Function Of VIIa Research Articles

Systems Biology of Coagulation Initiation: Kinetics of Thrombin Generation in Resting and Activated Human Blood

Blood function defines bleeding and clotting risks and dictates approaches for clinical intervention. Independent of adding exogenous tissue factor (TF), human blood treated in vitro with corn trypsin inhibitor (CTI, to block Factor XIIa) will generate thrombin after an initiation time (Ti) of 1 to 2 hours (depending on donor), while activation of platelets with the GPVI-activator convulxin reduces Ti to ∼20 minutes. Since current kinetic models fail to generate thrombin in the absence of added TF, we implemented a Platelet-Plasma ODE model accounting for: the Hockin-Mann protease reaction network, thrombin-dependent display of platelet phosphatidylserine, VIIa function on activated platelets, XIIa and XIa generation and function, competitive thrombin substrates (fluorogenic detector and fibrinogen), and thrombin consumption during fibrin polymerization. The kinetic model consisting of 76 ordinary differential equations (76 species, 57 reactions, 105 kinetic parameters) predicted the clotting of resting and convulxin-activated human blood as well as predicted Ti of human blood under 50 different initial conditions that titrated increasing levels of TF, Xa, Va, XIa, IXa, and VIIa. Experiments with combined anti-XI and anti-XII antibodies prevented thrombin production, demonstrating that a leak of XIIa past saturating amounts of CTI (and not “blood-borne TF” alone) was responsible for in vitro initiation without added TF. Clotting was not blocked by antibodies used individually against TF, VII/VIIa, P-selectin, GPIb, protein disulfide isomerase, cathepsin G, nor blocked by the ribosome inhibitor puromycin, the Clk1 kinase inhibitor Tg003, or inhibited VIIa (VIIai). This is the first model to predict the observed behavior of CTI-treated human blood, either resting or stimulated with platelet activators. CTI-treated human blood will clot in vitro due to the combined activity of XIIa and XIa, a process enhanced by platelet activators and which proceeds in the absence of any evidence for kinetically significant blood borne tissue factor.

Assessment of myosin II, Va, VI and VIIa loss of function on endocytosis and endocytic vesicle motility in bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells

An essential feature of dendritic cell immune surveillance is endocytic sampling of the environment for non-self antigens primarily via macropinocytosis and phagocytosis. The role of several members of the myosin family of actin based molecular motors in dendritic cell endocytosis and endocytic vesicle movement was assessed through analysis of dendritic cells derived from mice with functionally null myosin mutations. These include the dilute (myosin Va), Snell's waltzer (myosin VI) and shaker-1 (myosin VIIa) mouse lines. Non muscle myosin II function was assessed by treatment with the inhibitor, blebbistatin. Flow cytometric analysis of dextran uptake by dendritic cells revealed that macropinocytosis was enhanced in Snell's waltzer dendritic cells while shaker-1 and blebbistatin-treated cells were comparable to controls. Comparison of fluid phase uptake using pH insensitive versus pH sensitive fluorescent dextrans revealed that in dilute cells rates of uptake were normal but endosomal acidification was accelerated. Phagocytosis, as quantified by uptake of E. coli, was normal in dilute while dendritic cells from Snell's waltzer, shaker-1 and blebbistatin treated cells exhibited decreased uptake. Microtubule mediated movements of dextran-or transferrin-tagged endocytic vesicles were significantly faster in dendritic cells lacking myosin Va. Loss of myosin II, VI or VIIa function had no significant effects on rates of endocytic vesicle movement.

Vertebrate Myosin VIIb Is a High Duty Ratio Motor Adapted for Generating and Maintaining Tension

Kinetic adaptation of muscle and non-muscle myosins plays a central role in defining the unique cellular functions of these molecular motor enzymes. The unconventional vertebrate class VII myosin, myosin VIIb, is highly expressed in polarized cells and localizes to highly ordered actin filament bundles such as those found in the microvilli of the intestinal brush border and kidney. We have cloned mouse myosin VIIb from a cDNA library, expressed and purified the catalytic motor domain, and characterized its actin-activated ATPase cycle using quantitative equilibrium and kinetic methods. The myosin VIIb steady-state ATPase activity is slow (approximately 1 s(-1)), activated by very low actin filament concentrations (K(ATPase) approximately 0.7 microm), and limited by ADP release from actomyosin. The slow ADP dissociation rate constant generates a long lifetime of the strong binding actomyosin.ADP states. ADP and actin binding is uncoupled, which enables myosin VIIb to remain strongly bound to actin and ADP at very low actin concentrations. In the presence of 2 mm ATP and 2 microm actin, the duty ratio of myosin VIIb is approximately 0.8. The enzymatic properties of actomyosin VIIb are suited for generating and maintaining tension and favor a role for myosin VIIb in anchoring membrane surface receptors to the actin cytoskeleton. Given the high conservation of vertebrate class VII myosins, deafness phenotypes arising from disruption of normal myosin VIIa function are likely to reflect a loss of tension in the stereocilia of inner ear hair cells.

Residue Met156 Contributes to the Labile Enzyme Conformation of Coagulation Factor VIIa

Serine protease activation is typically controlled by proteolytic cleavage of the scissile bond, resulting in spontaneous formation of the activating Ile(16)-Asp(194) salt bridge. The initiating coagulation protease factor VIIa (VIIa) differs by remaining in a zymogen-like conformation that confers the control of catalytic activity to the obligatory cofactor and receptor tissue factor (TF). This study demonstrates that the unusual hydrophobic Met(156) residue contributes to the propensity of the VIIa protease domain to remain in a zymogen-like conformation. Mutation of Met(156) to Gln, which is found in the same position of the highly homologous factor IX, had no influence on the amidolytic and proteolytic activity of TF-bound VIIa. Furthermore, the mutation did not appreciably stabilize the labile Ile(16)-Asp(194) salt bridge in the absence of cofactor. VIIa(Gln156) had increased affinity for TF, consistent with a long range conformational effect that stabilized the cofactor binding site in the VIIa protease domain. Notably, in the absence of cofactor, amidolytic and proteolytic function of VIIa(Gln156) were enhanced 3- and 9-fold, respectively, compared with wild-type VIIa. The mutation thus selectively influenced the catalytic activity of free VIIa, identifying the Met(156) residue position as a determinant for the zymogen-like properties of free VIIa.

Myosin VIIA is specifically associated with calmodulin and microtubule-associated protein-2B (MAP-2B)

Myosin VIIA is a motor molecule with a conserved head domain and tail region unique to myosin VIIA, which probably defines its unique function in vivo. In an attempt to further characterize myosin VIIA function we set out to identify molecule(s) that specifically associate with it. We demonstrate that 17 and 55kDa proteins from mouse kidney and cochlea co-purify with myosin VIIA on affinity columns carrying immobilized anti-myosin VIIA antibody. N-terminal sequencing and immunoblotting analysis identified the 17kDa protein as calmodulin, whereas MS and immunoblotting analysis identified the 55kDa protein as microtubule-associated protein-2B (MAP-2B). Myosin VIIA can also be co-immunoprecipitated from kidney homogenate using anti-calmodulin or anti-MAP2 (recognizing isoforms 2A and 2B) antibodies, confirming the strong association between calmodulin and myosin VIIA and between MAP-2B and myosin VIIA. Myosin VIIA binds to calmodulin with an apparent Kd of 10-9 M. Scatchard analysis of the binding of myosin VIIA to MAP-2B provided evidence for two binding sites, with Kd values of 10-10 and 10-9 M, which have been mapped to medial and C-terminal tail domains of myosin VIIA. The characterization of the interaction of calmodulin and MAP-2B with myosin VIIA provides new insights into the function of myosin VIIA.

Myosin VIIA is specifically associated with calmodulin and microtubule-associated protein-2B (MAP-2B).

Myosin VIIA is a motor molecule with a conserved head domain and tail region unique to myosin VIIA, which probably defines its unique function in vivo. In an attempt to further characterize myosin VIIA function we set out to identify molecule(s) that specifically associate with it. We demonstrate that 17 and 55 kDa proteins from mouse kidney and cochlea co-purify with myosin VIIA on affinity columns carrying immobilized anti-myosin VIIA antibody. N-terminal sequencing and immunoblotting analysis identified the 17 kDa protein as calmodulin, whereas MS and immunoblotting analysis identified the 55 kDa protein as microtubule-associated protein-2B (MAP-2B). Myosin VIIA can also be co-immunoprecipitated from kidney homogenate using anti-calmodulin or anti-MAP2 (recognizing isoforms 2A and 2B) antibodies, confirming the strong association between calmodulin and myosin VIIA and between MAP-2B and myosin VIIA. Myosin VIIA binds to calmodulin with an apparent K(d) of 10(-9) M. Scatchard analysis of the binding of myosin VIIA to MAP-2B provided evidence for two binding sites, with K(d) values of 10(-10) and 10(-9) M, which have been mapped to medial and C-terminal tail domains of myosin VIIA. The characterization of the interaction of calmodulin and MAP-2B with myosin VIIA provides new insights into the function of myosin VIIA.

Expression in cochlea and retina of myosin VIIa, the gene product defective in Usher syndrome type 1B.

Myosin VIIa is a newly identified member of the myosin superfamily of actin-based motors. Recently, the myosin VIIa gene was identified as the gene defective in shaker-1, a recessive deafness in mice [Gibson, F., Walsh, J., Mburu, P., Varela, A., Brown, K.A., Antonio, M., Beisel, K.W., Steel, K.P. & Brown, S.D.M. (1995) Nature (London) 374, 62-64], and in human Usher syndrome type 1B, an inherited disease characterized by congenital deafness, vestibular dysfunction, and retinitis pigmentosa [Weil, D., Blanchard, S., Kaplan, J., Guilford, P., Gibson, F., Walsh, J., Mburu, P., Varela, A., Levilliers, J., Weston, M.D., Kelley, P.M., Kimberling, W.J., Wagenaar, M., Levi-Acobas, F., Larget-Piet, D., Munnich, A., Steel, K.P., Brown, S.D.M. & Petit, C. (1995) Nature (London) 374, 60-61]. To understand the normal function of myosin VIIa and how it could cause these disease phenotypes when defective, we generated antibodies specific to the tail portion of this unconventional myosin. We found that myosin VIIa was expressed in cochlea, retina, testis, lung, and kidney. In cochlea, myosin VIIa expression was restricted to the inner and outer hair cells, where it was found in the apical stereocilia as well as the cytoplasm. In the eye, myosin VIIa was expressed by the retinal pigmented epithelial cells, where it was enriched within the apical actin-rich domain of this cell type. The cell-specific localization of myosin VIIa suggests that the blindness and deafness associated with Usher syndrome is due to lack of proper myosin VIIa function within the cochlear hair cells and the retinal pigmented epithelial cells.

An unusual antibody that blocks tissue factor/factor VIIa function by inhibiting cleavage only of macromolecular substrates

Tissue factor (TF), the cell surface receptor and cofactor for factor VIIa (FVIIa), is considered the major physiologic trigger of the coagulation cascade. Most monoclonal antibodies to TF have been reported to inhibit TF activity by blocking association of FVII(a) with TF. Using solution-phase kinetic analyses, we have reexamined two strongly inhibitory anti-TF monoclonal antibodies (TF8–11D12 and TF9–9C3) previously reported to block FVII binding in cell-binding assays. Kinetic analysis of TF9–9C3 was consistent with direct competition with FVIIa for binding to TF. However, antibody TF8–11D12 did not block FVIIa binding to TF as measured by ability of the TF:FVIIa complex to cleave a small peptide substrate or by enhanced reactivity of FVIIa with a tripeptidyl-chloromethylketone. Interestingly, TF8–11D12 strongly inhibited cleavage of all three known macromolecular substrates (factors VII, IX, and X) of the TF:FVIIa complex. We hypothesize that TF8–11D12 blocks access of macromolecular substrates to the active site of FVIIa by steric hindrance. This study identifies a useful probe for TF function and provides insights into the inhibitory mechanism of an unusual class of antibody proposed for therapeutic intervention in thrombotic disease.

Phospholipid-independent and -dependent interactions required for tissue factor receptor and cofactor function

Membrane anchoring of tissue factor (TF), the cell receptor for coagulation factor VIIa (VIIa), exemplifies an effective mechanism to localize proteolysis at the cell surface. A recombinant TF mutant (TF1-219), deleted of membrane spanning and intracellular domains, was used to evaluate the role of phospholipid interactions for assembly of substrate with the catalytic TF.VIIa complex. TF1-219 was secreted by cells rather than expressed as a cell membrane protein. Unlike free VIIa, TF1-219 as well as the TF1-219.VIIa complex demonstrated no stable association with phospholipid. In the absence of lipid, kinetic evaluation of substrate factor X cleavage by free VIIa, TF.VIIa, and TF1-219.VIIa suggests that the catalytic function of VIIa rather than substrate recognition is enhanced by complex formation. Furthermore, compared with free factor X, factor X on phospholipid was preferentially cleaved as a substrate by TF1-219.VIIa. TF-dependent initiation of the coagulation protease cascades thus involves an enhancement of the activation of factor X on the cell surface by a crucial role of the TF transmembrane domain to membrane anchor the reaction, by the TF extracellular domain to provide protein-protein interactions with VIIa to enhance the activity of the catalytic domain of VIIa, and the preferential presentation of factor X as a substrate when associated with phospholipid surfaces.