Production of thrombin and antithrombin III by brain and astroglial cell cultures.

There is increasing evidence that some proteases and protease inhibitors are produced within the central nervous system. It has been proposed that the balance between these two classes of proteins may be an important modulator of brain cell growth and differentiation. Here we report that antithrombin III (ATIII) is produced in brain and primary astroglial cultures. In addition, we show that human astroglial cultures contain prothrombin mRNA, and secrete a thrombin-like protein that makes complexes with antithrombin III.