The distribution of heparin between thrombin and antithrombin III in solutions containing both proteins has been calculated using a heparin-thrombin dissociation constant value, KgssMT, of 1.5 X lo-’ M and a heparin-antithrombin III dissociation constant value, KEgsMAT, of 2.0 x lo-’ M. The enhancing effect of heparin on the antithrombin III/thrombin reaction rate appeared to correlate with the...

The distribution of heparin between thrombin and antithrombin III in solutions containing both proteins has been calculated using a heparin-thrombin dissociation constant value, KgssMT, of 1.5 X lo-’ M and a heparin-antithrombin III dissociation constant value, KEgsMAT, of 2.0 x lo-’ M. The enhancing effect of heparin on the antithrombin III/thrombin reaction rate appeared to correlate with the...

Vascular endothelial growth factor-A165 (VEGF-A165) exhibits diverse biological effects through binding to its receptor KDR (VEGFR-2). Heparin-like molecules are known to modulate their interaction. There have been reports that VEGF-A lacking the C-terminal heparin binding region significantly reduced mitogenic activity. Recently, we found novel heparin-binding VEGFs from snake venoms, designat...

Glycyrrhiza glabra is a herbal plant used for treatment of many infertility diseases. Its roots, common source, are described to soothe fetuses in pregnant mice, but there isn't enough research know if it's safe take during pregnancy and its effects on implantation factors. This study examines the impact growth factors betacellulin (BTC), heparin-binding epidermal factor, activin A hormone embr...

Monoclonal antibodies were utilized to localize novel heparin-binding domains of laminin. A solid-phase radioligand binding assay was designed such that [3H] heparin bound to laminin in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. Tritiated heparin binding to laminin was saturable and specific as determined by competition with unlabeled heparin, dextran sulfate, and dermatan sulfate. By Scatchar...

Globally, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) had infected over 3 million individuals and claimed many lives producing a global epidemic that necessitates rapid development of therapeutic solutions. The ideal technique for quickly deploying well-characterized medicines against novel infections is known as drug repurposing. Several repurposable are currently being te...

We investigated the mechanism by which heparin enhances the binding of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to the extracellular matrix protein fibronectin. In contrast to other systems, where heparin acts as a protein scaffold, we found that heparin functions catalytically to modulate VEGF binding site availability on fibronectin. By measuring the binding of VEGF and heparin to surface-im...

Heparin, a sulfated glycoconjugate, reportedly inhibits the blood-stage growth of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Elucidation of the inhibitory mechanism is valuable for developing novel invasion-blocking treatments based on heparin. Merozoite surface protein 1 has been reported as a candidate target of heparin; however, to better understand the molecular mechanisms involved, we cha...

Midkine (MK) is a 13 kDa heparin-binding polypeptide which enhances neurite outgrowth, neuronal cell survival and plasminogen activator activity. MK is structurally divided into two domains, and most of the biological activities are located on the C-terminal domain. The solution structures of the two domains were determined by NMR. Both domains consist of three antiparallel beta-strands, but th...

We previously introduced random mutations in the sugar-binding loops of a leguminous lectin and screened the resulting mutated lectins for novel specificities using cell surface display. Screening of a mutated peanut agglutinin (PNA), revealed a mutated PNA with a distinct preference for heparin. Glycan microarray analyses using the mutated lectin fused to the Fc region of human immunoglobulin,...