title: Platelet protease nexin-1, a serpin that strongly influences fibrinolysis and thrombolysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Protease nexin-1 (PN-1) is a serpin that inhibits plasminogen activators, plasmin, and thrombin. PN-1 is barely detectable in plasma, but we have shown recently that PN-1 is present within the α-granules of platelets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, the role of platelet PN-1 in fibrinolysis was investigated with the use of human platelets incubated with a blocking antibody and platelets from PN-1-deficient mice. We showed by using fibrin-agar zymography and fibrin matrix that platelet PN-1 inhibited both the generation of plasmin by fibrin-bound tissue plasminogen activator and the activity of fibrin-bound plasmin itself. Rotational thromboelastometry and laser scanning confocal microscopy were used to demonstrate that PN-1 blockade or deficiency resulted in increased clot lysis and in an acceleration of the lysis front. Protease nexin-1 is thus a major determinant of the lysis resistance of platelet-rich clots. Moreover, in an original murine model in which thrombolysis induced by tissue plasminogen activator can be measured directly in situ, we observed that vascular recanalization was significantly increased in PN-1-deficient mice. Surprisingly, general physical health, after tissue plasminogen activator-induced thrombolysis, was much better in PN-1-deficient than in wild-type mice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results reveal that platelet PN-1 can be considered as a new important regulator of thrombolysis in vivo. Inhibition of PN-1 is thus predicted to promote endogenous and exogenous tissue plasminogen activator-mediated fibrinolysis and may enhance the therapeutic efficacy of thrombolytic agents.
authors.affiliation: Unité INSERM U698, CHU Xavier Bichat, 46 rue Henri Huchard, Paris Cedex 18, France.
authors.forename: Yacine
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Boulaftali
authors.forename: Benoit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ho-Tin-Noe
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pena
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loyau
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Venisse
authors.forename: Déborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: François
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arocas
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Collet
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jandrot-Perrus
authors.forename: Marie-Christine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bouton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000494:pharmacology; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000502:physiology; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000201:enzymology*; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D005337:Fibrin / Q000378:metabolism; D005341:Fibrinolysin / Q000378:metabolism; D005342:Fibrinolysis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D010958:Plasminogen / Q000378:metabolism; D058258:Serpin E2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; C545486:SERPINE2 protein, human; D058258:Serpin E2; C511869:Serpine2 protein, mouse; D005337:Fibrin; D010958:Plasminogen; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator; D005341:Fibrinolysin