Evidence for the Occurrence of a Fast-Acting Inhibitor for Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator in Human Plasma

Abstract

SummaryHuman plasma contains a fast-acting t-PA inhibitor, which is not identical with α2-antiplasmin or α2-macroglobulin. The concentration of this inhibitor in normal plasma is highly variable, much lower than that of known plasma protease inhibitors, and in the range of physiologically occurring plasma concentrations of t- PA (0-2 IU/ml).The inhibitor binds to concanavalin A-Sepharose, is rather stable when heated, is not precipitated in euglobulin fractions and probably does not originate from platelets. The inhibitor seems to form a 190 Kd complex with t-PA. The relation between this plasma inhibitor and the recently discovered endothelial cell inhibitor is not yet clear.