Studies on chemically modified fibrinogen. II. Physicochemical properties of maleylated fibrinogen (original) (raw)
Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2010
The shape and solution properties of fibrinogen are affected by the location of the C-terminal portion of the Aa chains, which is presently still controversial. We have measured the hydrodynamic properties of a human fibrinogen fraction with these appendages mostly intact, of chicken fibrinogen, where they lack 11 characteristic 13-amino acids repeats, and of human fragment X, a plasmin early degradation product in which they have been removed. The human fibrinogen/fragment X samples were extensively characterized by SDS-PAGE/Western blotting and mass spectrometry, allowing their composition to be precisely determined. The solution properties of all samples were then investigated by analytical ultracentrifugation and size-exclusion HPLC coupled with multi-angle light scattering and differential pressure viscometry detectors. The measured parameters suggest that the extra repeats have little influence on the overall fibrinogen conformation, while a significant change is brought about by the removal of the C-terminal portion of the Aa chains beyond residue Aa200.
Soluble fibrin-fibrinogen complexes as intermediates in fibrin gel formation
Biochemistry, 1986
Oligomer formation in fibrinogen solutions following addition of thrombin was studied by addition of thrombin inhibitor at various times subsequent to thrombin, followed by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) on a high-performance SEC column capable of resolving species of molecular weights 1106. Peaks corresponding to species with 1, 2, 3, and 4 or more times the molecular weight of fibrinogen were detected and quantified via nonlinear least-squares curve-fitting procedures. The evolution of each of these peaks with time is well accounted for by a kinetic model in which the predominant component of each oligomeric molecular weight species is a linear complex of fibrinogen and fibrin. The observed predominance of trimeric
Thrombosis Research, 1985
The plasma fibrinogen fractions HMW (mw 340,000) and LMW (mw 305,000) were prepared from purified (beta-alanine precipitated) fibrinogen by step-wise precipitation with ammonium sulfate. The thrombin clotting times were 14" and 20" respectively. The enzymatic phase of coagulation, measured as release of fibrinopeptide-A during incubation with thrombin, was found to be identical for HMW and LMW. Polymerization was studied by light scattering (at 605 nm) using preformed monomers (des-AA and des-AABB) prepared from HMW and LMW in the presence of 3.3 M urea by incubation with thrombin (100 NIH U/ml final conc.) and reptilase (1 U/ml final conc.). The HMW-monomers polymerised at a substantially higher rate than the corresponding LMW-monomers. Thus, the prolonged clotting time of LMW was explained by retarded polymerization. It is suggested that the -COOH terminal end of the a-chain, containing the molecular difference between HMW and LMW, is of importance for polymerization. Furthermore, the release of fibrinopeptide B (des-AABB-monomers) improved polymerization properties in HMW as well as in LMW, and all types of monomers polymerised more rapidly in the presence of Ca++.
Biochemistry, 1992
Out of 29 disulfide bonds in human fibrinogen, 7 were cleaved during limited reduction under nondenaturing conditions in calcium-free buffer: 2 Aa442Cys-Aa472Cys and 2 y326Cys-y339Cys intrachain disulfide bonds in the carboxy-terminal ends of the Aaand y-chains and the symmetrical disulfide bonds at y8Cys, y9Cys, and Aa28Cys. We studied the loss of thrombin clottability that followed limited reduction and the increase in the susceptibility of the fibrinogen Aa19-Aa20 bond to hydrolysis by thrombin. Using differential scanning calorimetry, we show that the extent of unfolding and denaturation of specific domains following limited reduction is small. Heat absorption peaks corresponding to the melting of the major regions of compact structure give high calorimetric enthalpies, as in untreated nonreduced fibrinogen, indicating that substantial regions of native structure are still present in partially reduced fibrinogen. Thrombin releases fibrinopeptide A at an identical rate as in nonreduced fibrinogen while fibrinopeptide B release is slower. Sedimentation velocity studies show that thrombin treatment leads to complex formation; however, gelation does not occur. Amino-terminal analysis indicates that the second thrombin cleavage in the Aa-chain at Aa19-Aa20 takes place only after fibrinopeptide A release. Thus, the loss of clottability appears to result from perturbation of carboxy-terminal polymerization sites, probably a consequence of y326Cys-/339Cys intrachain disulfide bond cleavage. The thrombin-treated partially reduced fibrinogen remains soluble in buffered saline and fully expresses at least one epitope, BP15-21, unique to fibrin. Furthermore, this nonclottable form accelerates the tissue plasminogen activator dependent conversion of plasminogen to plasmin.
European Journal of Biochemistry, 1994
It is well established that tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) binds to the D region of fibrin(ogen) and that two distinct CNBr fragments of fibrinogen (FCB), FCB-2 and FCB-5, comprising parts of this region, stimulate plasminogen activation by t-PA. In the present work, ligandbinding studies were performed to characterize the interactions between t-PA and the corresponding fibrin regions using a well defined model of a fibrin surface and both FCB-2 and FCB-5 in liquid and solid phase. Binding isotherms showed a characteristic Langmuir adsorption saturation profile. The dissociation constants determined for the binding of t-PA to immobilized FCB-2 (& = 0.70 2 0.10 nM) and FCB-5 (& = 0.47 * 0.08 nM) were of the same order of magnitude as the Kd for fibrin binding (Kd = 1 ? 0.2 nM). The specificity of the binding was demonstrated by the ability of soluble FCB-2 and FCB-5 to inhibit t-PA binding to solid-phase fibrin (K, = 3.3 pM and 6.4 pM, respectively). The binding of t-PA to fibrin and to immobilized FCB-2 was partially inhibited by the lysine analogue 6-aminohexanoic acid (K, = 123 * 47 pM and 364 pM, respectively) but was not modified by carboxypeptidase B, thus indicating involvement of internal lysine residues. Removal of lysine residues by treatment with, successively, plasmin and carboxypeptidase B, produced only a partial inhibition of t-PA binding, thus confirming the existence of both a lysine-dependent and a lysine-independent mechanism of binding of t-PA to both fibrin and FCB-2. In contrast, the binding of t-PA to F C B J was not significantly affected by 6-aminohexanoic acid. Altogether, these data indicate that the mechanism of binding of t-PA to fibrin involves mainly a lysine-independent interaction with the D region which is contributed by sequences present in FCB-5 and FCB-2; contribution to binding by a lysine-dependent interaction was detected only in FCB-2 and is probably of minor relevance as suggested by the limited effect of 6-aminohexanoic acid.
Fibrin Formation, Structure and Properties
Subcellular Biochemistry, 2017
Fibrinogen and fibrin are essential for hemostasis and are major factors in thrombosis, wound healing, and several other biological functions and pathological conditions. The X-ray crystallographic structure of major parts of fibrin(ogen), together with computational reconstructions of missing portions and numerous biochemical and biophysical studies, have provided a wealth of data to interpret molecular mechanisms of fibrin formation, its organization, and properties. On cleavage of fibrinopeptides by thrombin, fibrinogen is converted to fibrin monomers, which interact via knobs exposed by fibrinopeptide removal in the central region, with holes always exposed at the ends of the molecules. The resulting half-staggered, double-stranded oligomers lengthen into protofibrils, which aggregate laterally to make fibers, which then branch to yield a three-dimensional network. Much is now known about the structural origins of clot mechanical properties, including changes in fiber orientation, stretching and buckling, and forced unfolding of molecular domains. Studies of congenital fibrinogen variants and post-translational modifications have increased our understanding of the structure and functions of fibrin(ogen). The fibrinolytic system, with the zymogen plasminogen binding to fibrin together with tissue-type plasminogen activator to promote activation to the active proteolytic enzyme, plasmin, results in digestion of fibrin at specific lysine residues. In spite of a great increase in our knowledge of all these interconnected processes, much about the molecular mechanisms of the biological functions of fibrin(ogen) remains unknown, including some basic aspects of clotting, fibrinolysis, and molecular origins of fibrin mechanical properties. Even less is known concerning more complex (patho)physiological implications of fibrinogen and fibrin.