DOMAIN OF BINDING ACTIVITY WITH PLASMIN KRINGLE IN SYNTHESIZED C-TERMINAL PEPTIDES , OF α2-PLASMIN INHIBITOR

The inhibitory reaction between plasmin and α2-plasmin inhibitor (α2-PI) proceeds with two steps, a very fast reversible reaction followed by a slower irreversible transition. The first step is dependent on the interaction between lysine binding site (LBS) of plasmin and the corresponding complementary site of α2-PI (kringle binding site(KBS)). It has been reported that KBS is located in a C-terminal tryptic fragment (T-11; J. Biochem. 99, 1699 (1986)). In order to investigate which amino acid residues of T-ll play important roles in binding of plasmin kringle, we tested inhibitory activity of synthesized peptides on the apparent rate constant in the reaction between α2-PI and plasmin. 50% inhibition concentrations of T-ll, peptide I, II, III and IV were 7, 18, 13, 35 and 250pM respectively, indicating that Leu9-Lysl0 is an important part for binding of T-ll to LBS. Peptide III lost its activity by depletion or amidation of the C-terminal lysine residue. In the system consisted of α2-PI and miniplasmin which lacked kringle 1-4, peptide I did not inhibit the interaction between them. Furthermore, peptide II competitively inhibited the binding of tranexamic acid to kringle 1-3 (Ki 0.85μM). These findings suggest that the C-terminal part is involved in the high affinity binding of α2-PI to plasmin kringle and that LyslO in T-ll and C-terminal carboxyl residue play crucial roles in binding to LBS of kringle.