants isolated so far from the genus Codium.     

Binding of heparin to human antithrombin III as studied by measurements of tryptophan fluorescence.

Corrected fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of human antithrombin III have been determined. The fluorescence observed originates almost entirely from tryptophan residues. Reduction of the disulfide bonds followed by carboxymethylation did not change the fluorometric properties of the protein. The binding of heparin to antithrombin III caused a marked fluorescence enhancement by about 30% of the intrinsic protein emission intensity. Various samples of heparin yielded different binding curves. Heparin fractionated by gel filtration seemed to be bound to two sites on antithrombin III with association constants of 0.6-10(6)m-1 and 0.2-10(6)M-1 respectively. Heparin, prepared by affinity chromatography on matrix-bound antithrombin III appeared to be bound to only one site with an association constant of 2.3-10(6)M-1. Under similar conditions heparin caused no increase of the intrinsic protein emission intensity when added to reduced and carboxymethylated antithrombin III. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Kinetic evidence that allosteric activation of antithrombin by heparin is mediated by two sequential conformational changes

The serpin, antithrombin, requires allosteric activation by a sequence-specific pentasaccharide unit of heparin or heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans to function as an anticoagulant regulator of blood clotting proteases. Surprisingly, X-ray structures have shown that the pentasaccharide produces similar induced-fit changes in the heparin binding site of native and latent antithrombin despite large differences in the heparin affinity and global conformation of these two forms. Here we present kinetic evidence for similar induced-fit mechanisms of pentasaccharide binding to native and latent antithrombins and kinetic simulations which together support a three-step mechanism of allosteric activation of native antithrombin involving two successive conformational changes. Equilibrium binding studies of pentasaccharide interactions with native and latent antithrombins and the salt dependence of these interactions suggest that each conformational change is associated with distinct spectroscopic changes and is driven by a progressively better fit of the pentasaccharide in the binding site. The observation that variant antithrombins that cannot undergo the second conformational change bind the pentasaccharide like latent antithrombin and are partially activated suggests that both conformational changes contribute to allosteric activation, in agreement with a recently proposed model of allosteric activation.