Epstein-Barr virus-associated inflammatory pseudotumor variant of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the liver: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma is a rare stromal tumor with no standard treatment. However, some reports have revealed that follicular dendritic cell sarcoma has an inflammatory pseudotumor variant associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection that has a relatively good prognosis. In this report, we present a case of a resected inflammatory pseudotumor variant of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the liver, and have reviewed the literature on the clinicopathological, molecular, and genomic features of this tumor. CASE PRESENTATION: The inflammatory pseudotumor variant of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma originates only in the liver or spleen, causes no symptoms, and is more common in middle-aged Asian women. It has no characteristic imaging features, which partially explains why the inflammatory pseudotumor variant of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma is difficult to diagnose. Pathologically, the inflammatory pseudotumor variant of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma has spindle cells mixed with inflammatory cells and is variably positive for follicular dendritic cell markers (CD21, CD23, and CD35) and Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA. On genetic analysis, patients with this tumor high levels of latent membrane protein 1 gene expression and extremely low levels of host C-X-C Chemokine Receptor type 7 gene expression, indicating that the inflammatory pseudotumor variant of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma has a latent Epstein-Barr virus type 2 infection. CONCLUSIONS: The inflammatory pseudotumor variant of follicular dendritic cell sarcoma is an Epstein-Barr virus-associated tumor and a favorable prognosis by surgical resection, similar to Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric cancer.

Decreased Incidence of Acute Cellular Rejection in Low-Muscle-Mass Recipients After Living-donor Liver Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia has recently been studied as a potential risk factor for mortality and complications after liver transplantation. We investigated the impact of low muscle mass on postoperative outcomes after living-donor liver transplantation. METHODS: Our study population consisted of 100 adult recipients who underwent living-donor liver transplantation in our department between 2005 and 2017. Recipients were divided into a low-muscle-mass group (L group) and a normal-muscle-mass group (N group) based on skeletal muscle index (SMI) values, and postoperative outcomes were compared between the groups. Regarding factors that were significantly different between the groups, multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictive factors. RESULTS: Based on the SMI definition, 47 and 53 of the recipients were categorized as having low muscle mass (L group) and normal muscle mass (N group), respectively. Comparison between the groups revealed a significantly reduced incidence of rejection (10.6% in L group vs 30.2% in N group, P = .017) and increased incidences of bacterial infection (61.7% in L group vs 37.7% in N group, P = .017) in the L group compared with the N group. The survival rate did not differ significantly between the groups. Multivariate analyses indicated that muscle mass was a significant predictive factor for both rejection and bacterial infection. CONCLUSION: It is important to recognize that muscle mass has an impact not only on bacterial infection but also on rejection in recipients with low muscle mass in the postoperative course of living-donor liver transplantation.

Oncogenic CXCL10 signalling drives metastasis development and poor clinical outcome.

BACKGROUND: The CXCL10/CXCR3 signalling mediates paracrine interactions between tumour and stromal cells that govern leukocyte trafficking and angiogenesis. Emerging data implicate noncanonical CXCL10/CXCR3 signalling in tumourigenesis and metastasis. However, little is known regarding the role for autocrine CXCL10/CXCR3 signalling in regulating the metastatic potential of individual tumour clones. METHODS: We performed transcriptomic and cytokine profiling to characterise the functions of CXCL10 and CXCR3 in tumour cells with different metastatic abilities. We modulated the expression of the CXCL10/CXCR3 pathway using shRNA-mediated silencing in both in vitro and in vivo models of B16F1 melanoma. In addition, we examined the expression of CXCL10 and CXCR3 and their associations with clinical outcomes in clinical data sets derived from over 670 patients with melanoma and colon and renal cell carcinomas. RESULTS: We identified a critical role for autocrine CXCL10/CXCR3 signalling in promoting tumour cell growth, motility and metastasis. Analysis of publicly available clinical data sets demonstrated that coexpression of CXCL10 and CXCR3 predicted an increased metastatic potential and was associated with early metastatic disease progression and poor overall survival. CONCLUSION: These findings support the potential for CXCL10/CXCR3 coexpression as a predictor of metastatic recurrence and point towards a role for targeting of this oncogenic axis in the treatment of metastatic disease.

Hemoadsorption of high-mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 using a column for large animals.

BACKGROUND: High-mobility group box chromosomal protein 1 (HMGB1) has recently been identified as an important mediator of various kinds of acute and chronic inflammation. A method for efficiently removing HMGB1 from the systemic circulation could be a promising therapy for HMGB1-mediated inflammatory diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we produced a new adsorbent material by chemically treating polystyrene fiber. We first determined whether the adsorbent material efficiently adsorbed HMGB1 in vitro using a bovine HMGB1 solution and a plasma sample from a swine model of acute liver failure. We then constructed a column by embedding fabric sheets of the newly developed fibers into a cartridge and tested the ability of the column to reduce plasma HMGB1 levels during a 4-hour extracorporeal hemoperfusion in a swine model of acute liver failure. RESULTS: The in vitro adsorption test of the new fiber showed high performance for HMGB1 adsorption (96% adsorption in the bovine HMGB1 solution and 94% in the acute liver failure swine plasma, 2 h incubation at 37°C; p < 0.05 vs. incubation with no adsorbent). In the in vivo study, the ratio of the HMGB1 concentration at the outlet versus the inlet of the column was significantly lower in swine hemoperfused with the newly developed column (53 and 61% at the beginning and end of perfusion, respectively) than in those animals hemoperfused with the control column (94 and 93% at the beginning and end of perfusion, respectively; p < 0.05). Moreover, the normalized plasma level of HMGB1 was significantly lower during perfusion with the new column than with the control column (p < 0.05 at 1, 2, and 3 h after initiation of perfusion). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the newly developed column has the potential to effectively adsorb HMGB1 during hemoperfusion in swine.

Increased plasma levels of high mobility group box 1 in patients with acute liver failure.

BACKGROUND: High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a monocyte-derived late-acting inflammatory mediator, which is released in conditions such as shock, tissue injury and endotoxin-induced lethality. In this study, we determined the plasma and hepatic tissue levels of HMGB1 in patients with acute liver failure (ALF). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We determined the plasma levels of HMGB1 and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in 7 healthy volunteers (HVs), 40 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC), 37 patients with chronic hepatitis (CH), 18 patients with severe acute hepatitis (AH), and 14 patients with fulminant hepatitis (FH). The 14 patients with FH were divided into two subgroups depending upon the history of plasma exchange (PE) before their plasma sample collection. The hepatic levels of HMGB1 were measured in tissue samples from 3 patients with FH who underwent living-donor liver transplantation and from 3 healthy living donors. Hepatic tissue samples were also subjected to immunohistochemical examination for HMGB1. RESULTS: The plasma levels of HMGB1 (ng/ml) were higher in patients with liver diseases, especially in FH patients with no history of PE, than in HVs (0.3 ± 0.3 in HVs, 4.0 ± 2.0 in LC, 5.2 ± 2.6 in CH, 8.6 ± 4.8 in severe AH, 7.8 ± 2.7 in FH with a history of PE, and 12.5 ± 2.6 in FH with no history of PE, p < 0.05 in each comparison). There was a strong and statistically significant relationship between the mean plasma HMGB1 level and the logarithm of the mean AST level (R = 0.900, p < 0.05). The hepatic tissue levels of HMGB1 (ng/mg tissue protein) were lower in patients with FH than in healthy donors (539 ± 116 in FH vs. 874 ± 81 in healthy donors, p < 0.05). Immunohistochemical staining for HMGB1 was strong and clear in the nuclei of hepatocytes in liver sections from healthy donors, but little staining in either nuclei or cytoplasm was evident in specimens from patients with FH. CONCLUSION: We confirmed that plasma HMGB1 levels were increased in patients with ALF. Based on a comparison between HMGB1 contents in normal and ALF livers, it is very likely that HMGB1 is released from injured liver tissue.

Inhibitory effects of S-nitrosoglutathione on cell proliferation and DNA synthesis: possible role of glyoxalase I inactivation.

We investigated the inhibitory effects of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) on cell proliferation, DNA synthesis and several enzymatic activities using spontaneously immortalized human endothelial cells (ECV304). Proliferation of ECV304 was inhibited by GSNO in a dose-dependent manner (125-1000 microM). DNA synthesis was decreased 2 h after addition of GSNO to cells and was markedly repressed from 20 h after the addition. The activity of ribonucleotide reductase, a rate-limiting enzyme for DNA synthesis, was unchanged in GSNO-treated cells. GSNO inhibited less than 40% of mitochondrial respiration activity, and the membrane potential and cellular levels of ATP were not significantly decreased by GSNO. GSNO had no inhibitory effect on activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase and glutathione reductase. However, glyoxalase I (Glo I) activity was decreased to 20% of the control level within 60 min, and was consistently repressed during exposure to GSNO for 20 h. A membrane-permeable Glo I inhibitor, S-bromobenzylglutathione diethylester, inhibited proliferation of ECV304 cells, while methylglyoxal (MG), a toxic metabolite generated during glycolysis and a substrate for Glo I, failed to inhibit the cell growth even at 100 microM. Glo I in several mammalian cell lines was inactivated by GSNO with a pI shift. Although we failed to detect accumulation of MG under conditions of Glo I inactivation, these results suggest that the inhibitory effects of GSNO on cell proliferation and DNA synthesis might be at least partly due to inactivation of Glo I.

Chelation of cellular Cu(I) raised the degree of glyoxalase I inactivation in human endothelial cells upon exposure to S-nitrosoglutathione through stabilization of S-nitrosothiols.

This study aimed to examine molecular mechanisms responsible for the metabolic fate of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) in endothelial cells. After addition of 1 mM GSNO in culture medium, concentration of S-nitrosothiols (RSNO) significantly decreased with concomitant accumulation of nitrite (NO2-) only in the presence of human endothelial cells (ECV304), while no change in RSNO decomposition and NO2- accumulation was observed in case of S-nitrosocysteine. Bathocuproine disulfonic acid (BCS), a chelator for Cu(I), prevented the cell-mediated decomposition of RSNO and accumulation of NO2-. Chelator for Cu(III), Fe(II), or Fe(III); inhibitors of gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase; or a superoxide quenching enzyme had no effect on the cell-mediated degradation of RSNO and accumulation of NO2-. These results indicate that cellular Cu(I) would play a major role in the conversion of GSNO into NO2-. We recently demonstrated that human glyoxalase I (Glo I) interacts with GSNO in vitro and within cells. When Glo I interacts with GSNO, Glo I is inactivated and is chemically modified with pI alteration on 2D gels. So, we examined effect of Cu(I) chelation on the Glo I response. As a result, chelation of cellular Cu(I) by BCS enhanced the inactivation and chemical modification of Glo I by GSNO. The Glo I response could be detected when the cells were exposed to GSNO at 10 microM, corresponding to the concentration of RSNO under physiological conditions, with pretreatment of BCS. Metal chelators for copper and iron ions had no effect on the sensitivity of Glo I to an nitric oxide (NO) radical donor. These results indicate that chelation of cellular Cu(I) potentiates the sensitivity of GIo I to GSNO. The observation in the present study implicates that intracellular levels of GSNO might be elevated, accompanying with stabilization of extracellular RSNO.

Nitric oxide inactivates glyoxalase I in cooperation with glutathione.

We previously found that glyoxalase I (Glo I) is inactivated upon exposure of human endothelial cells to extracellular nitric oxide (NO), and this event correlates with an increase in its pI on two-dimensional gels. In this study, we demonstrate that NO can modulate Glo I activity in cooperation with cellular glutathione (GSH). Severe depletion of intracellular GSH prevents the inactivation of Glo I in response to NO, although such depletion enhances the inactivation of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH), a well-known enzyme susceptible to NO-induced oxidation. S-Nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), an adduct of GSH and NO, lowers the activity of purified human Glo I, while S-nitrosocysteine (CysNO) inactivates the enzyme only in the presence of GSH. This indicates that a dysfunction in Glo I would require the formation of GSNO in situ. Competitive inhibitors of Glo I, S-(4-bromobenzyl)glutathione and its membrane-permeating form, completely abolish the NO action in vitro and inside cells, respectively. Taken together, these results reveal that Glo I can interact directly with GSNO, and that the interaction converts Glo I into an inactive form. Moreover, the data suggest that the substrate recognition site of Glo I might be involved in the interaction with GSNO.

Appearance of extracellular glutathione peroxidase (eGPx) in the ascite fluid of casein-elicited rats.

Glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity was detected in the ascite fluid of rats injected intraperitoneally with 2.5% heat-denatured casein solution. Activity in the ascite fluid increased with time after the injection of casein, and reached a maximum at 24 h. The active component was concentrated with successive 35% ammonium sulfate precipitation and Activated Thiol-Sepharose 4B column chromatography from the ascite fluid of rats at 24 h after the injection of casein. No N-terminal amino acid of the protein corresponding to GPx was detected by automatic amino acid sequence analysis following separation with sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and transfer to a polyvinyl difluoride (PVDF) membrane. Following BrCN treatment of the protein, the N-terminal amino acid sequences of two 14 and 2.6 kDa peptide fragments were found to be S-G-T-I-Y-E-Y-G-A-L and K-I-H-D-I-R-W-N-F-E, respectively. The former and the latter fragments corresponded to sequences beginning at the 37th and 176th amino acid residues of rat extracellular GPx (eGPx), respectively. The exclusive presence of eGPx in the ascite fluid of rats elicited by casein was confirmed immunologically by ELISA, immuno-precipitation and Western blotting assays. No other GPx isozymes such as cytosolic GPx (cGPx), phospholipid hydroperoxide GPx (PHGPx) or intestinal GPx (iGPx) were detected. eGPx activity and protein were also detected in the pleuritic fluid of rats following injection of 2% carrageenan. These findings indicate that eGPx appears at various sites of acute inflammation in rats. This pattern is due to leakage from circulation as a result of the increased capillary permeability at inflammation sites elicited by chemotactic factors.

Glyoxalase I is a novel nitric-oxide-responsive protein.

To clarify the molecular mechanisms of nitric oxide (NO) signalling, we examined the NO-responsive proteins in cultured human endothelial cells by two-dimensional (2D) PAGE. Levels of two proteins [NO-responsive proteins (NORPs)] with different pI values responded to NO donors. One NORP (pI 5.2) appeared in response to NO, whereas another (pI 5.0) disappeared. These proteins were identified as a native form and a modified form of human glyoxalase I (Glox I; EC 4. 4.1.5) by peptide mapping, microsequencing and correlation between the activity and the isoelectric shift. Glox I lost activity in response to NO, and all NO donors tested inhibited its activity in a dose-dependent manner. Activity and normal electrophoretic mobility were restored by dithiothreitol and by the removal of sources of NO from the culture medium. Glox I was selectively inactivated by NO; compounds that induce oxidative stress (H(2)O(2), paraquat and arsenite) failed to inhibit this enzyme. Our results suggest that NO oxidatively modifies Glox I and reversibly inhibits the enzyme's activity. The inactivation of Glox I by NO was more effective than that of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (G3PDH), another NO-sensitive enzyme. Thus Glox I seems to be a novel NO-responsive protein that is more sensitive to NO than G3PDH.

Cellular glutathione peroxidase as a predominant scavenger of hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acids in rabbit alveolar macrophages.

The cytosol of rabbit lung alveolar macrophages contains a high amount of peroxidase, which reduces 5-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HPETE) to 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE) in the presence of glutathione. This peroxidase was purified 69-fold to homogeneity with overall recovery of activity of 18.5%. The molecular mass of the enzyme was approximately 80 kDa by gel filtration, and emerged as a single band at 23.1 kDa under reducing condition by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The amino-terminal sequence of the purified peroxidase was completely identical to the sequence deduced from cellular glutathione peroxidase (cGPx) gene of rabbit liver. No other activity that reduces 5-HPETE to 5-HETE was observed during purification. These results suggest that cGPx plays an important role in metabolism of lipid hydroperoxides, especially HPETE, in lung alveolar macrophages.

Enhanced cholesterol esterase activity in the pancreas of rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

Diabetes was induced in rats by the intravenous administration of streptozotocin (STZ; 60 mg/ml). The activity of cholesterol esterase (CEase) in various tissues was determined by use of either a fluorogenic or radioactive substrate. Significant CEase activity was detected in extracts of pancreas. The specific activity of pancreatic CEase was considerably greater in pancreatic extracts from diabetic rats compared with normal rats. The activity of pancreatic CEase increased 6 d after the injection of STZ, but the difference was not statistically significant. It reached a maximum value approximately twice that of normal pancreas at 30 d with statistic significance. The highest specific activity of pancreatic CEase was found in the cytosolic fraction from diabetic rats, whereas the specific activity of the enzyme was lowest the same fraction from normal rats.

Preferential localisation of elastase in cytosol of human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells.

The subcellular distribution of the elastase in human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells was studied in comparison with that in normal leukocytes. On differential centrifugation, most of the elastase activity of HL-60 cell lysates was recovered in the 105,000 x g supernatant, while that of human peripheral blood leukocyte lysates was recovered in the 500 x g precipitate (azurophil granule-rich fraction). Moreover, on Percoll density gradient centrifugation, the elastase activity in HL-60 cell extracts was recovered in the lightest fraction with none in the azurophil granule-rich fractions, whereas most of the activity in leukocyte extracts was recovered in the azurophil granule-rich fractions. This subcellular localization of elastase did not change when HL-60 cells differentiated into monocytes and granulocytes by induction with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate and retinoic acid, respectively. Furthermore, on Sephadex G-75 gel filtration, the elastase activity in HL-60 cell extracts was eluted earlier than that in leukocyte extracts. The size estimation indicated that the elastase of HL-60 cells was 36-30 kDa, corresponding to the size of an elastase precursor reported. The relevance of a large form of the elastase in HL-60 cells to its subcellular localization is discussed.

Partial purification and properties of cathepsin G-like proteinase of mouse myeloid leukemia M1 cells.

A proteinase extracted with 1M NaCl from particulate fraction of the postnuclear fraction of mouse myeloid leukemia M1 cells was partially purified by Bio-Gel HTP treatment and Sephadex G-75 gel filtration. The apparent molecular mass of the proteinase was 26,000 Da and the isoelectric point was about pH 10. The enzyme activity was inhibited by phenylmethanesulfonylfluoride, chymostatin, and soy-bean trypsin inhibitor. It hydrolysed specifically Suc-Ala2-Pro-Phe-4-methylcoumaryl-4-amide (MCA). NaCl and KCl enhanced several times the activity for Suc-Ala2-Pro-Phe-MCA, but not that for fluorescein-labeled albumin and fibrinogen. These enzymic properties of the major proteinase are similar to those of chymotrypsin and cathepsin G. The role of a cathepsin G-like proteinase in relation to M1 cell differentiation is discussed.

Anticoagulant effect of inositol hexasulfate as measurable by clotting times of fibrinogen and recalcified plasma.

Thrombin-clotting time of fibrinogen was delayed by inositol hexasulfate (IHS). Clotting time of the recalcified plasma was also delayed by IHS. Moreover, when IHS was intravenously injected into anesthetized male rabbits (0.11 mmoles/kg), it delayed clotting time of the recalcified plasma. IHS prevented generations of factor Xa and thrombin in the recalcified plasma. It is probable that IHS inhibits the clot-formation of the recalcified plasma in competition with calcium ions.

Inhibition by calcium ions of thrombin.

Amidolytic activity of thrombin for Boc-Val-Pro-Arg-MCA was inhibited by CaCl2 at relatively high concentrations. Kinetic analysis showed neither competitive nor noncompetitive inhibition by CaCl2 of thrombin. The nonspecific interaction of thrombin with calcium ions prolonged fibrinogen-clotting and neutralization by antithrombin III (AT III) in the absence of heparin. However, calcium ions had no effects on rate of thrombin inactivation in dilute solution and affinity of the enzyme for Sepharose 6B. The inverse effects of calcium ions on the thrombin activities in vitro and on generation of the enzyme in plasma ex vivo depended mostly on the ion concentration.

Effects of different heparins on the enhancement of the thrombin-antithrombin reaction.

Kinetic analyses were made of the thrombin/antithrombin III (ATIII) reaction in the presence of catalytic amounts of three kinds of mammalian HA-heparin (bovine, pig and whale), which have the same affinities for ATIII. In the absence of NaCl, the first-order rate constant was higher with whale HA-heparin than with the other two HA-heparins. However, the strength of the interactions of thrombin with the HA-heparins was in the order, bovine greater than pig greater than whale. Thus, the slow reactions in the case of bovine and pig HA-heparins were probably due to preferential binding of the two HA-heparins to thrombin rather than to ATIII, thus causing the HA-heparins to be inhibitory for the reaction by reducing the turnover rates of the polysaccharides as catalysts. In the presence of 0.15M NaCl, the first-order rate constants were slightly higher in the case of pig HA-heparin than of the other two HA-heparins. Since the strength of the interactions of these HA-heparins with thrombin was in the order, pig greater than or equal to bovine greater than whale, the faster reactions were probably due to higher associations of the enzyme with the essential HA-heparin-ATIII complex.

Dependence of the rate of thrombin/antithrombin III reaction upon the turnover rate of a catalytic amount of heparin.

Commercially available heparin preparations slightly enhanced the rate of thrombin/antithrombin (AT) III reaction at pH 6.05 in the absence of NaCl. However, this accelerative activity was significantly lower than that induced by heparin with high affinity for AT III (HA-heparin), probably due to the formation of the binary complexes of HA-heparin-AT III as well as that composed of thrombin and heparin with low affinity for AT III (LA-heparin). The HA-heparin-catalyzed thrombin/AT III reaction was faster in the presence of 0.1 M NaCl at pH 6.05 than that in the absence of the salt. LA-heparin and dextran sulfate (DS) were also found to accelerate the thrombin/AT III reaction rate, but neither substance catalyzed the formation of the complex in the presence of 0.1 M NaCl at pH 7.4. LA-heparin was also confirmed to compete with HA-heparin for enhancement of the thrombin/AT III reaction. Thus, it appears that AT III tends to form a ternary complex with the thrombin-DS or thrombin-LA-heparin complex, even in the presence of 0.1 M NaCl, whereas factor Xa reacts with the AT III-DS or AT III-LA-heparin complex. These results indicate that HA-heparin is the only substance having the ability to catalyze the thrombin/AT III reaction, and that its turnover rate is markedly elevated in the presence of strongly electropositive and electronegative ions because of the decreased affinity of the enzyme for heparin under such conditions.

The molecular-mass dependence of dextran sulfate enhancement of inactivation of thrombin and fibrinogen and on factor Xa neutralization by antithrombin III.

To study molecular-mass dependence of dextran sulfate (DS) for interactions with several plasma proteins, a commercial preparation of the sulfated polysaccharide was fractionated by gel filtration chromatography into six subfractions with relatively different molecular masses. Simple two-component systems were available to measure the interactions of the proteins with the subfractions of DS. These were done to determine the rates of time-dependent changes in intrinsic fluorescence of thrombin and fibrinogen, and the enzyme inactivation in the presence of DS. Their interactions were also confirmed in three-component systems, in which the interactions of DS with thrombin and fibrinogen were measured by the displaced binding by FTC-heparin, and DS-enhanced proteolysis by chymotrypsin, respectively. Moreover, the neutralization of factor Xa by antithrombin III (AT III) depended on the molecular mass of DS. All the results obtained indicate that most of the general interactions of thrombin, fibrinogen, and probably AT III increased with increasing molecular mass of DS.

Time-dependent conformational change of thrombin molecules induced by sulfated polysaccharides.

Dextran sulfate (DS) had a greater ability to elute thrombin adsorbed on a small Sepharose 6B column than heparin did, while chondroitin sulfate A had little ability. It is probable that the strength of the interaction of thrombin depends mostly on the charge-density of strongly acidic sulfate groups in the polysaccharides. The change in intrinsic fluorescence intensity of thrombin with time was closely correlated with the rate of inactivation of the enzyme in the presence of sulfated polysaccharides. Both rates were affected by the pH of the solution in the presence of the polyanions. The rates in the presence of DS were highest at pH 6.05 among the three pHs tested, while they were enhanced only at pH 6.05 by heparin, but not by chondroitin sulfate A. Therefore, extensive charge-neutralization of thrombin by the sulfated polysaccharides is able to induce time- and temperature-dependent intramolecular conformational change (irreversible denaturation) of the enzyme molecules.