Effects of proteinase inhibitors on preimplantation embryos in the rat

Proteinase inhibitors of microbial origin were injected into the uterine horns of mated rats at 14:00 h on Day 5 of pregnancy (spermatozoa in vaginal smear = Day 1), and 5 or 6 h later the embryos were flushed from the horns and examined. Chymostatin and alpha-MAPI, inhibitors of chymotrypsin-like serine proteinase and thiol proteinases, as well as thiolstatin, an inhibitor of thiol proteinases, significantly inhibited embryo growth. The inhibitory activity of alpha-MAPI on embryonic growth was distinctly greater than that of thiolstatin, although the ID50 values of the two inhibitors to papain are similar. Antipain and leupeptin which are inhibitors of trypsin-like and thiol proteinases, and talopeptin, an inhibitor of metal proteinases, significantly interrupted the removal of the zona pellucida from expanding blastocysts. These results suggest that (1) a chymotrypsin-like proteinase seems to be important to the growth of the embryo, (2) a thiol proteinase may participate in embryonic growth, and (3) a trypsin-like proteinase and a metal proteinase are likely to participate in zonalysis.     

A protein containing the cystic fibrosis antigen is an inhibitor of protein kinases

To investigate myeloid cell maturation, we established a panel of monoclonal antibodies that recognize myeloid cell nuclear antigens. One of these monoclonal antibodies was used to purify a specific protein complex (PC) from a human spleen. This PC, which is present at high levels in peripheral blood monocytes and granulocytes, contains a protein that is the cystic fibrosis (CF) antigen. The purified PC was shown to inhibit the activity of casein kinase I and II but not cAMP-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase C, v-abl tyrosine kinase, or insulin receptor tyrosine kinase. The observed Ki values for casein kinases I and II purified from several sources were 1 microM or less. Furthermore, the addition of the purified PC to a nuclear extract from human cells was able to prevent protein kinase-mediated stimulation of RNA polymerase activity. The unique inhibitory character of the PC and its elevated levels in monocytes and granulocytes and of the CF antigen in CF patients implies that this complex may be associated with myeloid cell functions and perhaps with the cause or consequence of the clinical manifestations of CF.