06.05.2014 Views

02 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS .indd

02 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS .indd

02 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS .indd

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Cleavage of uPAR; mechanism and prognostic<br />

significance<br />

Gunilla Høyer-Hansen, Charlotte Almasi, Helle Pappot, Keld Danø<br />

Finsen Laboratory, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark<br />

Urokinase (uPA) cleaves its receptor, uPAR, thereby inactivating the binding potential<br />

of this molecule both with regards to uPA and vitronectin. The N-terminal domain<br />

I, uPAR(I) is liberated and the cleaved uPAR(II-III) stays on the cell surface. The<br />

cleavage takes place in the linker region between domains I and II after R 83 and<br />

R 89 . The cleavage is greatly accelerated on the cell surface compared to in solution<br />

and this acceleration is dependent on the uPA-uPAR binding. uPA cleaves glycolipid<br />

anchored uPAR (GPI-uPAR) but not soluble uPAR (suPAR), which lacks the glycolipid<br />

anchor. This is due to a difference in the conformation of the linker region between<br />

domains I and II and not because of a general difference in proteolytic susceptibility,<br />

since GPI-uPAR and suPAR are cleaved with equal efficiency by plasmin. The<br />

collective amounts of all uPAR forms measured by ELISA in tumour lysates or<br />

blood correlates to prognosis in several forms of cancer. However, the amounts of<br />

uPAR(II-III) and uPAR(I) may be directly related to the uPA activity and therefore<br />

be even stronger prognostic markers. Using combinations of monoclonal<br />

antibodies we have designed 3 time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays for the specific<br />

measurements of uPAR(I-III), uPAR(I-III) + uPAR(II-III), and uPAR(I). The amounts of<br />

uPAR(II-III) can be calculated. Applying these assays on tumour extracts from 63<br />

patients diagnosed with squamous cell lung carcinoma revealed a stronger prognostic<br />

impact of uPAR(I) compared to total uPAR as measured by ELISA.<br />

28l14

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!