Locating the unpaired cysteine of tissue-type plasminogen activator

Variants of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) were constructedwith selected cysteines replaced by alanine to evaluate therole of an unpaired cysteine, which has been presumed to bein the growth factor module. C75A, C83A, C84A and CC83–84AAvariants of t-PA were expressed transiently in human embryonickidney cells. The biochemical properties of these variants providedexperimental evidence to identify the unpaired cysteine in t-PA.Assays of amidolytic activity, plasminogen activation (in thepresence or absence of fibrinogen or fibrin), plasma clot lysis,fibrin binding, clearance in mice, and interaction with a panelof monoclonal antibodies were performed as the basis for comparingthese variants with wild-type t-PA. In all assays, C83A t-PAwas biochemically equivalent to wild-type t-PA. C75A t-PA, C84At-PA and CC83-84AA t-PA variants exhibited reduced activitiesin a variety of functional assays. These variants displayedtwo- to threefold lower activity in fibrinogen or fibrin stimulatedplasminogen activation, and fivefold reduced plasma clot lysisactivity compared with that of wild-type t-PA. The affinityof C75A t-PA and C84A t-PA for fibrin was decreased more thantwo orders of magnitude compared with C83A t-PA or wild-typet-PA. Plasma clearance of C75A t-PA and C84A t-PA was reduced2-fold in mice. The C75A, C84A and CC83–84AA variantsdisplayed significantly decreased reactivity with anti-tPA monoclonalantibodies specific for finger/growth factor domain epitopes.These data are consistent with a disulfide linkage of Cys75with Cys84 and that Cys83 exists as an unpaired sulfhydryl.The significance of the unpaired cysteine is as yet undeterminedsince C83A t-PA and wild-type t-PA are functionally equivalent.