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This investigation presents data which indicate that the plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) activity secreted from U138 cells is composed of three separate PAIs: PAI-1, PAI-2, and PN-1. It was demonstrated that the U138 PAI-1-like protein had an apparent molecular mass of 50 kilodaltons (kDa) and was purified to apparent homogeneity by elution from an anti-PAI-1 immunoaffinity column. These fractions were also reactive with a second anti-PAI-1 monoclonal antibody using immunoblotting techniques. Northern blot analysis of RNA isolated from unstimulated U138 cells demonstrated positive hybridization with the cDNA specific for human PAI-1. The U138 PAI-2-like protein was adherent to an anti-PAI-2 immunoaffinity column and was demonstrated to be nonadherent to concanavalin A – agarose, heparin–Sepharose, and the anti-PAI-1 immunoaffinity column. The eluted U138 PAI-2-like protein was demonstrated to have an apparent molecular mass of 60 kDa and was also reactive with a second anti-PAI-2 monoclonal antibody using immunoblotting techniques. Further, the cDNA specific for PAI-2 was demonstrated to hybridize to a 2.5-kilobase message from RNA isolated from U138 cells. A third PAI was detected that was nonadherent to concanavalin A – agarose and both of the anti-PAI columns. This 50-kDa PAI was adherent to heparin–Sepharose and thrombin–agarose columns, and was not reactive with any antibodies for either PAI-1 or PAI-2. Northern blot analysis of U138 RNA demonstrated positive hybridization with an oligodeoxynucleotide specific for PN-1. This investigation demonstrates with biochemical, immunological, and molecular data that the U138 glioblastoma constitutively produces three PAIs.Key words: plasminogen activator inhibitor, U138 glioblastoma, PAI purification, human tumor cell line, proteinase inhibitors.