Functional effects of kringle 2 glycosylation in a hybrid plasminogen activator

uK2t-PA is a hybrid plasminogen activator in which the epidermal growth factor-like domain of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator precedes the kringle 2 and catalytic domains of tissue-type plasminogen activator. The molecules are expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells in two variant forms, a type II form in which only the protease domain is glycosylated, and a type I form in which both the kringle 2 and the protease domains carry N-acetyllactosamine type glycans. The two forms differed slightly in their affinity for fibrin and fibrinogen, which allowed their separation, but the stimulation of plasminogen activation of the type II form by fibrin was up to eight-fold lower than that of the type II form. The sensitivity to fibrin could be restored by treatment of the type I form with N-glycanase or sialidase. Enzymatic activity vs low molecular weight substrates was not influenced by the glycosylation of kringle 2.