Binding of alpha 1 antitrypsin (alpha 1 protease inhibitor) to human lymphocytes

Radioiodinated α₁ antitrypsin has been found to bind to human lymphocytes. This binding is fast and reversible, and the cells can be saturated. Each lymphocyte can bind a maximum of approximately 1.2 × 10⁶ molecules of α₁ antitrypsin with an association constant of 0.7 × 10⁶ M^?1×l. The binding is inhibited by the addition of cold α₁ antitrypsin or Soybean trypsin inhibitor, and partially by α₂ macroglobulin. The data suggest that α₁ antitrypsin is likely to bind to a cell surface-associated protease. The addition of cell-free supernatants from lymphocytes incubated at 37°C was found to decrease the binding of α₁ antitrypsin, suggesting that the receptor is released from the cell surface.