Homozygous nonsense mutation (Cys72-->stop) in the human F7 gene: a not life-threatening mutation despite the absence of circulating factor VII.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Tapon-Bretaudiere.
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Fucoïdans are a family of high molecular weight sulphated polysaccharides in the Mr range 8 x 10(5) -10(6), widely dispersed in brown seaweed cell wall. When extracted from several brown algae, they exhibit anticoagulant properties. The chemical degradation of a crude extract, from Pelvetia canaliculata, was undertaken to obtain a low molecular weight polysaccharide (Mr 20,000 +/- 5,000) with the purpose of a possible clinical use. Its anticoagulant potency was investigated through the inhibition of factor IIa and factor Xa in the presence of antithrombin III or heparin cofactor II. The degraded fucoïdan revealed a potent antithrombin activity: studied in an antithrombin III depleted plasma or in the presence of purified heparin cofactor II, the fucoïdan was as efficient as heparin and dermatan sulphate on heparin cofactor II potentiation, at the same concentration by weight. In whole plasma or in the presence of the purified inhibitor, an anti-factor IIa activity mediated by antithrombin III was detected (30 times less potent than for heparin, on a weight to weight basis). In contrast, no anti-factor Xa activity was detected in the presence of the degraded fucoïdan, under the same experimental conditions. These fucoïdans, by-products of alginates preparation in the food and cosmetologic industries, are obtained easily. Thus, they may represent a cheap and easy source of a new type of anticoagulants.
Six oversulfated dermatan sulfate (DS) derivatives, differing in their tissue origin (porcine skin, bovine and porcine intestinal mucosa), and the oversulfation method of preparation, have been tested for their anticoagulant properties. In the first method, the SO3-trimethylamine complex is added to a DS sodium salt dissolved in formamide while it is added to a DS-benzethonium salt dissolved in dimethyl formamide in the second method. The rate of sulfation of these compounds ranged from 7.8 to 11.5 percent of sulfur on a weight basis, whereas it is 6% and 12% for natural DS and for heparin respectively. The anticoagulant potency was assessed by determining the catalytic effect of each glycosaminoglycan on the inhibition of thrombin added to (i) plasma (ii) purified heparin cofactor II(HC II) or (iii) purified antithrombin III(AT III). The catalytic effect on Factor Xa inhibition in the presence of AT III has also been investigated. The increased sulfation is found to enhance the antithrombin activity of the native dermatan sulfate whatever the method used, while the Factor Xa inhibition by AT III could be catalysed only by the most sulfated derivative obtained by the second method. The two derivatives which were less oversulfated, by the first oversulfation method, exhibit equal or even higher catalytic effects on thrombin inhibition when compared to the four other derivatives. The use of the first oversulfation method provides slightly oversulfated derivatives which exhibit strong anticoagulant properties and may constitute effective antithrombotic drugs with no bleeding tendency, a side effect perhaps related to a high rate of sulfation.
Antithrombogenic functional polymer surfaces have been obtained by grafting heparin or by substituting insoluble polystyrene with sulphonate and/or amino acid sulphamide groups. Their heparin-like properties have been related to their catalytic effects on the antithrombin III - thrombin complex formation. Amongst these antithrombogenic surfaces, this study demonstrates that some insoluble amino acid sulphamide derivatives of polystyrene strongly potentiate heparin cofactor II, in addition to antithrombin III. In contrast, an insoluble polystyrene sulphonate and, to a lesser extent, an insoluble heparin copolymer, are better catalysts of antithrombin III. It is hypothesized that such different behaviours result from different conformations of the species adsorbed onto the surfaces. The conclusions support the possible use of such amino acid sulphamide groups to prepare antithrombogenic surfaces in contact with blood.
Antithrombin III (AT III) inhibits thrombin via an arginine-serine interaction. Insoluble polystyrene resins grafted with arginyl methyl ester have been synthesized, and their interaction with thrombin tested. One of these resins was selected for its high affinity for thrombin. In this paper we report the characteristics of this thrombin resin interaction. Using this substituted polystyrene resin as a support for affinity chromatography, we have compared the binding of thrombin with that of other proteins (prothrombin, Factor IXa, trypsin and AT III). It was found that 0.7 mg of highly purified human thrombin (2,100 U/mg) was bound to 1 g of resin. This could only be eluted at high ionic strength (1.5 M) and the amidolytic and clotting activities of the eluted thrombin remained unchanged. The binding of thrombin to the resin involves the active site of the enzyme but also other residues since, when DIP thrombin was used, the inactive enzyme could be eluted at lower ionic strength (1.0 M). This resin seems to be specific for thrombin because it does not bind the other serine-proteases (trypsin or Factor IXa), prothrombin (the inactive precursor of thrombin) or AT III. The arginyl residues of the resin are important for the specificity of the interaction with Factor IIa since prolyl residues are totally ineffective. Chromatography performed on such a resin is a very efficient method of purifying thrombin, and may be very useful for the removal of thrombin as a contaminant of plasma protein fractions.
To study the three-dimensional organization of alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M) from human plasma, immunoelectron microscopy of negatively stained specimens was used. A panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) with specificities typical for the two major conformers of alpha 2M (native and protease-transformed) was explored. The mAb have been selected and were classified biochemically as specific for either native or transformed alpha 2M or as reactive with both conformers. Furthermore, among the mAb that were specific for the proteinase-transformed form of alpha 2M, those reacting with the 20-kDa receptor-binding domain were considered a fourth category. Immunoelectron microscopy with these 20-kDa receptor-binding domain-specific mAb yielded the most typical result: predominantly, individual H-like alpha 2M-chymotrypsin molecules were complexed with two IgG molecules, each one bound to the extremities of two arms of the H-like figure. The resulting planar complex has the appearance of a dumbbell. Since this was observed with eight different mAb of this specificity, the result is interpreted to mean that the 20-kDa receptor-binding domain is compact and constitutes the outermost domain at the extremes of the arms of the H-like transformed alpha 2M. The mAb which are specific for the transformed state of alpha 2M but which do not react with the 20-kDa receptor-binding domain, also bound at the arms of the H-like figure, but at nonterminal positions. Moreover, these mAb produced mostly linear, chain-like immune complexes of numerous H-like alpha 2M molecules cross-linked by the IgG. The large category of mAb that reacted with both conformers of alpha 2M (native and proteinase complex) were observed to make various types of immune complexes with intra- and intermolecular cross-linking by the IgG. The observations of reaction of these mAb with Cd2+-induced dimers (half-molecules of alpha 2M), either native or transformed, proved helpful and, for certain mAb, essential to understand the organization of the alpha 2M-IgG complexes. Combined, the observations allow us to propose new models for the three-dimensional organization of native and chymotrypsin-transformed dimeric and tetrameric human alpha 2M.
Well-preserved structures of native and alpha-chymotrypsin-bound alpha 2-macroglobulin were obtained by electron microscopy. Computer processing of these images has shown that the native structure has the shape of a padlock 19 nm long. It is proposed that the native alpha 2-macroglobulin consists of the juxtaposition of two protomers with one protomer shaped like a distorted letter "S" and with the other its reverse image, to form a binding site between the two protomers near the bottom of the complex. On cleavage of the subunits with chymotrypsin, the native structure condenses to 16.7 nm and rearranges so that the interaction between the protomers is near the middle. Two images of the alpha 2-macroglobulin-chymotrypsin conjugate were obtained. We suggest that these images represent the end and side view of this complex. Based on the manner in which the native structure is assembled, we propose that the proteolyzed form of alpha 2-macroglobulin is functionally asymmetric in that both protease binding sites reside on the same half of the complex.
A new congenital dysprothrombinaemia is described in a newborn baby girl who presented severe bleeding from the second day of life. Routine coagulation tests showed very prolonged prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time with about 2% prothrombin activity in a one-stage assay. Staphylocoagulase and Echis carinatus venom prothrombin assays were respectively 35% and 25%. The prothrombin antigen level was 47% and its migration in crossed immuno-electrophoresis was abnormal. Family study revealed the presence of both normal and abnormal prothrombin in the plasma of three family members: the father, the mother and the brother. Thrombin generation in a system free from natural inhibitors showed that the abnormal prothrombin was slowly and incompletely activated. The propositus is thought to be homozygous for a 'lazy' dysprothrombin.
Insoluble polystyrenes substituted with sulphonate and L-arginyl methyl ester have been synthesized. Using their specific affinity for thrombin, we developed a simple one-step chromatographic procedure for thrombin purification. As a control, insoluble polystyrenes substituted only with sulphonate groups were tested. The results obtained confirmed the importance of the arginyl residues grafted onto these polymers to obtain an affinity matrix useful for purifying thrombin with a high specific activity and a good recovery.
Insoluble polystyrenes substituted with sulphonate and L-arginyl methyl ester (PAOM) present substituents mimicking the reactive binding site of antithrombin III. These materials have a specific affinity for thrombin. The binding of the enzyme is reversible and the eluted thrombin remains active. Consequently, these resins can be used as stationary phases in affinity liquid chromatography in order to purify thrombin with a high biological activity. The influence of different characteristics of such polymers (substitution ratio, average particle size, affinity constant, synthesis conditions) on the purification performance is studied. Human prothrombin complex concentrate is activated and applied onto the gel. A purified human thrombin of high specific activity is separated with a high recovery of biological activity of the enzyme.
The mechanism of anticoagulant activity of dextrans substituted with carboxylic and benzylamide sulphonate groups is studied by various coagulation tests. These derivatives exhibit a heparin-like antithrombic activity which requires the presence of antithrombin III; however they are less effective than heparin on a weight basis. They also exert a direct antithrombic activity by an antithrombic III independent pathway; but this action is negligible compared to the thrombin inhibition observed in the presence of antithrombin III. Dextran derivatives have been prepared with antithrombic properties similar to those of heparin.
Chlorosulfonated polystyrenes grafted with arginyl methyl ester have been synthetized and characterized by elemental analyses. When suspended in plasma or in fibrinogen solutions, these insoluble polymers cause an increase in the thrombin clotting time. Consequently the antithrombin activity observed is not dependent upon to the presence of antithrombin III. Binding between the resin and thrombin can be demonstrated. An approximative value of the affinity constant is calculated: 2.3 X 10(6) 1/M. At high ionic strength, thrombin can be desorbed and exhibits normal coagulation properties. The prolongation of the thrombin time therefore can be attributed to the thrombin-resin interaction.
In order to investigate the mechanism of thrombin inactivation in the presence of both antithrombin III (AT III) and alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2 M), thrombin and the inhibitors have been purified from human material and thrombin inactivation studied using purified reagents either alone or added to defibrinated plasma. Comparison of clotting and amidolytic activities of residual thrombin allowed to measure the amount of thrombin bound to alpha 2 M. In a purified reagent system as well as in plasma, part of exogenous thrombin is bound to alpha 2 M. The amount of bound thrombin is related to alpha 2 M concentration. Conversely, previous plasma alpha 2 M depletion by immunoabsorption increases the consumption of heparin-cofactor activity by exogenous thrombi. Thus AT III and alpha 2 M compete for thrombin inactivation. This finding could be of practical interest in clinical situations associating high plasma alpha 2 M levels and a decrease of AT III concentrations.
The three-dimensional structures of chymotrypsin- and methylamine-treated negatively stained human alpha 2-macroglobulin have been determined by weighted back projection from electron microscope data. Projections of the reconstructions show good concordance with two-dimensional averages of both stained and frozen-hydrated molecules. The reconstructions reveal that the H-shaped front projection of the molecule is related to the smaller ellipsoidal end view by a rotation of 90 degrees about the crossbar (minor axis) of the H. This finding is in agreement with tilt studies. The reconstruction of the alpha 2-macroglobulin-methylamine reveals an hour-glass shaped void which is filled by the two proteinase molecules in the reconstruction of alpha 2-macroglobulin-chymotrypsin. Protein plugs which appear to block the exterior entrances to the cavity may function to prevent access of proteins to the encapsulated proteinase and serve to block its escape. Extensive thresholding of each reconstruction leaves a "backbone" consisting of two side-by-side rod-like structures, suggesting that this is the arrangement of the two protomeric units which form the molecule. Both structures show some departure from the expected symmetry. The asymmetries are robust features of the reconstructions and may reflect structurally asymmetric features of the transformation from the native to the chymotrypsin-treated form of the molecule.