Protease-nexin: a cellular component that links thrombin and plasminogen activator and mediates their binding to cells.
This report identifies a component of normal human fibroblasts that forms a covalent linkage with thrombin and urokinase (urinary plasmingoen activator) and mediates most of the specific cellular binding of these proteases. This component, here named protease-nexin (PN), is both associated with the cell surface and released into the culture medium. In several ways PN resembles antithrombin III (AT3), a prominent inhibitor of thrombin in serum: PN links thrombin, probably via an ester bond; PN does not link thrombin blocked at its catalytic site serine; PN has a high-affinity heparin-binding site; and heparin greatly accelerates the rate of linkage between soluble PN and thrombin. Despite these similarities, PN and AT3 are distinct; they differ in size and are not immunologically cross-reactive. Whereas AT3 regulates the proteolytic activity of thrombin in serum, PN may regulates the activity of serine proteases at and near the cell surface.[1]References
- Protease-nexin: a cellular component that links thrombin and plasminogen activator and mediates their binding to cells. Baker, J.B., Low, D.A., Simmer, R.L., Cunningham, D.D. Cell (1980) [Pubmed]
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