Characterization of urokinase type plasminogen activator modified by phenylglyoxal

A chemical modification of single-chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator (scu-PA) with phenylglyoxal under mild conditions resulted in the scu-PA derivatives with various numbers of the modified Arg residues. The study of properties of the resulting derivatives demonstrated that the modification of 4-12 Arg residues did not cause any loss of the activator, fibrinolytic, and potential amidase activities of the activator. The scu-PA with four modified Arg residues was found to be the most stable derivative in human blood plasma; it causes a more efficient lysis of plasma clots than the native activator. Three of four modified Arg residues are supposed to be within the 178RRHRGGS184 cluster, which was localized in the superficial loop of the scu-PA globule and was shown to interact with the complementary series of negatively charged residues in the molecule of the main plasma inhibitor PAI-1. The neutralization of positively charged Arg residues in this cluster decreases the affinity of scu-PA and the double chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator for PAI-1, which results in an enhancement of the stability in plasma and the fibrinolytic efficiency of the activator. The English version of the paper: Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry, 2002, vol. 28, no. 4; see also http://www.maik.ru.