The influence of acetaldehyde and glycosaminoglycans upon factor Xa- and factor X-deficient plasma

The comparative effects of glycosaminoglycans and acetaldehyde (AcH)--glycosaminoglycan (GAG) mixtures upon Factor Xa- (FXa) and Factor X-deficient plasma (FXDP) have been studied by activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) studies. Heparin at 0.025, 0.030, 0.04, and 0.05 U statistically prolonged the APTT when pre-incubated with FXa at 37 degrees C for 3 min prior to addition to FXDP and subsequent addition of Ca2+. Upon addition of 0.25, 0.375, and 0.5 microg heparin-6000 (H6k) to FXa, significant increases in APTT were observed. Similarly, profound increases in APTT were observed when 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 microg heparin-3000 (H3k) was added to FXa. The chondroitin sulfates (CSA, CSB, CSC) had far less impact upon APTT with the FXa-FXDP system. In examining the effects of AcH-GAG mixtures upon the clotting factor, it was observed that 44.3 and 443 mM AcH synergistically prolonged the APTT in a statistically significant manner regardless of the order of premixing the three components. Hence, AcH may play a role in prolonging APTT in alcoholics. It synergistically prolonged APTT in concert with GAGs and FXa at the AcH levels used in this study. The effect of the GAGs upon FXDP is far less than its effect upon FXa.     

Calcium-independent activation of prothrombin on membranes with positively charged lipids

The activation of prothrombin by factor Xa is strongly accelerated by negatively charged phospholipids plus calcium ions. In this paper we report that positively charged membranes can also stimulate prothrombin activation provided that the activation reaction is carried out in the absence of calcium ions. Membranes composed of a mixture of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and positively charged lipids like stearylamine, sphingosine, or hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide caused a more than 1000-fold increase of the rate of prothrombin activation. Prothrombin activation by the factor Xa-factor Va complex was also considerably stimulated by such membranes. Stimulation of prothrombin activation by positively charged membranes was suppressed at high ionic strength. This suggests that electrostatic attraction of negatively charged proteins by positively charged membranes is the major driving force in the association of prothrombin and factor Xa with the lipid surface. Calcium ions strongly inhibited prothrombin activation on vesicles composed of PC and stearylamine (80/20 M/M), which indicates that the regions of prothrombin and/or factor Xa containing gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (gla) are important for the interaction of these proteins with positively charged membranes. The importance of the gla domain was confirmed by the observation that PC/stearylamine vesicles had much less effect on the reactions between proteins that lack gla residues [gla-domainless (des-1-45) prothrombin, prethrombin 1, prethrombin 2, or gla-domainless (des-1-44) factor Xa]. The efficiency of prothrombin and prothrombin derivatives to act as substrate decreased in the order prothrombin greater than des-1-45-prothrombin = prethrombin 1 greater than prethrombin 2, while prothrombin activation by gla-domainless (des-1-44) factor Xa was hardly stimulated by positively charged membranes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The effect of divalent metal ions on the electrophoretic mobility of bovine prothrombin and bovine prothrombin fragment 1

Examination of metal ion-dependent effects on the electrophoretic mobility of bovine prothrombin and fragment 1 provides a useful and sensitive method for investigation of conformational processes in these proteins. Utilization of this method reveals a conformational change in bovine prothrombin and fragment 1 which occurs at low metal ion concentrations. Equilibrium dialysis studies indicate that the metal ion-induced shape change occurs concomitant with binding of a single calcium ion/molecule of prothrombin or fragment 1. Mixed metal electrophoretic mobility studies with Mg2+ and Ca2+ have demonstrated the "synergistic" effect for fragment 1 observed by others. Mixed metal equilibrium dialysis has provided experimental support for this observation and allows us to conclude that two tight Ca2+ sites are not affected by low Mg2+ concentrations and that the third Ca2+ site is also a tight site for Mg2+. Thus, at low Mg2+ concentrations and upon the addition of Ca2+, there are effectively three tight sites; consequently more Ca2+ will bind to the protein at lower total Ca2+ ion concentrations.     

Kinetic studies of prothrombin activation: effect of factor Va and phospholipids on the formation of the enzyme-substrate complex

The kinetic parameters of bovine prothrombin activation by factor Xa were determined in the absence and presence of factor Va as a function of the phospholipid concentration and composition. In the absence of factor Va, the Km for prothrombin increases proportionally with the phospholipid concentration and correlates well with the affinity of prothrombin for the different membranes. Phospholipid vesicles with a high affinity for prothrombin yield low Km values compared to membranes with less favorable binding parameters. At limited phospholipid concentrations, the Vmax of prothrombin activation correlates with the binding affinity of factor Xa for the various phospholipid vesicles. Membranes with a high affinity for factor Xa have high Vmax values, while for membranes with a low affinity a low Vmax is observed. Extrapolation of double-reciprocal plots of 1/Vmax vs. 1/[phospholipid] to infinite phospholipid concentrations, a condition at which all factor Xa would participate in prothrombin activation, yields a kcat of 2-4 min-1 independent of the type and amount of acidic phospholipid present in the vesicles. Also, in the presence of factor Va the Km for prothrombin varies proportionally with the phospholipid concentration. There is, however, no correlation between the binding parameters and the Km. Factor Va drastically lowers the Km for prothrombin for vesicles that have a low affinity for prothrombin. Vesicles composed of 20 mol % phosphatidylglycerol and 80 mol % phosphatidylcholine have a Km of 0.04 microM when factor Va is present, compared to 2.2 microM determined in the absence of factor Va.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The effect of several viper venoms on prothrombin Padua.

The effect of four viper venoms (Oxyuranus scutellatus, Notechis scutatus scutatus, Echis carinatus, Naja nigricollis) on prothrombin Padua has been studied. Using Oxyuranus scutellatus venom and Notechis scutatus scutatus venom, prothrombin activity resulted to be moderately decreased similarly to what observed with other one-stage and two-stage methods. On the contrary, using Echis carinatus venom a normal level was obtained. No clotting was observed using the Naja nigricollis venom, regardless of the concentration used. The normal level of factor II obtained with Echis carinatus venom as compared with the low levels obtained with the other venoms, suggests that it acts on a different site of the prothrombin molecule.     

The effect of mannose6-phosphate on the turnover of cell surface glycosaminoglycans

Human fibroblasts (SL66) were cultured in medium containing 35SO4(2-) to label the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). After washing, the labeled cells were chased in the presence or absence of mannose6-phosphate (M6P) and the GAGs were analyzed in terms of three arbitrary fractions: 1, Extracellular (soluble medium), 35S radioactivity higher in cultures without M6P than in cultures with M6P. 2, Pericellular (cell surface-associated), 35S radioactivity lower in cultures without M6P than in cultures with M6P. 3, Intracellular (residue within the intact cell), no difference in 35S radioactivity between the two sets of cultures. In addition, when the 35S-labeled GAGs from corresponding cellular compartments derived from cultures with and without M6P were digested with pronase and chondroitin ABC lyase, and then compared by chromatography on Sepharose CL-6B, distinct molecular differences in both the extracellular and pericellular fractions were observed. Several lines of evidence indicate that the effect of M6P on the turnover of 35S-labeled GAGs in our assay system reflects disruption of cell surface lysosomal enzyme activity. For example, when the experiment was performed with I cells, which lack enzymes carrying the M6P marker, no difference was seen in cultures with or without M6P. The addition of lysosomal enzymes derived from normal human fibroblasts to 35SO4-labeled I cells, however, resulted in the turnover of pericellular GAGs and this effect was inhibited by M6P. These results suggest that one possible function of cell surface receptors recognizing the M6P moiety of lysosomal enzymes is to anchor certain of these enzymes proximate to their substrates at the cell surface.     

The effect of acetaldehyde concentrations on the relative rates of formation of acetaldehyde-modified hemoglobins

The effect of various concentrations of acetaldehyde (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 mM) on the relative rates of formation of hemoglobin acetaldehyde adducts detected in fractions eluted from cation exchange high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) was investigated. When the hemoglobin and acetaldehyde mixtures were incubated at 37 degrees C for various time intervals up to 24 hr, increased amounts of HbA1c could be observed after 2 hr incubation with 1 mM or greater concentrations of acetaldehyde, or after 4 hr incubation with at least 0.5 mM acetaldehyde. An increase in the HbA1a + b fraction was not observed with 4 hr incubation time until the acetaldehyde level reached 1 mM. The HPLC method detected no difference in minor hemoglobins from alcoholic and normal subjects. Incubation of red blood cells at 37 degrees C for 1 hr with six consecutive pulses of 0.05 mM [14C]acetaldehyde showed no differences in the amounts of minor hemoglobins determined chromatographically at various pulse intervals. However, the measure of the 14C-label incorporation into hemoglobin showed that adducts eluting in the HbA1a+b fraction were formed at a faster rate than those eluting in the HbA1c or HbA0 fraction, respectively. The specific activities of the HbA1a+b fractions at 2, 4, and 6 pulses were 34, 128, and 949 cpm/mg hemoglobin; those of the HbA1c fraction were 15, 58, and 174 cpm/mg hemoglobin. This evidence of modification of hemoglobin by physiological levels of acetaldehyde from 14C-label incorporation suggests that an assay more sensitive than chromatographic separation of adducts might be clinically useful in detecting alcoholism or monitoring alcohol detoxification programs.     

The use of prothrombin(S525C) labeled with fluorescein to directly study the inhibition of prothrombinase by antithrombin during prothrombin activation

Serine 525 of human prothrombin was mutated to cysteine and covalently labeled with fluorescein to make II(S525C)-fluorescein. Kinetics of cleavage of this derivative by prothrombinase are identical to those of wild-type prothrombin. Cleavage is coincident with a 50% increase in fluorescence intensity and the product is catalytically inactive. Thus, it allows convenient monitoring of prothrombin activation without generating active thrombin. The kinetics of inhibition of factor Xa (FXa) by antithrombin (AT) and AT-heparin were measured by monitoring activation of II(S525C)-fluorescein and the hydrolysis of the chromogenic substrate S2222 in the presence of AT. With S2222 as the substrate the rate constant for inhibition of FXa, Ca(2+), and unilamellar vesicles of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine (75:25) (PCPS) vesicles by AT was 3.51 x 10(3) m(-1) s(-1); when factor Va (FVa) was included the rate constant was 1.55 x 10(3) m(-1) s(-1). In the absence of FVa, II(S525C)-fluorescein had no effect on inhibition. When II(S525C)-fluorescein was the substrate, however, FVa at saturating concentrations profoundly protected FXa from inhibition by AT, increasing the half-life from 3 min with FXa, Ca(2+), PCPS, and II(S525C)-fluorescein, to greater than 69 min when FVa was included. Thus, both FVa and prothrombin are necessary for this level of protection. In the absence of prothrombin, FVa decreased the second order rate constant for inhibition by the AT-heparin complex from 1.58 x 10(7) m(-1) s(-1), for FXa, Ca(2+), and PCPS, to 7.72 x 10(6) m(-1) s(-1). II(S525C)-fluorescein and factor Va together reduced the rate constant to less than 1% of that for FXa, Ca(2+), and PCPS. At a heparin concentration of 0.2 unit/ml, this corresponds to a half-life increase from 1 s to 136 s.