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We have isolated a previously unrecognized heparin-dependent inhibitor of thrombin from human plasma. The inhibitor, designated heparin cofactor II (HCII), was purified to homogeneity with sulfated-dextran, DEAE-Sepharose, heparin-Sepharose and Sephadex G-150. HCII is a glycoprotein consisting of a single polypeptide chain with a Mr = 65,600 as determined by sedimentation equilibrium analysis. Other physical properties include s20,w = 4.31 S; Stokes radius = 34 A; E280 1% = 11.7; and pI = 4.95 to 5.15. The purified inhibitor is not precipitated by antibodies directed against seven other plasma protease inhibitors, including antithrombin III (ATIII). HCII blocks the proteolytic and amidolytic activities of thrombin by forming a covalent, 1:1 molar complex with the protease. The second-order rate constant for inhibition of thrombin by purified HCII increases from 5.0 X 10(5) M-1 min-1 in the absence of heparin to 4.5 x 10(8) M-1 min-1 at optimal heparin concentrations of 0.8 to 1.0 unit/ml. In comparison with ATIII, HCII is a relatively ineffective inhibitor of coagulation factor Xa.

Commercial heparin was fractionated by affinity chromatography on immobilized antithrombin-III (AT-III) into nonbinding (NB), lower affinity (LA), and high affinity (HA) heparin, with specific anticoagulant activity of 9, 205, and 284 U/mg, respectively, Each fraction, in microgram quantities, was examined in the reaction of alpha-thrombin with a molar excess of 125I-labeled AT-III. Proteolysis of residual AT-III was assessed on the basis of distribution of radioactivity in SDS-polyacrylamide gels after electrophoresis. In the presence of HA heparin, 36% of AT-III participating in the reaction was degraded into a 50,000-dalton inactive fragment. Similarly designed proteolysis obtained in the presence of LA heparin was 21%, while in the presence of the NB fraction, or in the absence of heparin, only 8% of inhibitor was in the fragment form. When added to human plasma together with purified thrombin, both HA and LA heparin caused functional and electrophoretic changes suggestive of AT-III proteolysis. These observations support the concept that the conformational change, induced by binding of heparin, exposes specific polypeptide bonds susceptible to thrombin, except that nonproductive proteolysis may then occur even more rapidly than the formation of a stable enzyme-inhibitor complex. This, in turn, suggests that the presence of highly active heparin may contribute to reduction of the protective inhibitor in blood, if induction of proteolysis by thrombin is in effect.

The presence in clinically normal human skin of the proteinase inhibitor antithrombin III (ATIII) has been studied by indirect immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy. The IF staining reaction for ATIII in skin tissue sections was most prominent in vessel wall structures. The simultaneous use of fluorescent staining techniques for nuclear DNA revealed that ATIII antigen tends to be concentrated at the level of the vascular endothelial basement membrane, in contrast to the typical intra-endothelial distribution of Factor VIII related antigen. Although our findings indicate that ATIII is normally associated with dermal vessel walls, it remains to be seen whether its presence there is of importance, e.g. in modulating inflammatory skin responses.

Calmodulin has been isolated and characterized from the gill of the bay scallop aequipecten irradians. Quantitative electrophoretic analysis of epithelial cell fractions show most of the calmodulin to be localized in the cilia, specifically in the detergent- solubilized membrane-matrix fraction. Calmodulin represents 2.2 +/- 0.3 percent of the membrane-matrix protein or 0.41 +/- 0.5 percent of the total ciliary protein. Its concentration is at least 10(-4) M if distributed uniformly within the matrix. Extraction in the presence of calcium suggests that the calmodulin is not bound to the axoneme proper. The ciliary protein is identified as a calmodulin on the basis of its calcium- dependent binding to a fluphenazine-sepharose affinity column and its comigration with bovine brain calmodulin on alkaline-urea and SDS polyacrylamide gels in both the presence and absence of calcium. Scallop ciliary calmodulin activates bovine brain phosphodiesterase to the same extent as bovine brain and chicken gizzard calmodulins. Containing trimethyllysine and lacking cysteine and tryptophan, the amino acid composition of gill calmodulin is typical of known calmodulins, except that it is relatively high in serine and low in methionine. Its composition is less acidic than other calmodulins, in agreement with an observed isoelectric point approximately 0.2 units higher than that of bovine brain. Comparative tryptic peptide mapping of scallop gill ciliary and bovine brain calmodulins indicates coincidence of over 75 percent of the major peptides, but at least two major peptides in each show no near-equivalency. Preliminary results using ATP-reactivated gill cell models show no effect of calcium at micromolar levels on ciliary beat or directionality of the lateral cilia, the cilia which constitute the vast majority of those isolated. However, ciliary arrest will occur at calcium levels more than 150 muM. Because calmodulin usually functions in the micromolar range, its role in this system is unclear. Scallop gill ciliary calmodulin may be involved in the direct regulation of dyneintubule sliding, or it may serve some coupled calcium transport function. At the concentration in which it is found, it must also at least act as a calcium buffer.