A peptide mimicking the C-terminal part of the reactive center loop induces the transition to the latent form of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor Type-1

Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) is the primary inhibitor of plasminogen activators (uPA and tPA) and thus plays a central role in fibrinolysis. The spontaneous insertion of its Reactive Centre Loop (RCL) into beta-sheet A is responsible for its irreversible conversion into the inactive latent form. In this study, we used two peptides mimicking residues P14-P9 and P8-P3 of the RCL so as to understand this dynamic process. We show that both peptides inhibit the formation of PAI 1/uPA and PAI-1/tPA complexes via two different mechanisms. Targeting the N-terminal part of the loop induces the cleavage of PAI-1 by the proteases uPA/tPA while targeting its C-terminal part greatly favors the irreversible formation of latent PAI-1.