| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
KD Kurz, T Smith, A Wilson, B Gerlitz, MA Richardson and BW Grinnell
Division of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Lilly Research Laboratories,
Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Conversion by alpha-thrombin of the zymogen human protein C (HPC) to
activated protein C (aPC) is an important physiologic feedback control
mechanism for the coagulation cascade. Although activation of HPC by
thrombomodulin-bound thrombin is relatively rapid, activation by free
thrombin occurs at a significantly slower rate. Previously, we generated a
"hyper-activatable" derivative of HPC (FLIN-Q3) with an increased
activation rate by free alpha-thrombin in vitro. In this study, the
antithrombotic efficacy of FLIN-Q3 was compared with both native zymogen
and aPC in an arteriovenous shunt model of thrombosis in the guinea pig.
Recombinant proteins were infused 15 minutes before and throughout a
15-minute period while blood was circulated from carotid to jugular through
tubing that enclosed a thread on which fibrin was deposited. Parallel
dose-dependent antithrombotic responses were observed. Under these
non-steady-state conditions, the calculated infusion doses associated with
a 50% reduction of thrombus mass were 2.7, 24, and 250 mg/kg/h for aPC,
FLIN-Q3, and HPC, respectively. Thrombus weight correlated inversely with
plasma concentration of aPC, measured amidolytically, from either direct
infusion of aPC or that generated from the zymogens in the animal, and
similarly correlated inversely with anticoagulant activity measured by
whole blood aPTT. Neither zymogen form showed significant aPC activity
before shunt circulation, suggesting a requirement for exposure to
thrombin. After the infusion was discontinued for 15 minutes, a second
period of thrombus formation in the shunt demonstrated the ability of
zymogen forms of PC, unlike aPC, to provide "on-demand" anticoagulant
responses to repeated thrombotic stimuli. Thus, a "hyper-activatable" PC
molecule such as FLIN-Q3 may represent a superior form of anticoagulant
therapy than either the native zymogen or aPC.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||
| Copyright © 1997 by American Society of Hematology Online ISSN: 1528-0020 | |||||||||