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The molecular-weight-dependence of the anti-coagulant activity of heparin.

ABSTRACT: It is proposed that the anti-coagulant activity of heparin is related to the probability of finding, in a random distribution of different disaccharides, a dodecasaccharide with the sequence required for binding to antithrombin. It is shown that this probability is a function of the degree of polymerization of heparin. The hypothesis has been been tested with a series of narrow-molecular-weight-range fractions ranging from 5,600 to 36,000. The fractions having mol.wts. below 18,000 (comprising 85% of the original preparation) followed the predicted probability relationship as expressed by the proportion of molecules capable of binding to antithrombin. The probability that any randomly chosen dodecasaccharide sequence in heparin should bind to antithrombin was calculated to 0.022. The fraction with mol.wt. 36,000 contained proteoglycan link-region fragments, which may explain the deviation of the high-molecular-weight fractions from the hypothetical relationship. The relationship between anti-coagulant activity and molecular weight cannot be explained solely on the basis of availability of binding sites for antithrombin. The activity of high-affinity heparin (i.e. molecules containing high-affinity binding sites for antithrombin), determined either by a whole-blood clotting procedure or by thrombin inactivation in the presence of antithrombin, thus remained dependent on molecular weight. Possible explanations of this finding are discussed. One explanation could be a requirement for binding of thrombin to the heparin chain adjacent to antithrombin.

SUBMITTER: Laurent TC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1186120 | biostudies-other | 1978 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:We have previously shown that Heparin (Hep) significantly inhibited Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection and binding in both Vero and a human neural cell line, SK-N-SH, in vitro. Therefore, in this study we intended to gain insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of action of Hep against clinical EV71 infection in SK-N-SH cells. Instead of stating a long list of gene functions and pathways, we tried to select for EV71-induced genes that were exclusively affected by antiviral activity of Hep through a multi-level comparison and characterization. Overall, our microarray analysis may suggest that Hep might exert its anti-EV71 activity in SK-N-SH cells, at least in part, through the following mechanisms: i. Reduction of the down-regulation effect of EV71 on TOX that would lead to an increased population of effective, mature T-cells and NK-cells; ii. Reduction of the up-regulation effect of EV71 on GIP, that in turn, would reduce recruiting different GPCRs, leading to a reduced viral infection in host cells; iii. Partially neutralization of the EV71-mediated apoptosis through expression of CARP2 that acts as an anti-apoptosis ubiquitin protein ligase (E3). EV71 is a neurovirological virus that can sometimes cause severe and fatal CNS complications in infected patients. Since still there is no approved drug for prophylaxis of EV71-casued disease, discovering a molecular drug target(s) for EV71 infection would be crucial. This was the first study to report direct assessment of mechanisms of action of antivirals against EV71 infection. SK-N-SH cells were infected with a clinical EV71 isolate followed by treatment with 125 µg/mL of Hep. At 72 hours post infection, antiviral activity and cytotoxicity of Hep at 125 µg/mL in 12-well plates were carried out at the same time as RNA extraction. This way, we could ensure that we would assess transcript profiles of the host cells under the same condition and time as assessment of antiviral activity and cytotoxicity for the same replicates. Changes in expression profiles of the host cells were comparatively assessed under four conditions: cell control (neither infection nor treatment, designated CC), treated only with Hep (compound control, designated Cyto), EV71-infected cells treated with Hep (treatment, designated H), and infected with EV71 without treatment with Hep (virus control, designated V). All experiments were applied in triplicate, and totally twelve GeneChip® Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays were purchased from Affymetrix and processed. Then, the following five contrasts were made: Hep vs. CC; VC vs. CC; Cyto vs CC; Hep vs. VC; and Hep vs. Cyto. For each contrast, only samples from the two target groups were included. The statistical parameters of ANOVAs, p values, multiple test corrections, and fold changes were calculated within each contrast. Then, a multi-level selection and analysis procedure was employed in order to attribute changes in the gene transcription level to antiviral activity of Hep.

Project description:We have previously shown that Heparin (Hep) significantly inhibited Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection and binding in both Vero and a human neural cell line, SK-N-SH, in vitro. Therefore, in this study we intended to gain insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms of action of Hep against clinical EV71 infection in neural cells. Instead of stating a long list of gene functions and pathways, we tried to select for EV71-induced genes that were exclusively affected by antiviral activity of Hep through a multi-level comparison and characterization. Overall, the findings of this study suggest several molecular targets by which Hep might exert its antiviral activity against clinical EV71 infection in neural cells. Mostly, Hep appeared to modulate induction effect of EV71 on several genes in a way that may benefit the host cell and inhibit the viral infection. The most important genes where expression patterns were significantly changed by Hep include genes related to; (i) cell growth, (ii) DNA repair and replication, (iii) cytoplasmic microfilaments and related apoptosis, (iv) regulation of energy metabolism and mitochondrion-related apoptosis, (v) cytoplasmic viral transport, (vi) transmembrane proteins and the related signaling pathways, (vii) phosphoribosyltransferase, (viii) transcription factors, (ix) G protein-coupled receptors and G protein-coupled receptors-interacting proteins, (x) remodeling actin filament assembly, (xi) chemokin receptors, and (xii) immunosuppression. In addition, Hep sometimes appeared to be harmful for cells, like the case in that Hep likely suppresses regulation of Metallothionein 1E. Furthermore, it should not be ignored that the Hep-caused affects seen in this microarray analysis may partially be attributed to a significant inhibitory effect of Hep on EV71 entry into the cells. In conclusion, we propose that our microarray findings may suggest new directions for further studies on molecular targets of anti-EV71 activity of Hep. EV71 is a neurovirological virus that can cause severe and fatal CNS complications in infected patients. There is no approved drug for prophylaxis of EV71-casued disease and discovering a molecular drug target(s) for EV71 infection would be beneficial. The microarray analysis reported here was a large-scale microarray pilot study and thus further confirmatory experiments such as real time RT PCR and Western blotting would be warranted in order to confirm the mode of action of Hep implied here.

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The molecular-weight-dependence of the anti-coagulant activity of heparin.

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