We describe the cloning of insulin promoter factor 1 (IPF1), a homeodomain protein which in the adult mouse pancreas is selectively expressed in the beta‐cells and which binds to and transactivates the insulin promoter. In embryos, IPF1 expression is initiated prior to hormone gene expression and is restricted to the dorsal and ventral walls of the primitive foregut at the positions where pancreas will later form. The pattern of IPF1 expression and its ability to stimulate insulin gene transcription suggest that IPF1 functions both in the regionalization of the primitive gut endoderm and in the maturation of the pancreatic beta‐cell.

The levels of the secreted, interstitially located extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD), the cytosolic copper-and-zinc-containing SOD (CuZn-SOD), and the mitochondrial manganese-containing SOD (Mn-SOD) were measured in the walls of human coronary arteries, proximal thoracic aortas, and saphenous veins. The blood vessel walls, particularly the arteries, were found to contain exceptionally large amounts of EC-SOD, whereas the levels of CuZn-SOD and Mn-SOD were relatively low compared with other tissues. Analysis of EC-SOD by immunohistochemistry indicates an even distribution in the vessel wall, including large amounts of the arterial intima. Arterial smooth muscle cells were found to secrete large amounts of EC-SOD and likely are the principal source of the enzyme in the vascular wall. The EC-SOD concentration in the human arterial wall extracellular space is high enough to efficiently suppress the putative pathological effects of the superoxide radical, such as oxidation of LDL and reaction with nitric oxide to form the deleterious peroxynitrite. The levels of EC-SOD in the aortic wall are found to vary widely among species and were on average 6440 U/g in humans, 4340 U/g in the cow, 2660 U/g in the pig, 160 U/g in the dog, 770 U/g in the mouse. There were only moderate differences in the amounts of CuZn-SOD and Mn-SOD. This wide variation in EC-SOD content suggests that the susceptibility to pathologies induced by superoxide radicals in the vascular wall interstitium should vary widely among species.

Extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD) has previously been shown to be the major SOD isoenzyme in extracellular fluids. Upon chromatography on heparin-Sepharose it was separated into three fractions: A, without affinity; B, with intermediate affinity; and C, with relatively strong heparin affinity. Intravenous injection of heparin leads to a prompt increase in plasma extracellular-superoxide-dismutase (EC-SOD) activity. Heparin induces no release of EC-SOD from blood cells, nor does it activate EC-SOD in plasma, indicating that the source of the released enzyme is the endothelial-cell surfaces. No distinct saturation could be demonstrated in a dose-response curve up to 200 i.u. of heparin per kg body weight, showing that the releasing potency of heparin is lower for EC-SOD than for previously investigated heparin-released factors. Chromatography of human plasma on heparin-Sepharose shows nearly equal amounts of EC-SOD fractions A, B and C. Heparin induces specifically the release of fraction C. The findings point to the existence of an equilibrium of EC-SOD fraction C between the plasma phase and endothelial-cell surfaces. The major part of EC-SOD in the vasculature seems to be located on endothelial-cell surfaces.

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The secretory enzyme extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) occurs in at least three forms, which differ with regard to heparin affinity: A lacks affinity, B has intermediate affinity, and C has relatively strong affinity. The affinity of EC-SOD C for various sulphated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) was assessed (a) by determining the concentration of NaCl required to release the enzyme from GAG-substituted Sepharose 4B and (b) by determining the relative potencies of the GAGs to release EC-SOD C from heparan sulphate-Sepharose 4B. Both methods indicated the same order of affinity. Heparin bound EC-SOD C about 10 times as avidly as the studied heparan sulphate preparation, which in turn was 10 and 150 times as efficient as dermatan sulphate and chondroitin sulphate respectively. Chondroitin sulphate showed weak interaction with EC-SOD C at physiological ionic strength. Heparin subfractions with high or low affinity for antithrombin III were equally efficient. The binding of EC-SOD C to heparin-Sepharose was essentially independent of pH in the range 6.5-9; below pH 6.5 the affinity increased, and beyond pH 9.5 there was a precipitous fall in affinity. The inhibitory effect of NaCl on the binding of EC-SOD C to GAGs indicates that the interaction is of electrostatic nature. EC-SOD C carries a negative net charge at neutral pH, and it is suggested that the binding occurs between the negative charges of the GAG sulphate groups and a structure in the C-terminal end of the enzyme that has a cluster of positive charges. These results are compatible with the notion that heparan sulphate proteoglycans on cell surfaces or in the intercellular matrix may serve to bind EC-SOD C in tissues.