Tissue transglutaminase (TG) is an enzyme that stabilizes the structure of tissues by covalently ligating extracellular matrix molecules. Expression and localization of TG are not well established during wound healing. We performed punch biopsy wounds on anesthetized rats and monitored the wound healing process by histological and immunohistochemical methods. The TG antigen and activity are expressed at sites of neovascularization in the provisional fibrin matrix within 24 h of wounding. Endothelial cells, macrophages, and skeletal muscle cells expressed TG throughout the healing process. The TG antigen within the wound was active in vivo based on the detection of isopeptide bonds. The TG antigen increased four- to fivefold by day 3 postwounding and was proteolytically degraded. TG expression occurred in association with TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and VEGF production in the wound. Recombinant TG increased vessel length density (a measure of angiogenesis) when applied topically in rat dorsal skin flap window chambers. We have established that TG is an important tissue stabilizing enzyme that is active during wound healing and can function to promote angiogenesis.

Human fibrinogen has been expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells using a novel two-step procedure which permits efficient synthesis of engineered variant fibrinogens. CHO cells secreting recombinant fibrinogen were grown in roller bottles and maintained in serum-free media for several months. Recombinant protein was purified from media containing 2-4 micrograms/mL fibrinogen using protamine-Sepharose chromatography. Recombinant fibrinogen was identical to plasma fibrinogen when examined on Coomassie-stained SDS gels run under reducing conditions, and on SDS gels when run under nonreducing conditions after partial or complete plasmin degradation, indicating normal chain assembly, disulfide bond formation, and overall protein conformation. Thrombin digestion of purified fibrinogen led to clot formation with release of normal fibrinopeptides, as identified by HPLC. Fibrinopeptide A released from recombinant fibrinogen was partially phosphorylated (22%), similar to the degree of phosphorylation found for human plasma fibrinogen (20-25%), indicating that partial phosphorylation in inherent in fibrinogen synthesis.

Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) catalyzes a Ca2؉ -dependent transglutaminase (TGase) activity that stabilizes tissues and a GTP hydrolysis activity that regulates cell receptor signaling. The purpose of this study was to examine the true substrates for nucleotide hydrolysis and the effects of these substrates on modulating the dual enzymatic activities of tTG. We found that Mg-GTP and Mg-ATP are the true substrates of the hydrolysis reaction. tTG hydrolyzed Mg-GTP and Mg-ATP at similar rates and interacted with Mg-ATP (K m ‫؍‬ 38 ؎ 10 M) at a 3-fold greater steady-state affinity than with Mg-GTP (K m ‫؍‬ 130 ؎ 35 M). In addition, Mg-ATP inhibited GTP hydrolysis (IC 50 ‫؍‬ 24 M), whereas 1 mM Mg-GTP reduced ATP hydrolysis by only 20%. Furthermore, the TGase activity of tTG was inhibited by Mg-GTP, Mg-GDP, and Mg-GMP, with IC 50 values of 9, 9, and 400 M, respectively, whereas the Mg-adenine nucleotides were ineffective. Kinetic analysis of the hydrolysis reaction demonstrates the presence of separate binding sites for Mg-GTP and Mg-ATP. Finally, we found that Mg-GTP protected tTG from proteolytic degradation by trypsin, whereas Mg-ATP was ineffective. In conclusion, we report that Mg-GTP and Mg-ATP can bind to distinct sites and serve as substrates for nucleotide hydrolysis. Furthermore, binding of Mg-GTP causes a conformational change and the inhibition of TGase activity, whereas Mg-ATP is ineffective. The implication of these findings in regulating the intracellular and extracellular function of tTG is discussed.Tissue transglutaminase (tTG) 1 exhibits two distinct enzymatic activities (1, 2): a calcium-dependent transglutaminase (TGase) activity that plays an important role in protein crosslinking and the regulation of apoptosis, cell morphology, cell adhesion, and tumor growth and metastasis (1-7) and a GTP binding and hydrolysis activity that is involved in signal transduction and that plays a role in cell cycle progression (8, 9). The biochemical factors modulating these divergent activities remain poorly defined.The TGase activity function requires the active-site cysteine 277, whereas the GTPase function does not, suggesting the presence of different catalytic sites (10). A putative calciumbinding site in human tTG required for TGase activity is located between Ser-430 and His-441 (11). Magnesium ions are required for GTP and ATP hydrolysis (10), and the location of this site(s) is unknown.We previously reported that GTP was reversibly bound to guinea pig tTG and inhibited TGase activity by inducing a conformational change that could be reversed by calcium ions (12). A single GTP-binding site was subsequently reported for human erythrocyte tTG, and this binding caused a reduction in affinity for calcium ions (13,14). Recent studies from our laboratory demonstrated that the GTP-and ATP-binding domains are located in the N-terminal 185 amino acid residues (15).Tissue transglutaminase is found in several distinct compartments in cells and tissues. Inside cells, tTG appears in the cytoplasm, although a small fr...

SummaryThe carboxy-terminus of the γ chain of fibrinogen contains a sequence which is believed to be one of the domains that interacts with glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa to support platelet aggregation. A normal variant of fibrinogen exists in which the four carboxy-terminal amino acids are replaced by 20 amino acids. This variant, known as γ’, has been reported to bind less effectively to platelets. The purpose of the present study was to engineer novel proteins to determine what differences in amino acid sequence between the γ and γ’ chains influence the interaction of the carboxyterminus with GPIIb/IIIa. In this regard, the γ chain cDNA in a bacterial plasmid expression vector was modified by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis to produce recombinant γ chains with amino acid changes in the carboxy-terminus which reflect the differences between γ and γ’. The recombinant γ chain with an unmodified carboxy-terminus supported adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation to the same extent as intact fibrinogen. In contrast, the ability of γ’ 427 (the recombinant γ’ variant) and γ 427 (where the 16 amino acid γ’ extension [412–427] was added to the carboxy-terminus of γ) to support platelet aggregation was markedly reduced. In addition, the extent of ADP-induced platelet aggregation was decreased in the presence of γ’ 411 (where amino acids 408–411 in γ were replaced with amino acids 408–411 in γ’), while γ 407 (where the four carboxy-terminal amino acids were deleted) was not capable of supporting aggregation. These findings demonstrate that the four residues AGDV are not only required but must be carboxy-terminal to support platelet aggregation.

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