PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR INHIBITOR
Authors: Loskutoff D J , Mimuro J , Hekman C 
Published: August 2018

Plasminogen activation provides an important source of localized proteolytic activity not only during fibrinolysis, but also during ovulation, cell migration, epithelial cell differentiation, tumor invasion and a variety of other physiological processes. Precise regulation of plasminogen activator (PA) activity thus constitutes a critical feature of many biological processes. This control is achieved in large part through the action of specific PA inhibitors (PAIs). Although 4 distinct PAIs have been detected,1the endothelial cellTderived inhibitor (PAI-1) is the only one that efficiently inhibits both urokinase (Kd=2.3×10−13M; Kassoc =1.6×108 M−1s−1) and single-chaintissue-type PA (tPA; Kd=1.3×lO−15 M Kd=3.9×lO7M−1s−1). It also inhibits trypsin (Kassoc=6.8×106M−1 s−1 ) ancl Plasmin (Kassoc=7.6×l05 M−1 s5 Analysis of the effect of PAI-1 on the rate of plasminogen activation revealed a competitive type of inhibition when urokinase was employed but a linear mixed type of inhibition when single chain tPA was employed. These results suggest that the interaction of PAI-1 with tPA, in contrast to its interaction with urokinase, may involve 2 sites on the tPA molecule.

PAI-1 has been purified from medium conditioned by cultured bovine aortic endothelial cells and partially characterized. It is a major biosynthetic product of these cells, accounting for as much as 12% of the total protein released by the cells in 24 h. It has an M of 50,000, an isoelectric point of 4.5-5.0, and is immunologically and biochemically related to the rapidly acting inhibitor present in human platelets and in the plasma of some patients at risk to develop thrombotic problems. Although it is relatively stable to conditions which inactivate most protease inhibitors (acid pH, SDS), it is extremely sensitive to oxidants. The molecular cloning of the PAI-1 gene revealed that the mature human protein is 379 amino acids long, contains an NH2-terminal valine, lacks cysteines and has a methionine at the Pi position of it's reactive center. The conversion of this methionine to methionine sulfoxide may be responsible for the rapid inactivation of PAI-1 by oxidants. Human PAI-1 has extensive (30%) homology with α1-antitrypsin and antithrombin III and is thus a member of the serine proteinase inhibitor (serpin) family; a group of related molecules that control the major protease cascades of the blood. The PAI-1 gene is approximately 12.2 kilobase pairs in length and is organized into nine exons and eight introns.

The production of PAI-1 by endothelial cells is stimulated by endotoxin, interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor, and transforming growth factor β(TGFβ). The cells are extremely sensitive to TGFβwith maximal effects (100-fold stimulation) observed with 1-2 ng/ml. These changes were relatively specific for PAI-1, and could be detected at both the protein and the RNA level. Interestingly, TGFgalso stimulated the amount of PAI-1 present in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of BAEs. PAI-1 was one of the primary ECM components of these cells, constituting 10-20% of the ECM proteins detected after SDS-PAGE.

One of the most unusual properties of PAI-1 is that it exists in blood and in various cellular samples in both an active and an inactive (latent) form, the ratio depending on the source. The latent form can be converted into the active one by treatment with denaturants like SDS or guanidine-HCl. Although the majority of the cell-associated PAI-1 is active, it rapidly decays (t1/2=3 h) into the latent form once it is released from the cells. In contrast, the half-life of ECM associated PAI-1 was greater than 24 h. These data suggest that PAI-1 is produced by BAEs in an active form, and is then either released into the medium where it is rapidly inactivated, or released into the subendothelium where it binds to ECM. The specific binding of PAI-1 to ECM protects it from this inactivation.