A peptide mimicking the C-terminal part of the reactive center loop induces the transition to the latent form of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1

Identification and validation of SERPINE1 as a prognostic and immunological biomarker in pan-cancer and in ccRCC

Background: SERPINE1, a serine protease inhibitor involved in the regulation of the plasminogen activation system, was recently identified as a cancer-related gene. However, its clinical significance and potential mechanisms in pan-cancer remain obscure. Methods: In pan-cancer multi-omics data from public datasets, including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx), and online web tools were used to analyze the expression of SERPINE1 in different cancers and its correlation with prognosis, genetic alteration, DNA promoter methylation, biological processes, immunoregulator expression levels, immune cell infiltration into tumor, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), immunotherapy response and drug sensitivity. Further, two single-cell databases, Tumor Immune Single-cell Hub 2 (TISCH2) and CancerSEA, were used to explore the expression and potential roles of SERPINE1 at a single-cell level. The aberrant expression of SERPINE1 was further verified in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) through qRT-PCR of clinical patient samples, validation in independent cohorts using The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, and proteomic validation using the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) database. Results: The expression of SERPINE1 was dysregulated in cancers and enriched in endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Copy number amplification and low DNA promoter methylation could be partly responsible for high SERPINE1 expression. High SERPINE1 expression was associated with poor prognosis in 21 cancers. The results of gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) indicated SERPINE1 involvement in the immune response and tumor malignancy. SERPINE1 expression was also associated with the expression of several immunoregulators and immune cell infiltration and could play an immunosuppression role. Besides, SERPINE1 was found to be related with TMB, MSI, immunotherapy response and sensitivity to several drugs in cancers. Finally, the high expression of SERPINE1 in ccRCC was verified using qRT-PCR performed on patient samples, six independent GEO cohorts, and proteomic data from the CPTAC database. Conclusion: The findings of the present study revealed that SERPINE1 exhibits aberrant expression in various types of cancers and is associated with cancer immunity and tumor malignancy, providing novel insights for individualized cancer treatment.

A Narrative Review on Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 and Its (Patho)Physiological Role: To Target or Not to Target?

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is the main physiological inhibitor of plasminogen activators (PAs) and is therefore an important inhibitor of the plasminogen/plasmin system. Being the fast-acting inhibitor of tissue-type PA (tPA), PAI-1 primarily attenuates fibrinolysis. Through inhibition of urokinase-type PA (uPA) and interaction with biological ligands such as vitronectin and cell-surface receptors, the function of PAI-1 extends to pericellular proteolysis, tissue remodeling and other processes including cell migration. This review aims at providing a general overview of the properties of PAI-1 and the role it plays in many biological processes and touches upon the possible use of PAI-1 inhibitors as therapeutics.

Structural Insight into the Two-Step Mechanism of PAI-1 Inhibition by Small Molecule TM5484

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a key regulator of the fibrinolytic system, is the main physiological inhibitor of plasminogen activators. By interacting with matrix components, including vitronectin (Vn), PAI-1 plays a regulatory role in tissue remodeling, cell migration, and intracellular signaling. Emerging evidence points to a role for PAI-1 in various pathological conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and fibrosis. Targeting PAI-1 is therefore a promising therapeutic strategy in PAI-1-related pathologies. A class of small molecule inhibitors including TM5441 and TM5484, designed to bind the cleft in the central β-sheet A of PAI-1, showed to be potent PAI-1 inhibitors in vivo. However, their binding site has not yet been confirmed. Here, we report two X-ray crystallographic structures of PAI-1 in complex with TM5484. The structures revealed a binding site at the flexible joint region, which is distinct from the presumed binding site. Based on the structural analysis and biochemical data we propose a mechanism for the observed dose-dependent two-step mechanism of PAI-1 inhibition. By binding to the flexible joint region in PAI-1, TM5484 might restrict the structural flexibility of this region, thereby inducing a substrate form of PAI-1 followed by a conversion to an inert form.

Targeting PAI-1 in Cardiovascular Disease: Structural Insights Into PAI-1 Functionality and Inhibition

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), a member of the serine protease inhibitor (serpin) superfamily with antiprotease activity, is the main physiological inhibitor of tissue-type (tPA) and urokinase-type (uPA) plasminogen activators (PAs). Apart from being crucially involved in fibrinolysis and wound healing, PAI-1 plays a pivotal role in various acute and chronic pathophysiological processes, including cardiovascular disease, tissue fibrosis, cancer, and age-related diseases. In the prospect of treating the broad range of PAI-1-related pathologies, many efforts have been devoted to developing PAI-1 inhibitors. The use of these inhibitors, including low molecular weight molecules, peptides, antibodies, and antibody fragments, in various animal disease models has provided ample evidence of their beneficial effect in vivo and moved forward some of these inhibitors in clinical trials. However, none of these inhibitors is currently approved for therapeutic use in humans, mainly due to selectivity and toxicity issues. Furthermore, the conformational plasticity of PAI-1, which is unique among serpins, poses a real challenge in the identification and development of PAI-1 inhibitors. This review will provide an overview of the structural insights into PAI-1 functionality and modulation thereof and will highlight diverse approaches to inhibit PAI-1 activity.

Peptides based on the reactive center loop of Manduca sexta serpin-3 block its protease inhibitory function

One innate immune response in insects is the proteolytic activation of hemolymph prophenoloxidase (proPO), regulated by protease inhibitors called serpins. In the inhibition reaction of serpins, a protease cleaves a peptide bond in a solvent-exposed reactive center loop (RCL) of the serpin, and the serpin undergoes a conformational change, incorporating the amino-terminal segment of the RCL into serpin β-sheet A as a new strand. This results in an irreversible inhibitory complex of the serpin with the protease. We synthesized four peptides with sequences from the hinge region in the RCL of Manduca sexta serpin-3 and found they were able to block serpin-3 inhibitory activity, resulting in suppression of inhibitory protease-serpin complex formation. An RCL-derived peptide with the sequence Ser-Val-Ala-Phe-Ser (SVAFS) displayed robust blocking activity against serpin-3. Addition of acetyl-SVAFS-amide to hemolymph led to unregulated proPO activation. Serpin-3 associated with Ac-SVAFS-COO⁻ had an altered circular dichroism spectrum and enhanced thermal resistance to change in secondary structure, indicating that these two molecules formed a binary complex, most likely by insertion of the peptide into β-sheet A. The interference of RCL-derived peptides with serpin activity may lead to new possibilities of “silencing” arthropod serpins with unknown functions for investigation of their physiological roles.

Single fluorescence probes along the reactive center loop reveal site-specific changes during the latency transition of PAI-1

The serine protease inhibitor (serpin), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), is an important biomarker for cardiovascular disease and many cancers. It is therefore a desirable target for pharmaceutical intervention. However, to date, no PAI-1 inhibitor has successfully reached clinical trial, indicating the necessity to learn more about the mechanics of the serpin. Although its kinetics of inhibition have been extensively studied, less is known about the latency transition of PAI-1, in which the solvent-exposed reactive center loop (RCL) inserts into its central β-sheet, rendering the inhibitor inactive. This spontaneous transition is concomitant with a large translocation of the RCL, but no change in covalent structure. Here, we conjugated the fluorescent probe, NBD, to single positions along the RCL (P13-P5') to detect changes in solvent exposure that occur during the latency transition. The results support a mousetrap-like RCL-insertion that occurs with a half-life of 1-2 h in accordance with previous reports. Importantly, this study exposes unique transitions during latency that occur with a half-life of ∼5 and 25 min at the P5' and P8 RCL positions, respectively. We hypothesize that the process detected at P5' represents s1C detachment, while that at P8 results from a steric barrier to RCL insertion. Together, these findings provide new insights by characterizing multiple steps in the latency transition.

Small molecules inhibitors of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 - an overview

PAI-1, a glycoprotein from the serpin family and the main inhibitor of tPA and uPA, plays an essential role in the regulation of intra and extravascular fibrinolysis by inhibiting the formation of plasmin from plasminogen. PAI-1 is also involved in pathological processes such as thromboembolic diseases, atherosclerosis, fibrosis and cancer. The inhibition of PAI-1 activity by small organic molecules has been observed in vitro and with some in vivo models. Based on these findings, PAI-1 appears as a potential therapeutic target for several pathological conditions. Over the past decades, many efforts have therefore been devoted to developing PAI-1 inhibitors. This article provides an overview of the publishing activity on small organic molecules used as PAI-1 inhibitors. The chemical synthesis of the most potent inhibitors as well as their biological and biochemical evaluations is also presented.