Modulation of blood coagulation and fibrinolysis by polyamines in the presence of glycosaminoglycans

The effects of polyamines on blood coagulation and fibrinolysis in the presence of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) were examined because it is known that heparin (HP) interacts with polyamines, especially with spermine. Spermine was able to reverse the prolongation of coagulation time of rabbit plasma caused by HP. The effects of various GAGs on thrombin activity in the presence of anti-thrombin III (AT) were then tested using a synthetic substrate. Inhibition of thrombin activity by GAGs was in the order HP > heparan sulfate (HS) > dermatan sulfate (DS) ≫ chondroitin sulfate (CS) ≅ hyaluronan (HA). When these GAGs were fully sulfonated, the inhibitory activity of HS, DS, CS and HA, but not HP, became stronger. The effects of GAGs on thrombin activity were reversed by polyamines, in particular spermine. The EC50 value of spermine for reversal of HP inhibition was 30-50 μM, and the Kd value of spermine for heparin was 41.1 μM. Analysis by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) indicated that the interaction between AT and HP was weakened by spermine through its binding to HP. The effect of HP on fibrinolysis was then examined. When Glu-plasminogen and tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) were used as enzyme source, HP strongly enhanced the plasmin activity and spermine reversed this effect. Analysis by SPR suggests that the structure of the active site of tPA may be changed through the ternary complex formation of tPA, HP and spermine. The results indicate that blood coagulation was enhanced and fibrinolysis was weakened by spermine in the presence of HP.