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Experimental suction blisters were elicited on extensor and flexor sites on forearm skin of patients both with rheumatoid arthritis and without rheumatoid diseases. The blister fluid obtained was investigated, together with rheumatoid bursa fluid and rheumatoid noduli material by crossed and quantitative immunoelectrophoresis for fibrinogen antigenic material, plasminogen and inhibitors of fibrinolysis. In rheumatoid noduli and rheumatoid bursa fluid, fibrinogen degradation products identical with those previously described in rheumatoid synovial fluid and in bullous dermatosis were found (3, 14). On the other hand, no fibrinogen antigenic material was found in the experimental suction blisters. These results indicate that the fibrinogen degradation products in rheumatoid inflammatory exudate are probably not specific for a rheumatoid process, but rather part of a general mechanism in inflammation.

By quantitative electroimmunoassay the plasma fibronectin concentration was determined in 42 patients with chronic renal failure and treated with haemodialysis. The plasma fibronectin concentration was significantly reduced, independent of the haemodialysis, compared to a control group. Delayed wound healing seen in patients with chronic renal failure might be a result of the reduced plasma fibronectin.

Plasma, obtained just prior to diagnostic liver biopsy in 71 patients with various liver diseases, was examined by electroimmunoassay using immunoglobulin against human fibronectin and purified plasma fibronectin as standard. The plasma fibronectin concentration was not significantly different from age- and sex-matched healthy controls in patients with chronic persistent or chronic active hepatitis (n 7), primary biliary cirrhosis (n 8), alcoholic fatty liver (n 9), alcoholic hepatitis (n 10), and alcoholic cirrhosis (n 16). Patients with acute viral hepatitis (type A (n 2); type B (n 7); type non A, non B (n 1)) had significantly (P<0.01) raised plasma fibronectin concentrations (median 506 mg1 (range 339–804)) compared to controls (median 399 mgl (range 304–462)). Morbidly obese patients with fatty liver (n 11) had significantly (P<0.001) raised plasma fibronectin concentrations (median 610 mgl (range 429–862)) compared to controls (median 361 mgl (range 303–419)).

A recently discovered human plasma protein, tetrancetin (TN), which has previously been demonstrated immunohistochemically within various endocrine tissues, was in this study identified in an additional number of epithelial and mesenchymal cells by two polyclonal antibodies and one monoclonal using the conventional immunoperoxidase staining technique and a modification of the CLONO-GLAD procedure. TN was found in endothelial and epithelial tissues, particularly in cells with a high turn-over or storage function such as gastric parietal and zymogenic cells absorptive surface epithelium of the small intestine, ducts of exocrine glands and pseudostratified respiratory epithelium. Also mesenchymal cells produced a TN positive staining reaction, which was most conspicious in mast cells, but also present in some lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages, granulocytes, striated and smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts. SDS-PAGE and Western blotting analysis of cultured human embryonal fibroblasts (WI-38) showed that the cells besides TN contain another protein with a molecular weight of 82 000. As this protein, however, reacted with our affinity purified antibodies it probably represents a precussor of TN or a protein with a molecular weight of approximately 60 000, which is covalently linked to TN. This and the fact that TN shows amino acid sequence homologiess to the carboxyterminal part of the asialo-glycoprotein receptor and a cartilage proteoglycan core protein as well a binding affinity to plasminogen points to TN as being part of a larger molecule, which possibly has been cleaved by proteolysis at the cellular site and then passed into the blood, where it polymerizes into a tetramer.

A monospecific antibody to a plasminogen Kringle 4-binding tetramer protein of human blood, tetranectin, was applied to various human endocrine tissues employing the peroxidase-antiperoxidase staining technique. Endocrine cells with a known protein or glycoprotein hormonal production such as chromophils (pituitary), follicular and parafollicular cells (thyroid), chief cells (parathyroid), hepatocytes (liver), islet cells (pancreas) and ganglion cells of the adrenal medulla displayed a convincing, positive staining reaction for tetranectin, which varied from cell to cell within the different tissues. The liver showed a distinct and universal reaction within almost all hepatocytes, thus raising suspicion of producing the bulk of tetranectin to the blood. Tetranectin has recently been characterized as a lectin-like protein with amino acid sequence homology to the core protein of a rat chondrosarcoma proteoglycan. Proteoglycans have been demonstrated in secretory granules of rat pituitary and pancreatic islet cells, where they probably serve as modulators in hormonal production. The granular, cytoplasmic immunohistochemical localization of tetranectin demonstrated in this study combined with the fact that tetranectin is known to attach to plasminogen and promote plasminogen activation catalysed by tissue plasminogen activator suggests that this protein might have a dual function, serving both as a regulator in the seretion of certain hormones and as a participant in the regulation of the limited proteolysis, which is considered important for the activation of prohormones.

The presence and localization of fibronectin in normal and mechanically injured aorta in rabbits was studied using an indirect immunoperoxidase technique on tissue specimens fixed in formaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and pretreated with pepsin. The effect on staining quality of treatment with testicular hyaluronidase prior to immunoperoxidase staining was also examined. In the intima from normal aorta fibronectin was present in the subendothelial basal layer, along the internal and external elastic laminae, around and between the smooth muscle cells of the media and along the collagen and elastic fibres in the adventitia. Sixteen days after a single mechanical dilatation of the descending thoracic aorta all animals developed gross atherosclerotic-like changes. Microscopic examination revealed prominent neo-intimal hyperplasia with subendothelial, cushion-like thickenings but no medial or adventitial alterations. Fibronectin, in increased amounts, was found between and around the endothelial cells and in the subendothelial thickenings between the proliferating smooth muscle cells in relation to the fine, thin elastic and argyrophilic fibres. In the media and adventitia the amount and distribution of fibronectin was indistinguishable from uninjured control aortas. Treatment with testicular hyaluronidase before immunoperoxidase staining resulted in a higher staining resolution in normal and injured aorta. The conspicuous observation in the present study is that fibronectin exclusively accumulates in areas of tissue repair. The origins and functions of fibronectin during tissue injury and repair are discussed.

The influence of testicular hyaluronidase treatment on the immunohistochemical localization of fibronectin in different tissues (human articular cartilage, large intestine, synovial membrane and experimental granulation tissue) as well on frozen as on formaldehyde fixed, paraffin embedded tissue, has been studied using the indirect immunoperoxidase technique. Pretreatment with hyaluronidase is essential in demonstrating fibronectin in frozen sections of human articular cartilage. In the other tissues examined treatment with hyaluronidase was not essential, but gave a more optimal staining quality. The effect of hyaluronidase treatment was to some extent dependent on the duration of treatment. In formaldehyde fixed, paraffin processed tissue the improvement with hyaluronidase treatment was only seen when the hyaluronidase followed pepsin digestion of the deparaffinized tissue sections.

Fresh frozen tissue sections of human articular cartilage was treated without and with human testicular hyaluronidase (2×106 units/l) for 60 min at 37° C and stained by the indirect immunoperoxidase technique with rabbit antihuman fibronectin. The rabbit antihuman fibronectin was purified by affinity chromatography on human fibronectin-Sepharose. Fibronectin was only found on the acellular surface of the articular cartilage in tissue sections not treated with hyaluronidase. In this surface layer, probably identical to “lamina splendens”, the arrangement of fibronectin was as a membrane. No collagen was seen in this area by van Gieson staining. No staining for fibronectin was found in the cartilage matrix or in the chondrocytes. Treatment of the cartilage tissue with hyaluronidase resulted in visualization of high amount of fibronectin in the cartilage matrix, with the highest intensity around the chondrocytes. The staining of the acellular surface layer of the articular cartilage was identical with the results obtained without hyaluronidase treatment. These results indicate that articular cartilage is rich in fibronectin probably in complex with hyaluronic acid, and that the chondrocytes produce fibronectin in situ. It also demonstrates the steric hindrance of hyaluronic acid aggregates in diffusion of the antibody and the value of hyaluronidase treatment of tissue before demonstration of fibronectin.

The presence and localization of fibrin and fibronectin in rheumatoid nodules were studied using an indirect immunoperoxidase technique on tissue specimens fixed in formaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and pretreated with pepsin and testicular hyaluronidase. Three zones characteristic for rheumatoid nodules was recognized. 1) Central area with necrosis, containing at least in part fibrinogen-antigenic material and fibronectin especially in the peripheral part of the necrotic area. 2) Around the necrosis a layer of mesenchymal cells in a palisade arrangement was found. Especially in the external part of this layer fibronectin was demonstrated around and between the cells, where fibrin was absent. 3) Peripherally, a zone of non-specific granulation tissue containing moderate amount of fibronectin decreasing towards the surround mature connective tissue, was seen. In the border of the cellular layer vessels were found in variable amount. In some of the vessels vasculitis was demonstrated with the presence of inflammatory cell infiltration, fibrin deposition and occasionally thrombosis. The pathogenesis of the inflammatory reaction in rheumatoid nodules is discussed.

The sequential changes in the presence of fibronectin in the synovial membrane during the development of antigen-induced arthritis in rabbits were studied using an indirect immunoperoxidase technique on the tissue specimens fixed in formaldehyde, embedded in paraffin and pretreated with pepsin and testicular hyaluronidase. The relation to the distribution of fibronectin and connective tissue fibres, demonstrated as either argyrophilic or red by van Gieson method, was studied. Initial after the induction of the arthritis the synoviocytes became increased in size and number. The subsynoviocytial tissue was invaded by granulocytes and the number of vessels was increased. Fibronectin in increased amount was seen around the lining cells. After 2–4 weeks a markedly reduced amount of granulocytes were seen together with an increase in the number of macrophages. At this stage, fibronectin was also found together with argyrophilic fibres in the subsynoviocytial connective tissue. After 8–13 weeks the synovial membrane was found hypertrophic and folded. The lining layer was unchanged, but in the subsynoviocytial tissue lymphocytes and plasma cells were more focally arranged. At that time fine fibres, stained by the van Gieson method, were present together with fibronectin and argyrophilic fibres in the subsynoviocytial tissue.

An inhibitor of the plasma proteinase plasmin (EC 3.4.21.7) was partially purified from washed and lysed human blood platelets by (NH4)2SO4 fractionation and affinity chromatrography on Sepharose-linked purified plasminogen. The material contained none of the known plasma proteinase inhibitors when studied by crossed-immunoelectrophoresis and electroimmunoassay, but inhibited a clot-lysis-time assay and an esterolytic assay that used the synthetic substrate S-2251 (D-Val-Leu-Lys-p-nitroanilide). The inhibitory activity had the same mobility as the alpha 2-plasma proteins on preparative agarose-gel electrophoresis. Titration of the inhibitor preparation by active-site-titrated plasmin demonstrated a dissociation constant of approx. 0.1 nM. The inhibition was complete within 1 min. The inhibitor increased the mobility in agarose-gel electrophoresis of purified activator-free plasmin or 125I-labelled plasmin, as demonstrated by crossed-immunoelectrophoresis against specific immunoglobulins against plasminogen or by radioautography. The results strongly suggest the presence in platelets of a plasmin inhibitor different from the known plasma proteinase inhibitors.

The influence of fixation and tissue preparation on the immunohistochemical localization of human fibronectin in gastrointestinal tract tissue has been examined using indirect immunoperoxidase technique. The most optimal staining result with strong intensity and well defined localization was obtained on frozen sections of unfixed material. Nearly identical results with improved morphology were obtained when staining paraffin sections of tissue fixed in 96% ethanol, 96%+1% acetic acid and absolute acetone. All other fixatives tested, 10% neutral buffered formalin, Lillie's AAF, Bouin's fixative, Clarke's fixative, 4% formaldehyde, 4% formaldehyde+ 0.5% cetylpyridiniumchloride (F-CPC), 4% formaldehyde +0.1% glutaraldehyde gave unsatisfactory results. However, proteolytic digestion with pepsin of paraffin sections prior to staining of buffered formalin and F-CPCfixed material gave results comparable with those obtained on unfixed frozen sections as regards definition of the staining whereas staining intensity was decreased in some degree. No improvement was observed when using proteolytic digestion of tissue fixed in other fixatives.

Three noninvasive indices of bone formation, serum alkaline phosphatase (s-AP), 24-h whole body retention of diphosphonate (WBR), and serum osteocalcin (s-OC), the two lastnamed clearance-corrected, were compared in 121 patients with various bone disorders and in 50 patients with thyroid disease. In conditions with qualitatively normal matrix formation and mineralization, i.e. thyrotoxicosis, primary hyperparathyroidism, myxoedema and osteoporosis, the three indices deviated from average normal by about the same extent: 134%/128%/200%, 120%/113%/133%, 105%/100%/79% and 89%/86%/69%, respectively. A disproportionately marked deviation of s-AP was observed in states of abnormal matrix formation or mineralization, i.e. osteomalacia and Paget's disease: 430%/145%/282% and 348%/145%/202%, respectively. Furthermore, the formation indices correlate differently with s-calcium in hyper- and hypocalcaemic conditions. In primary hyperparathyroidism the respective r-values were 0.32/0.62/0.68, while an inverse pattern was observed in osteomalacia: -0.60/-0.51/-0.47. As very little is known about the secretion of AP and OC and their role in bone formation and mineralization, the cause(s) for the observed differences remain(s) uncertain.

Two methods for quantitative determination of the high molecular weight glyco-protein, fibronectin, have been developed. Both methods are based on enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent (ELISA) techniques. In the first of the methods an antibody against fibronectin is used to trap the antigen. This double antibody technique can detect a slight decrease in the concentration of fibronectin stored for 5 days compared to the amount of fibronectin in the freshly purified preparation. In the second method, gelatin which is known to bind specifically to fibronectin, is used to catch fibronectin. By this method less than 1% of the fibronectin present in a freshly prepared preparation is measured after storage for 5 days.The results obtained with the two methods applied on a freshly prepared and a stored fibronectin are in agreement with sodium dodecylsulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting before and after gelatin-Sepharose adsorption. These techniques demonstrate that all the freshly prepared fibronectin adsorbs to gelatin-Sepharose, while stored fibronectin, which is broken down to numerous peptides, still reacts with the fibronectin antibody, but does not adsorb to gelatin-Sepharose.The two ELISA techniques were applied on amniotic fluid, cerebrospinal fluid and urine. The results indicated significant degradation of fibronectin in urine, and less degradation of fibronectin in amniotic and spinal fluid.

A complex between plasmin and an inhibitor was isolated by affinity chromatography from urokinase-activated human plasma. The complex did not react with antibodies against any of the known proteinase inhibitors in plasma. A rabbit antiserum against the complex was produced. It contained antibodies agianst plasminogen+plasmin and an α2 protein. By crossed immunoelectrophoresis the α2 protein was shown to form a complex with plasmin, when generated by urokinase in plasma, and with purified plasmin. The α2 protein was eluted by Sephadex G-200 gel filtration with KD approx. 0.35, different from the other inhibitors of plasmin in plasma, and corresponding to an apparent relative molecular mass (Mr) of about 75000. By sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, the Mr of the complex was found to be approx. 130000. After reduction of the complex two main bands of protein were observed, with Mr, about 72000 and 66000, probably representing an acyl-enzyme complex of plasmin-light chain and inhibitor-heavy chain, and a plasmin-heavy chain. A weak band with Mr 9000 was possibly an inhibitor-light chain. The inhibitor was partially purified and used to titrate purified plasmin of known active-site concentration. The inhibitor bound plasmin rapidly and strongly. Assuming an equimolar combining ratio, the concentration of active inhibitor in normal human plasma was estimated to be 1.1 μmol/1. A fraction about 0.3 of the antigenic inhibitor protein appeared to be functionally inactive. In plasma, plasmin is primarily bound to the inhibitor. Only after its saturation does lysis of fibrinogen and fibrin occur and a complex between plasmin and α2 macroglobulin appear.

The effect of the opsonic activity of human purified fibronectin on phagocytosis ofStaphylococcus aureus by human polymorphonuclear leukocytes was investigated. After opsonization with fibronectin there was a significant increase in the rate of phagocytosis of four out of sixStaphylococcus aureus strains. Both attachment to and ingestion by leukocytes was affected, as revealed by lysostaphin treatment. Incubation of leukocytes with fibronectin prior to phagocytosis did not enhance the phagocytosis ofStaphylococcus aureus. This shows that the observed enhancement of phagocytosis was dependent on the binding of fibronectin toStaphylococcus aureus. The ability of fibronectin to opsonize different strains ofStaphylococcus aureus varied with the strain. A variation was also observed in fibronectin-induced phagocytosis by leukocytes from different donors.

Fibronectin ("cold-insoluble globulin") has been suggested to play a role in cell-to-cell and cell-to-substratum adhesions. The 70-kilodalton terminal part of human fibronectin has recently been shown to bind to Staphylococcus aureus. In the present study, a fibronectin-binding protein was purified from sonicated S. aureus strain E2371 by affinity chromatography on fibronectin-Sepharose. The fibronectin-binding protein was isolated from an extract of sonicated S. aureus containing at least 57 different proteins as determined by crossed immunoelectrophoresis in antibodies to sonicated S. aureus. The fibronectin-binding protein was released from fibronectin-Sepharose by carbamide (8 M). No impurities in the final preparation could be detected when tested in crossed immunoelectrophoresis. By polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in both reduced and unreduced gels, the protein showed two bands with relative molecular masses of 197,000 and 60,000, respectively. A complex between the purified S. aureus protein and fibronectin could be demonstrated by crossed immunoelectrophoresis both in monospecific antibodies against fibronectin and in S. aureus polyspecific antibody.

Immunochemically identical components were isolated from water-soluble phases of five Staphylococcus aureus strains by affinity chromatography on fibrinogen-linked Sepharose 4B. The elution was performed with 1 M MgCl2. The component could be isolated from sonicated preparations of whole cells, cell walls, and extracellular products of S. aureus but not from sonicated preparations of staphylococcal L-forms or from Staphylococcus epidermidis. Investigations of the eluted component by immunoelectrophoresis and Western blot analysis by use of different polyspecific antibodies to S. aureus raised in rabbits revealed only one immunoprecipitate or one band. By means of gel filtration on Sepharose CL 6B and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis a molecular mass of 420,000 and 360,000 was found, respectively. Chemical analysis showed a carbohydrate content of about 20% by weight. By crossed immunoelectrophoresis the isolated component was demonstrated to bind to human fibrinogen. The finding that this purified component inhibited the fibrinogen-induced clumping of staphylococci strongly suggests that the component is the S. aureus clumping factor.

Tetranectin (TN) is a human, plasminogen kringle 4 binding plasma protein with ubiquitous cellular distribution and lectin-like characteristics. By means of the peroxidase-antiperoxidase staining technique a polyclonal and a monoclonal antibody were used to demonstrate TN within the intracellular as well as the extracellular compartment of invasive breast carcinoma. Whereas cell associated TN was universal showing only quantitative differences depending of the growth pattern of the tumor, 78 of 133 tumors displayed TN extracellularly as well. The occurrence of this stromal TN immunoreactivity was closely associated with desmoplasia, recognized morphologically by an increase in fibroblastic cells and immunohistochemically by an intense staining for the connective tissue glycoprotein fibronectin (FN). Benign breast tissue displayed a universal, intense cytoplasmic but no extracellular reaction for TN, with the exception of rare foci of granulation tissue and around dilated cysts. Functional studies have shown that human embryonal lung fibroblasts increase their release of TN to the growth medium upon stimulation. The presence of TN extracellularly within fibroblast-rich foci of desmoplasia (and granulation tissue) suggests that a similar increased release of the protein takes place in vivo during active states. Desmoplasia has been found to have a protective effect on tumor cell propagation and metastasis in a murine model. The molecular interactions, which are responsible for this effect, are undoubtedly complex. However, TN may, by its specific binding to kringle 4 of plasminogen and its high affinity for sulphated polysaccharides, add to the understanding of how plasminogen activation is modulated at the local extracellular level.

Fibronectin (‘cold-insoluble globulin’) has been suggested as a possible mediator of platelet adhesion. A fibronectin-binding protein as partially purified from washed solubilized human platelet membranes by affinity chromatography on fibronectin-Sepharose. The isolated protein migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis with an Mr (relative molecular mass) of approx. 125 000 under reducing conditions. The protein migrated as a dimer in non-reduced gels. The purified protein did not react with immunoglobulins against fibrinogen or fibronectin when tested in crossed immunoelectrophoresis or electroimmunoassay. The protein and purified fibronectin formed a complex that had a significantly faster mobility in crossed immunoelectrophoresis than did native fibronectin. The presence of heparin in the binding-protein-fibronectin mixture resulted in an even faster mobility of the complex, whereas the mobility of native fibronectin was unaffected. Crossed affinoimmunoelectrophoresis of the complex using different lectins suggested that the binding protein is a glycoprotein containing N-acetylglucosamine residues. The complex, but not purified fibronectin, bound to phenyl-Sepharose on crossed hydrophobic-interaction immunoelectrophoresis. The results strongly suggest the presence of a fibronectin-binding glycoprotein in the platelet membrane.

The progressive inhibition of plasmin by pancreatic trypsin inhibitor and by alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor in the presence of D-valyl-L-leucyl-L-lysine 4-nitroanilide was investigated. The kinetics with plasmin were compared with those with miniplasmin. The kinetic properties of two functionally different forms of alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor described by Clemmensen [(1979) in The Physiological Inhibitors of Coagulation and Fibrinolysis (Collen. D., Wiman, B & Verstraete, M., eds.), pp 131-136, Elsevier, Amsterdam] were characterized. The two forms differ in their plasminogen-binding capability, and this difference can account for a difference in secondary site interaction suggested from the kinetics. The binding of inhibitor to miniplasmin is a simple pseudo-first-order reaction with both pancreatic trypsin inhibitor and the two alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor forms. Such simple kinetics are also observed for the reaction between plasmin and the non-plasminogen-binding form of alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor. More complicated kinetics are obtained for the reaction between plasmin and the alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor form that binds to plasminogen. With both forms of the alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor, a complex stable to acetic acid/urea and gel electrophoresis is present and fully developed 15 s after initiation of the reaction with plasmin.

Høgdall CK, Høgdall EVS, Hørding U, Clemmensen I, N0rgaard-Pedersen B, Toftager-Larsen K. Pre-operative plasma tetranectin as a prognostic marker in ovarian cancer patients. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 1993; 53: 741-746.Plasma tetranectin (TN) was tested as a biochemical prognostic marker in ovarian cancer on 39 patients. In stage I + II the 5-year survival was 33% (2/6) if plasma TN was ≤ 6.7mgl-1 and 100% (15/15) with plasma TN > 6.7 mgl-1. For stage III + IV the survival was 0% (0/11) at 26 months for patients with plasma TN ≤ 6.7 mgl-1 and 29% (2/7) after 5 years with plasma TN > 6.7mgl-1. By multivariate testing the relative hazard (RH) of death was found to be 73 times higher in patients with plasma TN ≤ 6.7mgl-1 compared to patients with values above 6.7mgl_1 (p < 0.001). For comparison, the maximal RH for the other tested variables were: 15 for advanced stage, 2.5 for grade, four for residual tumour and 2.5 for younger age.

The concentration of the newly discovered protein tetranectin has been measured in different fetal and maternal compartments. In amniotic fluid a significant, positive correlation between the tetranectin concentration and gestational age was found (a mean of 0.2 mg l-1 at week 14 to a mean of 0.5 mg l-1 at week 21). In maternal serum a slight negative correlation was found between tetranectin concentration and gestational week (a mean of 6.17 mg l-1 at week 14 to a mean of 5.79 mg 1-1 at week 21). In-term cord blood collected at delivery a mean level of 6.0 mg T1 was found, and no difference was found between arterial- and venous-blood tetranectin concentration. In fetal serum the overall mean level was 2.6 mg 1∼ and a significant positive correlation between tetranectin concentration and gestational age was found. The mean level was 1.1 mg l-1 in fetal cerebrospinal fluid and no correlation to gestational age was found. Fetal tetranectin may, therefore, be correlated to fetal maturation.

Tetranectin is a recently discovered plasminogen binding protein from human plasma, with a known primary structure. Its interactions with various sulphated polysaccharides and trypan blue has been investigated by crossed Immunoelectrophoresis, immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and gel filtration experiments.Interaction of tetranectin with chondroitin sulphate A, B, and C, heparan sulphate and trypan blue could be demonstrated by crossed Immunoelectrophoresis against monospecific rabbit anti-tetranectin. Interaction of tetranectin with fucoidan could be demonstrated by all three methods, and this interaction could be prevented by heparin and to a lesser degree by chondroitin sulphate A and C, but not by fucose. These findings, together with the recently published findings, that tetranectin is present in exocrine and endocrine glands as well as in secreting surface epithelia and mesenchyme, suggest that tetranectin, in conjunction with proteoglycans, may have a function in the packaging of granules or as a participant in exocytocic processes.

The interaction of human plasmin with the newly discovered alpha2-plasmin inhibitor was investigated. It was found from rate measurements that the reaction involves the rapid formation of a first enzyme-inhibitor complex, followed by the slow irreversible transition to another complex. L-Lysine influences the first step, but not the second.