Modulation of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 by Triton X-100 - Identification of two consecutive conformational transitions

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is a unique member of the serpin superfamily because of its conformational and functional flexibility. In the present study, we have evaluated the influence of the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 (TX-100) on the functional stability and conformational transitions of PAI-1. At 37 degrees C, TX-100 induced a concentration-dependent decrease of the functional half-life of PAI-1 resulting in half-lives of 177 +/- 54 min (mean +/- SD, n = 3), 19 +/- 2 min, 1.7 +/- 0.3 min and 0.53 +/- 0.03 min in the presence of 0.005, 0.010, 0.020 and 0.2% TX-100, respectively, compared to a half-life of 270 +/- 146 min in the absence of TX-100. Confer mational analysis at various time points and at different temperatures (0 degrees C, 25 degrees C, 37 degrees C) revealed that this inactivation proceeds through the formation of a substrate-like intermediate followed by the formation of the latent form. Kinetic evaluation demonstrated that this conversion fits to two consecutive first-order transitions, i.e. active (k(1)) under right arrow substrate (k(2)) under right arrow latent. The k(1) value was strongly dependent on the concentration of TX-100 (e.g. 0.002 +/- 0.0006 s(-1) and 0.029 +/- 0.003 s(-1) for 0.01% and 0.2% TX-100 at 37 degrees C) whereas the conversion of substrate to latent (k(2)) was virtually independent of the TX-100 concentration (i, e. 0.012 +/- 0.002 s(-1) and 0.011 +/- 0.001 s(-1) for 0.01 and 0.2% TX-100 at 37 degrees C). Experiments with a variety of other non-ionic amphiphilic compounds revealed that the amphiphilic character of the compound is, at least in part, responsible for the observed effects and strongly indicate that the currently reported mechanism of inactivation is of general importance for the conformational transitions in PAI-1. In conclusion, TX-100 changes the initial conformation of PAI-1 resulting in altered functional properties. This observation allows us to develop a new model for the mechanism involved in the conformational flexibility of PAI-1 and may provide new insights for the development of strategies for interference with PAI-1 activity.