aprotinin-sequence.Par.0001.Image.260 (Photo credit: redondoself)

Protein folding: amino-acid sequence of bovine BPTI (basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor) in one-letter code, with its folded 3D structure represented by a stick model of the mainchain and sidechains (in gray), and the backbone and secondary structure by a ribbon colored blue to red from N- to C-terminus. 3D structure from PDB file 1BPI, visualized in Mage and rendered in Raster3D. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Effects of Aprotinin on Endothelial Cell Coagulant Biology

Author: Demet Sag, PhD

The Effects of Aprotinin on Endothelial Cell Coagulant Biology

Demet Sag, PhD*†, Kamran Baig, MBBS, MRCS; James Jaggers, MD, Jeffrey H. Lawson, MD, PhD

Departments of Surgery and Pathology (J.H.L.) Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC  27710

Correspondence and Reprints:

                             Jeffrey H. Lawson, M.D., Ph.D.

                              Departments of Surgery & Pathology

                              DUMC Box 2622

                              Durham, NC  27710

                              (919) 681-6432 – voice

                              (919) 681-1094 – fax

                              lawso006@mc.duke.edu

*Current Address: Demet SAG, PhD

                          3830 Valley Centre Drive Suite 705-223, San Diego, CA 92130

Support:

Word Count: 4101 Journal Subject Heads:  CV surgery, endothelial cell activation,  Aprotinin, Protease activated receptors,

Potential Conflict of Interest:         None

Abstract

Introduction:  Cardiopulmonary bypass is associated with a systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which is responsible for excessive bleeding and multisystem dysfunction. Endothelial cell activation is a key pathophysiological process that underlies this response. Aprotinin, a serine protease inhibitor has been shown to be anti-inflammatory and also have significant hemostatic effects in patients undergoing CPB. We sought to investigate the effects of aprotinin at the endothelial cell level in terms of cytokine release (IL-6), tPA release, tissue factor expression, PAR1 + PAR2 expression and calcium mobilization. Methods:  Cultured Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECS) were stimulated with TNFa for 24 hours and treated with and without aprotinin (200KIU/ml + 1600KIU/ml). IL-6 and tPA production was measured using ELISA. Cellular expression of Tissue Factor, PAR1 and PAR2 was measured using flow cytometry. Intracellular calcium mobilization following stimulation with PAR specific peptides and agonists (trypsin, thrombin, Human Factor VIIa, factor Xa) was measured using fluorometry with Fluo-3AM. Results: Aprotinin at the high dose (1600kIU/mL), 183.95 ± 13.06mg/mL but not low dose (200kIU/mL) significantly reduced IL-6 production from TNFa stimulated HUVECS (p=0.043). Aprotinin treatment of TNFa activated endothelial cells significantly reduce the amount of tPA released in a dose dependent manner (A200 p=0.0018, A1600 p=0.033). Aprotinin resulted in a significant downregulation of TF expression to baseline levels. At 24 hours, we found that aprotinin treatment of TNFa stimulated cells resulted in a significant downregulation of PAR-1 expression. Aprotinin significantly inhibited the effects of the protease thrombin upon PAR1 mediated calcium release. The effects of PAR2 stimulatory proteases such as human factor Xa, human factor VIIa and trypsin on calcium release was also inhibited by aprotinin. Conclusion:  We have shown that aprotinin has direct anti-inflammatory effects on endothelial cell activation and these effects may be mediated through inhibition of proteolytic activation of PAR1 and PAR2. Abstract word count: 297

INTRODUCTION   Each year it is estimated that 350,000 patients in the United States, and 650,000 worldwide undergo cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Despite advances in surgical techniques and perioperative management the morbidity and mortality of cardiac surgery related to the systemic inflammatory response syndrome(SIRS), especially in neonates is devastatingly significant. Cardiopulmonary bypass exerts an extreme challenge upon the haemostatic system as part of the systemic inflammatory syndrome predisposing to excessive bleeding as well as other multisystem dysfunction (1). Over the past decade major strides have been made in the understanding of the pathophysiology of the inflammatory response following CPB and the role of the vascular endothelium has emerged as critical in maintaining cardiovascular homeostasis (2).

CPB results in endothelial cell activation and initiation of coagulation via the Tissue Factor dependent pathway and consumption of important clotting factors. The major stimulus for thrombin generation during CPB has been shown to be through the tissue factor dependent pathway. As well as its effects on the fibrin and platelets thrombin has been found to play a role in a host of inflammatory responses in the vascular endothelium. The recent discovery of the Protease-Activated Receptors (PAR), one of which through which thrombin acts (PAR-1) has stimulated interest that they may provide a vital link between inflammation and coagulation (3).

Aprotinin is a nonspecific serine protease inhibitor that has been used for its ability to reduce blood loss and preserve platelet function during cardiac surgery procedures requiring cardiopulmonary bypass and thus the need for subsequent blood and blood product transfusions. However there have been concerns that aprotinin may be pro-thrombotic, especially in the context of coronary artery bypass grafting, which has limited its clinical use. These reservations are underlined by the fact that the mechanism of action of aprotinin has not been fully understood. Recently aprotinin has been shown to exert anti-thrombotic effects mediated by blocking the PAR-1 (4). Much less is known about its effects on endothelial cell activation, especially in terms of Tissue Factor but it has been proposed that aprotinin may also exert protective effects at the endothelial level via protease-activated receptors (PAR1 and PAR2). In this study we simulated in vitro the effects of endothelial cell activation during CPB by stimulating Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) with a proinflammatory cytokine released during CPB, Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-a) and characterize the effects of aprotinin treatment on TF expression, PAR1 and PAR2 expression, cytokine release IL-6 and tPA secretion.  In order to investigate the mechanism of action of aprotinin we studied its effects on PAR activation by various agonists and ligands.

These experiments provide insight into the effects of aprotinin on endothelial related coagulation mechanisms in terms of Tissue Factor expression and indicate it effects are mediated through Protease-Activated Receptors (PAR), which are seven membrane spanning proteins called G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), that link coagulant and inflammatory pathways. Therefore, in this study we examine the effects of aprotinin on the human endothelial cell coagulation biology by different-dose aprotinin, 200 and 1600units.  The data demonstrates that aprotinin appears to directly alter endothelial expression of inflammatory cytokines, tPA and PAR receptor expression following treatment with TNF.  The direct mechanism of action is unknown but may act via local protease inhibition directly on endothelial cells.  It is hoped that with improved understanding of the mechanisms of action of aprotinin, especially an antithrombotic effect at the endothelial level the fears of prothrombotic tendency may be lessened and its use will become more routine.  

METHODS Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECS) used as our model to study the effects of endothelial cell activation on coagulant biology. In order to simulate the effects of cardiopulmonary bypass at the endothelial cell interface we stimulated the cells with the proinflammatory cytokine TNFa. In the study group the HUVECs were pretreated with low (200kIU/mL) and high (1600kIU/mL) dosages of aprotinin prior to stimulation with TNFa and complement activation fragments. The effects of TNFa stimulation upon endothelial Tissue Factor expression, PAR1 and PAR2 expression, and tPA and IL6 secretion were determined and compared between control and aprotinin treated cells. In order to delineate whether aprotinin blocks PAR activation via its protease inhibition properties we directly activated PAR1 and PAR2 using specific agonist ligands such thrombin (PAR1), trypsin, Factor VIIa, Factor Xa (PAR2) in the absence and presence of aprotinin.

Endothelial Cell Culture HUVECs were supplied from Clonetics. The cells were grown in EBM-2 containing 2MV bullet kit, including 5% FBS, 100-IU/ml penicillin, 0.1mg/mL streptomycin, 2mmol/L L-glutamine, 10 U/ml heparin, 30µg/mL EC growth supplement (ECGS). Before the stimulation cells were starved in 0.1%BSA depleted with FBS and growth factors for 24 hours. Cells were sedimented at 210g for 10 minutes at 4C and then resuspended in culture media. The HUVECs to be used will be between 3 and 5 passages.

Assay of IL-6 and tPA production Levels of IL-6 were measured with an ELISA based kit (RDI, MN) according to the manufacturers instructions. tPA was measured using a similar kit (American Diagnostica).

  Flow Cytometry The expression of transmembrane proteins PAR1, PAR2 and tissue factor were measured by single color assay as FITC labeling agent. Prepared suspension of cells disassociated trypsin free cell disassociation solution (Gibco) to be labeled. First well washed, and resuspended into “labeling buffer”, phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing 0.5% BSA plus 0.1% NaN3, and 5% fetal bovine serum to block Fc and non-specific Ig binding sites. Followed by addition of 5mcl of antibody to approx. 1 million cells in 100µl labeling buffer and incubate at 4C for 1 hour. After washing the cells with 200µl with wash buffer, PBS + 0.1% BSA + 0.1% NaN3, the cells were pelletted at 1000rpm for 2 mins. Since the PAR1 and PAR2 were directly labeled with FITC these cells were fixed for later analysis by flow cytometry in 500µl PBS containing 1%BSA + 0.1% NaN3, then add equal volume of 4% formalin in PBS. For tissue factor raised in mouse as monoclonal primary antibody, the pellet resuspended and washed twice more as before, and incubated at 4C for 1 hour addition of 5µl donkey anti-mouse conjugated with FITC secondary antibody directly to the cell pellets at appropriate dilution in labeling buffer. After the final wash three times, the cell pellets were resuspended thoroughly in fixing solution. These fixed and labeled cells were then stored in the dark at 4C until there were analyzed. On analysis, scatter gating was used to avoid collecting data from debris and any dead cells. Logarithmic amplifiers for the fluorescence signal were used as this minimizes the effects of different sensitivities between machines for this type of data collection.  

Intracellular Calcium Measurement

Measured the intracellular calcium mobilization by Fluo-3AM. HUVECs were grown in calcium and phenol free EBM basal media containing 2MV bullet kit. Then the cell cultures were starved with the same media by 0.1% BSA without FBS for 24 hour with or without TNFa stimulation presence or absence of aprotinin (200 and 1600KIU/ml). Next the cells were loaded with Fluo-3AM 5µg/ml containing agonists, PAR1 specific peptide SFLLRN-PAR1 inhibitor, PAR2 specific peptide SLIGKV-PAR2 inhibitor, human alpha thrombin, trypsin, factor VIIa, factor Xa for an hour at 37C in the incubation chamber. Finally the media was replaced by Flou-3AM free media and incubated for another 30 minutes in the incubation chamber. The readings were taken at fluoromatic bioplate reader. For comparison purposes readings were taken before and during Fluo-3AM loading as well.  

RESULTS Aprotinin reduces IL-6 production from activated/stimulated HUVECS The effects of aprotinin analyzed on HUVEC for the anti-inflammatory effects of aprotinin at cultured HUVECS with high and low doses.  Figure 1 shows that TNF-a stimulated a considerable increase in IL-6 production, 370.95 ± 109.9 mg/mL.   If the drug is used alone the decrease of IL-6 at the low dose is 50% that is 183.95 ng/ml and with the high dose of 20% that is 338.92 from 370.95ng/ml being compared value.  TNFa-aprotinin results in reduction of the IL-6 expression from 370.95ng/ml to 58.6 (6.4fold) fro A200 and 75.85 (4.9 fold) ng/ml, for A1600.  After the treatment the cells reach to the below baseline limit of IL-6 expression. Aprotinin at the high dose (1600kIU/mL), 183.95 ± 13.06mg/mL but not low dose (200kIU/mL) significantly reduced IL-6 production from TNF-a stimulated HUVECS (p=0.043).  Therefore, the aprotinin prevents inflammation as well as loss of blood.  

Aprotinin reduces tPA production from stimulated HUVECS Whether aprotinin exerted part of its fibrinolytic effects through inhibition of tPA mediated plasmin generation examined by the effects on TNFa stimulated HUVECS. Figure 2 also demonstrates that the amount of tPA released from HUVECS under resting, non-stimulated conditions incubated with aprotinin are significantly different. Figure 2 represents that the resting level of tPA released from non-stimulated cells significantly, by 100%, increase following TNF-a stimulation for 24 hours.  After application of aprotinin alone at two doses the tPA level goes down 25% of TNFa stimulated cells.  However, aprotinin treatment of TNF-a activated endothelial cells significantly lower the amount of tPA release in a dose dependent manner that is low dose decreased 25 but high dose causes 50% decrease of tPA expression (A200 p=0.0018, A1600 p=0.033) This finding suggests that aprotinin exerts a direct inhibitory effect on endothelial cell tPA production.

Aprotinin and receptor expression on activated HUVECS

TF is expressed when the cell in under stress such as TNFa treatments. The stimulated HUVECs with TNF-a tested for the expression of PAR1, PAR2, and tissue factor by single color flow cytometry through FITC labeled detection antibodies at 1, 3, and 24hs.

Tissue Factor expression is reduced:

Figure 3 demonstrates that there is a fluctuation of TF expression from 1 h to 24h that the TF decreases at first hour after aprotinin application 50% and 25%, A1600 and A200 respectively.  Then at 3 h the expression come back up 50% more than the baseline.  Finally, at 24h the expression of TF becomes almost as same as baseline.  Moreover, TNFa stimulated cells remains 45% higher than baseline after at 3h as well as at 24h.

PAR1 decreased:

Figure 4 demonstrates that aprotinin reduces the PAR1 expression 80% at 24h but there is no affect at 1 and 3 h intervals for both doses.

During the treatment with aprotinin only high dose at 1 hour time interval decreases the PAR1 expression on the cells. This data explains that ECCB is affected due to the expression of PAR1 is lowered by the high dose of aprotinin.

PAR2 is decreased by aprotinin:

  Figure 5 shows the high dose of aprotinin reduces the PAR2 expression close to 25% at 1h, 50% at 3h and none at 24h.  This pattern is exact opposite of PAR1 expression.  Figure 5 demonstrates the 50% decrease at 3h interval only.  Does that mean aprotinin affecting the inflammation first and then coagulation?

This suggests that aprotinin may affect the PAR2 expression at early and switched to PAR1 reduction later time intervals.  This fluctuation can be normal because aprotinin is not a specific inhibitor for proteases.  This approach make the aprotinin work better the control bleeding and preventing the inflammation causing cytokine such as IL-6.

Aprotinin inhibits Calcium fluxes induced by PAR1/2 specific agonists

  The specificity of aprotinin’s actions upon PAR studied the effects of the agent on calcium release following proteolytic and non-proteolytic stimulation of PAR1 and PAR2. Figure 6A (Figure 6) shows the stimulation of the cells with the PAR1 specific peptide (SFLLRN) results in release of calcium from the cells. Pretreatment of the cells with aprotinin has no significant effect on PAR1 peptide stimulated calcium release. This suggests that aprotinin has no effect upon the non-proteolytic direct activation of the PAR 1 receptor. Yet, Figure 6B (Figure 6) demonstrates human alpha thrombin does interact with the drug as a result the calcium release drops below base line after high dose (A1600) aprotinin used to zero but low dose does not show significant effect on calcium influx. Figure 7 demonstrates the direct PAR2 and indirect PAR2 stimulation by hFVIIa, hFXa, and trypsin of cells.  Similarly, at Figure 7A aprotinin has no effect upon PAR2 peptide stimulated calcium release, however, at figures 7B, C, and D shows that PAR2 stimulatory proteases Human Factor Xa, Human Factor VIIa and Trypsin decreases calcium release. These findings indicate that aprotinin’s mechanism of action is directed towards inhibiting proteolytic cleavage and hence subsequent activation of the PAR1 and PAR2 receptor complexes.  The binding site of the aprotinin on thrombin possibly is not the peptide sequence interacting with receptors.

Measurement of calcium concentration is essential to understand the mechanism of aprotinin on endothelial cell coagulation and inflammation because these mechanisms are tightly controlled by presence of calcium.  For example, activation of PAR receptors cause activation of G protein q subunit that leads to phosphoinositol to secrete calcium from endoplasmic reticulum into cytoplasm or activation of DAG to affect Phospho Lipase C (PLC). In turn, certain calcium concentration will start the serial formation of chain reaction for coagulation.  Therefore, treatment of the cells with specific factors, thrombin receptor activating peptides (TRAPs), human alpha thrombin, trypsin, human factor VIIa, and human factor Xa, would shed light into the effect of aprotinin on the formation of complexes for pro-coagulant activity.    DISCUSSION   There are two fold of outcomes to be overcome during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB):  mechanical stress and the contact of blood with artificial surfaces results in the activation of pro- and anticoagulant systems as well as the immune response leading to inflammation and systemic organ failure.  This phenomenon causes the “postperfusion-syndrome”, with leukocytosis, increased capillary permeability, accumulation of interstitial fluid, and organ dysfunction.  CPB is also associated with a significant inflammatory reaction, which has been related to complement activation, and release of various inflammatory mediators and proteolytic enzymes. CPB induces an inflammatory state characterized by tumor necrosis factor-alpha release. Aprotinin, a low molecular-weight peptide inhibitor of trypsin, kallikrein and plasmin has been proposed to influence whole body inflammatory response inhibiting kallikrein formation, complement activation and neutrophil activation (5, 6). But shown that aprotinin has no significant influence on the inflammatory reaction to CPB in men.  Understanding the endothelial cell responses to injury is therefore central to appreciating the role that dysfunction plays in the preoperative, operative, and postoperative course of nearly all cardiovascular surgery patients.  Whether aprotinin increases the risk of thrombotic complications remains controversial.   The anti-inflammatory properties of aprotinin in attenuating the clinical manifestations of the systemic inflammatory response following cardiopulmonary bypass are well known(15) 16)  However its mechanisms and targets of action are not fully understood. In this study we have investigated the actions of aprotinin at the endothelial cell level. Our experiments showed that aprotinin reduced TNF-a induced IL-6 release from cultured HUVECS. Thrombin mediates its effects through PAR-1 receptor and we found that aprotinin reduced the expression of PAR-1 on the surface of HUVECS after 24 hours incubation. We then demonstrated that aprotinin inhibited endothelial cell PAR proteolytic activation by thrombin (PAR-1), trypsin, factor VII and factor X (PAR-2) in terms of less release of Ca preventing the activation of coagulation.  So aprotinin made cells produce less receptor, PAR1, PAR2, and TF as a result there would be less Ca++ release.    Our findings provide evidence for anti-inflammatory as well as anti-coagulant properties of aprotinin at the endothelial cell level, which may be mediated through its inhibitory effects on proteolytic activation of PARs.   IL6   Elevated levels of IL-6 have been shown to correlate with adverse outcomes following cardiac surgery in terms of cardiac dysfunction and impaired lung function(Hennein et al 1992). Cardiopulmonary bypass is associated with the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-a.  IL-6 is produced by T-cells, endothelial cells as a result monocytes and plasma levels of this cytokine tend to increase during CPB (21, 22). In some studies aprotinin has been shown to reduce levels of IL-6 post CPB(23) Hill(5). Others have failed to demonstrate an inhibitory effect of aprotinin upon pro-inflammatory cytokines following CPB(24) (25).  Our experiments showed that aprotinin significantly reduced the release of IL-6 from TNF-a stimulated endothelial cells, which may represent an important target of its anti-inflammatory properties. Its has been shown recently that activation of HUVEC by PAR-1 and PAR-2 agonists stimulates the production of IL-6(26). Hence it is possible that the effects of aprotinin in reducing IL-6 may be through targeting activation of such receptors.   TPA   Tissue Plasminogen activator is stored, ready made, in endothelial cells and it is released at its highest levels just after commencing CPB and again after protamine administration. The increased fibrinolytic activity associated with the release of tPA can be correlated to the excessive bleeding postoperatively. Thrombin is thought to be the major stimulus for release of t-PA from endothelial cells. Aprotinin’s haemostatic properties are due to direct inhibition of plasmin, thereby reducing fibrinolytic activity as well as inhibiting fibrin degradation.  Aprotinin has not been shown to have any significant effect upon t-PA levels in patients post CPB(27), which would suggest that aprotinin reduced fibrinolytic effects are not the result of inhibition of t-PA mediated plasmin generation. Our study, however demonstrates that aprotinin inhibits the release of t-PA from activated endothelial cells, which may represent a further haemostatic mechanism at the endothelial cell level.   TF   Resting endothelial cells do not normally express tissue factor on their cell surface. Inflammatory mediators released during CPB such as complement (C5a), lipopolysaccharide, IL-6, IL-1, TNF-a, mitogens, adhesion molecules and hypoxia may induce the expression of tissue factor on endothelial cells and monocytes. The expression of TF on activated endothelial cells activates the extrinsic pathway of coagulation, ultimately resulting in the generation of thrombin and fibrin. Aprotinin has been shown to reduce the expression of TF on monocytes in a simulated cardiopulmonary bypass circuit (28).

We found that treatment of activated endothelial cells with aprotinin significantly reduced the expression of TF after 24 hours. This would be expected to result in reduced thrombin generation and represent an additional possible anticoagulant effect of aprotinin. In a previous study from our laboratory we demonstrated that there were two peaks of inducible TF activity on endothelial cells, one immediately post CPB and the second at 24 hours (29). The latter peak is thought to be responsible for a shift from the initial fibrinolytic state into a procoagulant state.  In addition to its established early haemostatic and coagulant effect, aprotinin may also have a delayed anti-coagulant effect through its inhibition of TF mediated coagulation pathway. Hence its effects may counterbalance the haemostatic derangements, i.e. first bleeding then thrombosis caused by CPB. The anti-inflammatory effects of aprotinin may also be related to inhibition of TF and thrombin generation. PARs  

It has been suggested that aprotinin may target PAR on other cells types, especially endothelial cells. We investigated the role of PARs in endothelial cell activation and whether they can be the targets for aprotinin.  In recent study by Day group(30) demonstrated that endothelial cell activation by thrombin and downstream inflammatory responses can be inhibited by aprotinin in vitro through blockade of protease-activated receptor 1. Our results provide a new molecular basis to help explain the anti-inflammatory properties of aprotinin reported clinically.    The finding that PAR-2 can also be activated by the coagulation enzymes factor VII and factor X indicates that PAR may represent the link between inflammation and coagulation.  PAR-2 is believed to play an important role in inflammatory response. PAR-2 are widely expressed in the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, kidney, liver, airway, prostrate, ovary, eye of endothelial, epithelial, smooth muscle cells, T-cells and neutrophils. Activation of PAR-2 in vivo has been shown to be involved in early inflammatory processes of leucocyte recruitment, rolling, and adherence, possibly through a mechanism involving platelet-activating factor (PAF)   We investigated the effects of TNFa stimulation on PAR-1 and PAR-2 expression on endothelial cells. Through functional analysis of PAR-1 and PAR-2 by measuring intracellular calcium influx we have demonstrated that aprotinin blocks proteolytic cleavage of PAR-1 by thrombin and activation of PAR-2 by the proteases trypsin, factor VII and factor X.  This confirms the previous findings on platelets of an endothelial anti-thrombotic effect through inhibition of proteolysis of PAR-1. In addition, part of aprotinin’s anti-inflammatory effects may be mediated by the inhibition of serine proteases that activate PAR-2. There have been conflicting reports regarding the regulation of PAR-1 expression by inflammatory mediators in cultured human endothelial cells. Poullis et al first showed that thrombin induced platelet aggregation was mediated by via the PAR-1(4) and demonstrated that aprotinin inhibited the serine protease thrombin and trypsin induced platelet aggregation. Aprotinin did not block PAR-1 activation by the non-proteolytic agonist peptide, SFLLRN indicating that the mechanism of action was directed towards inhibiting proteolytic cleavage of the receptor. Nysted et al showed that TNF did not affect mRNA and cell surface protein expression of PAR-1 (35), whereas Yan et al showed downregulation of PAR-1 mRNA levels (36). Once activated PAR1 and PAR2 are rapidly internalized and then transferred to lysosomes for degradation.

Endothelial cells contain large intracellular pools of preformed receptors that can replace the cleaved receptors over a period of approximately 2 hours, thus restoring the capacity of the cells to respond to thrombin. In this study we found that after 1-hour stimulation with TNF there was a significant upregulation in PAR-1 expression. However after 3 hours and 24 hours there was no significant change in PAR-1 expression suggesting that cleaved receptors had been internalized and replenished. Aprotinin was interestingly shown to downregulate PAR-1 expression on endothelial cells at 1 hour and increasingly more so after 24 hours TNF stimulation. These findings may suggest an effect of aprotinin on inhibiting intracellular cycling and synthesis of PAR-1.    

Conclusions   Our study has identified the anti-inflammatory and coagulant effects of aprotinin at the endothelial cell level. All together aprotinin affects the ECCB by reducing the t-PA, IL-6, PAR1, PAR 2, TF expressions. Our data correlates with the previous foundlings in production of tPA (7, (8) 9) 10), and  decreased IL-6 levels (11) during coronary artery bypass graft surgery (12-14). We have importantly demonstrated that aprotinin may target proteolytic activation of endothelial cell associated PAR-1 to exert a possible anti-inflammatory effect. This evidence should lessen the concerns of a possible prothrombotic effect and increased incidence of graft occlusion in coronary artery bypass patients treated with aprotinin. Aprotinin may also inhibit PAR-2 proteolytic activation, which may represent a key mechanism for attenuating the inflammatory response at the critical endothelial cell level. Although aprotinin has always been known as a non-specific protease inhibitor we would suggest that there is growing evidence for a PAR-ticular mechanism of action.  

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FIGURES

Figure 1: IL-6 production following TNF-a stimulation Figure 1

Figure 2:  tPA production following TNF-a stimulation Figure 2

Figure 3:  Tissue Factor Expression on TNF-a stimulated HUVECS Figure 3

Figure 4:  PAR-1 Expression on TNF-a stimulated HUVECS Figure 4

Figure 5:  PAR-2 Expression on TNF-a stimulated HUVECS Figure 5

Figure 6:  Calcium Fluxes following PAR1 Activation Figure 6

Figure 7:  Calcium Fluxes following PAR2 Activation Figure 7

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