Ionic modulation of the effects of heparin and 6-aminohexanoic acid on plasminogen activation by streptokinase: the role of ionic strength, divalent cations and chloride.

Studies were conducted on the effect of heparin or 6-aminohexanoic acid (6-AH) on the activation of glutamic plasminogen (Glu-Plg) by streptokinase in the presence of different concentrations of buffer, NaCl and divalent cations. Heparin and 6-AH inhibited streptokinase-mediated activation of Glu-Plg using 10 mM Tris-HCl buffer pH 7.4. This inhibition was partially reversed by the addition of 0.2-1.0 mM of Mg ions. Increasing the ionic strength of Tris-HCl buffer from 10 to 50 mM or addition of 50-150 mM of NaCl to 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.4 inhibited the activation of Glu-Plg by streptokinase while decreasing the % inhibition by heparin over the control samples. Double reciprocal plot of the activation of Glu-Plg by streptokinase using 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.4 containing 100 mM NaCl showed that the addition of heparin lowered Vmax by 50% without affecting Km. To determine whether the inhibitory effect of heparin was specifically directed towards Glu-Plg or streptokinase, the ratios of the initial rate of plasmin generation in the presence of heparin over the controls were plotted against the inverse of the volume fraction of Glu-Plg or streptokinase after serial dilutions. The results indicated that the dilutions of streptokinase but not of Glu-Plg influenced the ratios, suggesting an interaction of heparin with streptokinase. Addition of 6-AH reversed the inhibitory effect of NaCl on the activation of Glu-Plg by streptokinase and the results of the near UV CD spectra of Glu-Plg showed that addition of 6-AH enhanced the spectra in this region with an increase in the ellipticity which was not affected by addition of NaCl.