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Rat protein SV-IV (seminal vesicle protein No. 4) accelerates human blood coagulation in vitro by selective inhibition of antithrombin III.

Di Micco B, Colonna G, Porta R, Metafora S.

Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Naples, Italy.

The seminal vesicle protein No. 4 (SV-IV) secreted from the rat seminal vesicle epithelium, possesses immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties and it is a potent inhibitor of platelet aggregation both in vivo and in vitro. This research aimed to investigate the possible effect of SV-IV on the process of human blood coagulation. Preliminary experiments showed that the recalcification time (RT) of platelet-poor plasma (PPP) samples, obtained from both normal subjects and patients affected by some hemorrhagic disorders, was found to be markedly reduced in the presence of micromolar amounts of SV-IV. It was demonstrated that the concentration of free antithrombin III (AT III) occurring in blood sera obtained from PPP samples recalcified in the presence of SV-IV was significantly decreased in comparison with sera obtained from PPP recalcified in the absence of SV-IV. It was also shown that PPP treatment with SV-IV significantly reduced the concentration of free AT III without affecting the levels of other plasma serine protease inhibitors, such as alpha 2-macroglobulin, alpha 1-antitrypsin and C1-inhibitor. In addition, the RT of PPP treated with a specific rabbit anti-AT III polyclonal antiserum (anti-AT III treated PPP) was not modified by SV-IV. These findings were confirmed by the observation that the addition of SV-IV into an in vitro coagulation system, containing pure fibrinogen, alpha-thrombin and AT-III, resulted in complex suppression of thrombin inhibition by AT III. No other steps of the blood clotting process (prothrombinase complex, factor XIII, fibrinogen concentration) were affected by SV-IV.

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PMID: 8053930 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]