A rat liver protein with potential thrombin activity: properties and partial purification

Induction of prothrombin biosynthesis and inhibition of gamma carboxylase activity in experimental models of liver regeneration and fibrosis

1. When acute liver damage is induced in rats treated with CCl4, both prothrombin biosynthesis and gamma carboxylase activity decreases, originating a prolongation of prothrombin time in plasma. 2. Then, during the regenerative process, prothrombin biosynthesis increases higher than normal, but gamma carboxylase activity remain decreased. In this case, prolongation of prothrombin time occurs in spite of high levels of descarboxylated prothrombin in plasma. 3. An increase of descarboxylated prothrombin in plasma is also detected in the CCl4-liver fibrosis model.

3-Methylcholanthrene induction of enzymes in the vitamin K-dependent carboxylation system

The effect of 3-methylcholanthrene on liver enzymes in the vitamin K-dependent carboxylation system has been investigated in normal rats and rats treated with the anticoagulant warfarin. It was found that 3-methylcholanthrene did not interfere with the anticoagulant function of the drug. Treatment of rats with 3-methylcholanthrene resulted in a 2.7-fold increase in liver cytosolic DT-diaphorase activity and a 1.5-fold increase in liver microsomal vitamin K-dependent carboxylase activity. A pathway for production of reduced vitamin K cofactor for the vitamin K-dependent carboxylase is catalyzed by DT-diaphorase and an as yet unidentified NADH-specific dehydrogenase(s). The data suggest that the unidentified enzyme(s) in the pathway is not induced by 3-methylcholanthrene.

Evidence for the glycoprotein nature of vitamin K-dependent carboxylase from rat liver

The ability of the rat liver microsomal vitamin K-dependent carboxylase and microsomal precursors of prothrombin and other vitamin K-dependent proteins to bind to lectin gels has been determined. Under denaturing conditions which dissociate precursor substrates from the carboxylase enzyme, prothrombin precursors and microsomal proteins labeled in gamma-carboxyglutamate residues with [14C]bicarbonate were nearly quantitatively bound to concanavalin A gels. When lentil lectin gels were used, only about one third of these proteins were bound, suggesting a heterogeneity of this glycoprotein pool. Under non-denaturing conditions, both precursor proteins and vitamin K-dependent carboxylase activity were retained on either concanavalin A or lentil lectin gels. These data are consistent with an increase in lectin binding determinants in the precursor-carboxylase complex and are evidence for the glycoprotein nature of this microsomal enzyme.

On the quantification of prothrombin from different species using Echis carinatus as activator

The generation of thrombin-like activity from rat, human, bovine and mouse prothrombin by Echis carinatus venom (ECV) treatment was compared using a partially purified system (i.e. whole ECV and isolated prothrombin). A rapid increase in coagulant activity was obtained within 0.5 to 2 min., being constant upon further incubation for 60 min. A large variation in coagulant activity of the ECV generated thrombin from the four species was found, whereas no differences were found for the amidolytic activities. The coagulant activities of the ECV generated thrombin was also low compared with the corresponding thrombin activities obtained by physiological activation. Coagulant activity of the ECV generated thrombin levelled off at increasing concentration of prothrombin in the sample as measured by the one-stage coagulation assay. By measuring amidolytic activity a linear relationship to the concentration of prothrombin was found, however. These findings indicate that ECV converts prothrombin from the four different species to a thrombin-like protein with properties distinct from alpha-thrombin. The lack of linearity in the ECV generated clot activity with increasing concentration of prothrombin could be explained by assuming a dimerization of the thrombin-like protein molecules making them less accessible to fibrinogen. The significance of these observations for the quantification of prothrombin from different species is discussed.

Responses of renal and hepatic vitamin K dependent gamma-glutamyl carboxylase substrates to warfarin and vitamin K treatments

A single intraperitoneal injection of warfarin (5 mg/kg) in the rat causes maximal accumulation of hepatic vitamin K dependent carboxylase substrate by 8 hr. In the kidney accumulation is slower with maximal amounts of the substrate appearing at about 16 hr. Vitamin K administered intravenously to warfarin-treated rats causes the complete disappearance of the hepatic substrate in 2 hr. In contrast, neither a single nor multiple injections of the vitamin decrease the renal substrate level by more than 30%. However, this decrease can be augmented by inhibition of protein synthesis with cycloheximide.

Post-translational carboxylation of preprothrombin

In summary, in this review on the function of vitamin K in post-translational modification of precursor proteins by carboxylation of certain glutamyl residues, I have tried to cover in particular the recent work on the reaction, the enzymes involved and the mechanisms being considered. In doing this I have also considered vitamin K, its discovery, its functional form and the possible relation of its metabolism to the carboxylation reaction. Equally the various vitamin K-dependent gla-containing proteins currently known have been described. The carboxylation of synthetic small molecule exogenous substrates and the synthesis and metabolism of the products of carboxylation are of great help in studying the reaction. Structural specificity of vitamin K analogs in vivo and in vitro has been compared and the use of various antagonists in vivo and in vitro considered in attempts to gain an understanding of the overall reaction. The reactions subsequent to carboxylation, e.g., the activation of prothrombin to thrombin via serine proteases and the related activation of the other vitamin K-dependent proteins have not been considered in this review. The review has not covered prothrombin or other vitamin K-dependent protein isolation, nor the determination of these proteins. As the vitamin K-dependent protein carboxylation story has developed over the past six years, a number of reviews have been written which help in keeping up with the various aspects of the field as it has expanded. These reviews refer to many of the papers I have had to eliminate due to space limitations. They are referenced as 469-489. The review is in no sense comprehensive and many papers have been missed or only mentioned. I have tried to concentrate on the more recent work and, thus, much of the very fine work of the 1940's on vitamin K chemistry is hardly mentioned. Some redundancy has been built into the organization of the review so that a reader can obtain a reasonable view of any one section without having to search the whole review for all possible relevant information on any particular part of the field.

Mechanism of action of vitamin K: synthesis of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid

Vitamin K (2-methyl-3-phytyl-1,4-naphthoquinone) is required for the synthesis of prothrombin, Factor VII, Factor IX, Factor X, and a number of newly discovered proteins. These plasma proteins participate in calcium-dependent phospholipid membrane interactions which are mediated through the presence of gamma-carboxyglutamyl residues in their amino-terminal region. Vitamin K is required for the postribosomal conversion of glutamyl residues in liver precursors of these proteins to gamma-carboxyglutamyl residues in the completed plasma proteins. In the absence of vitamin K, or in the presence of vitamin K antagonists, animals produce plasma forms which lack the carboxylated residue. These proteins are nonfunctional because of their lack of phospholipid interaction. The vitamin K-dependent carboxylase which carries out this reaction has been studied in rat liver microsomal preparations where it will carboxylate the endogenous precursor proteins. Low-molecular-weight glutamyl-containing peptide substrates, such as Phe-Leu-Glu-Glu-Leu, which are homologous to regions of the prothrombin precursor, will also serve as substrates for the detergent-solubilized enzyme. This enzyme has been shown to require the reduced form of the vitamin and O2 but no ATP or a biotin-containing protein for its activity. The same microsomal preparations will also convert vitamin K to its 2,3-epoxide, and it is possible that activity may be related to the role of the vitamin in driving the carboxylase reaction.

Purification of an apparent rat liver prothrombin precursor: characterization and comparison to normal rat prothrombin

Current evidence would suggest that prothrombin is synthesized from a liver precursor molecule in a vitamin K dependent step which involves the attachment of calcium binding groups to the precursor. A protein has now been isolated from the liver of warfarin-treated rats which has the properties predicted for this precursor. The purified precursor is a glycoprotein with a molecular weight indistinguishable from rat prothrombin. Both electrophoretic and isofocusing analyses indicate that the precursor is less negatively charged than prothrombin. Specific proteolysis of the precursor by thrombin, taipan snake venom, or clotting factor Xa yielded fragments indistinguishable from those formed by similar proteolysis of prothrombin. The rate of activation of the precursor to thrombin by factor Xa and Ca-2+ was not stimulated by the addition of phospholipid, while prothrombin activation is greatly stimulated under these conditions. All of the data obtained are consistent with the hypothesis that the protein isolated is a precursor to prothrombin, and that under the influence of vitamin K, this precursor is converted to prothrombin by the addition of a number of acidic calcium binding groups.