Effect of Tunicamycin on Appearance of Carbohydrate Variants of Plasminogen in Rat and Rabbit Plasma

The in vivo incorporation of [4,5-3H]leucine and [2-3H]mannose into the lysine-Sepharose affinity chromatography-resolvable carbohydrate variants of rat and rabbit plasminogen has been studied in the absence and presence of tunicamycin (TM). When rabbits and rats were exposed to 0.5 mg of TM per kg of body weight for 30 min and 2 hr, respectively, followed by a single pulse of [4,5-3H]leucine for 2 hr, no radiolabel was found in rat or rabbit variant 1 plasminogen, whereas [4,5-3H]leucine was incorporated into variant 2 plasminogen. In similar experiments utilizing [2-3H]mannose in place of [4,5-3H]leucine, very little [2-3H]mannose was incorporated into either plasminogen variant in the presence of TM. The trichloroacetic acid-precipitable protein of rabbit plasma incorporated virtually identical quantities of [4,5-3H]leucine in the absence or presence of TM, under the above dosage regimens, while, at the same time, a large decrease in the incorporation of [2-3H]mannose was observed in the plasma proteins of rabbits treated with TM. This indicates that many of the plasma proteins may be secreted into plasma divested of asparagine-linked carbohydrate side chains. Further, we conclude that the functional difference (antifibrinolytic amino acid binding capacity) between the two plasma variants of plasminogen more than likely results from additional glycosylation of asparagine in variant 1 plasminogen that normally does not occur in variant 2 plasminogen.