Summary
BM 06.022 is a non-glycosylated mutant of human tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) comprising only the kringle-2 and proteinase domains. The in vivo half-life of BM 06.022 antigen is 4- to 5-fold longer than that of t-PA antigen. The in vitro half-life of the activity of BM 06.022 at therapeutic concentrations in plasma is shorter than that of t-PA. In this study the inactivation of BM 06.022 in plasma was further investigated.
Varying concentrations of BM 06.022 were incubated in plasma for 0-150 min. Activity assays on serial samples showed a dose-dependent decline of BM 06.022 activity with a half-life from 72 min at 0.3 μg/ml to 38 min at 10 μg/ml. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by fibrin autography showed the generation of several BM 06.022-complexes. These complexes could be completely precipitated with antibodies against Cl-inactivator, α2-antiplasmin and α1-antitrypsin.
During the incubation of BM 06.022 in plasma, plasmin was generated dose-dependently as revealed by varying degrees of a2-anti-plasmin consumption and fibrinogen degradation. SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting showed that single-chain BM 06.022 was rapidly (i. e. within 45 min) converted into its two-chain form at concentrations of 5 μg/ml BM 06.022 and higher.
In conclusion, BM 06.022 at therapeutic concentrations in plasma was inactivated by Cl-inactivator, a2-antiplasmin and a j-antitrypsin. The half-life of the activity decreased at increasing BM 06.022 concentrations, probably as a result of the generation of two-chain BM 06.022 which may be inactivated faster than the single-chain form.
