PURPOSE Thrombin inhibits intercellular Ca(2+) wave propagation in bovine corneal endothelial cells (BCECs) through a mechanism dependent on myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation. In this study, blebbistatin, a selective myosin II ATPase inhibitor, was used to investigate whether the effect of thrombin is mediated by enhanced actomyosin contractility. METHODS BCECs were exposed to thrombin...

• Inhibition of FXa or thrombin might be considered to reduce thrombotic complications and vascular inflammation in sickle cell patients. • PAR-2 could be a potential target to inhibit vascular pathology associated with sickle cell disease. Activation of coagulation and vascular inflammation are prominent features of sickle cell disease (SCD). Previously, we have shown that inhibition of tissue...

Heparin cofactor II is a plasma protein that inhibits thrombin rapidly in the presence of either heparin or dermatan sulfate. We have determined the effects of two glycosaminoglycan-binding proteins, i.e., histidine-rich glycoprotein and platelet factor 4, on these reactions. Inhibition of thrombin by heparin cofactor II and heparin was completely prevented by purified histidine-rich glycoprote...

The purpose of this study was to compare three heparin-binding plasma proteinase inhibitors in order to identify common and unique features of heparin binding and heparin-enhanced proteinase inhibition. Experiments with antithrombin, heparin cofactor, and protein C inhibitor were performed under identical conditions in order to facilitate comparisons. Synthetic peptides corresponding to the put...

The influence of heparin on the reaction between thrombin and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) has been examined. With a 50-fold excess of PAI-1, the rate constant for the inhibition of thrombin was 458 mol/L-1s-1, which increased to 5,000 mol/L-1s-1 in the presence of 25 micrograms/mL unfractionated heparin or heparin with low affinity for antithrombin. The effect of low affinity hepa...

Early thrombosis of artificial microvascular grafts (AMG, grafts < or = 2 mm internal diameter) prevents their reliable clinical use. The present studies were undertaken to examine the effect of hirudin, a thrombin-specific inhibitor, and of the F(ab')2 fragment of PG-1, a monoclonal antibody (MoAb) directed against guinea pig platelet membrane glycoprotein Ib (GPIb), on AMG patency in an anima...

The interaction of thrombin with plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) is shown to result in the simultaneous formation of both cleaved PAI-1 and a sodium dodecyl sulfate-stable thrombin-PAI-1 complex. The kinetics of this reaction can be described by a "suicide substrate" mechanism that includes a branched reaction pathway, which terminates in either the stable inhibitor-enzyme complex or ...

Thrombin uses three principal sites, the active site, exosite I, and exosite II, for recognition of its many cofactors and substrates. It is synthesized in the zymogen form, prothrombin, and its activation at the end of the blood coagulation cascade results in the formation of the active site and exosite I and the exposure of exosite II. The physiological inhibitors of thrombin are all serpins,...

Here we tested the ability to augment the biological activity of the thrombin aptamer, d(GGTTGGTGTGGTTGG), by using locked nucleic acid (LNA) to influence its G-quadruplex structure. Compared to un-substituted control aptamer, LNA-containing aptamers displayed varying degrees of thrombin inhibition. Aptamers with LNA substituted in either positions G5, T7, or G8 showed decreased thrombin inhibi...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of Pyk2, a proline-rich nonreceptor tyrosine kinase, in G protein-coupled receptor agonist, thrombin-induced human aortic smooth muscle cell growth and migration, and injury-induced vascular wall remodeling. METHODS AND RESULTS Thrombin, a G protein-coupled receptor agonist, activated Pyk2 in a time-dependent manner and inhibition of its stimulation attenuate...