Successive study on the production of plasminogen activator in cultured endothelial cells by phytosterol.

In a previous study(1), it was demonstrated that one of phytosterols, sitosterol, has an ability to increase the intracellular and extracellular activities of plasminogen activator in cultured endothelial cells and that other steroids including cholesterol, 5-androsten-3 beta-ol, stigmasterol, 20(R)-propyl-5-pregnen-3 beta-ol and 20(R)-heptyl-5-pregnen-3 beta-ol have no ability. Once-stimulated cells went back to normal states by removal of sitosterol. The similar lines of research for plasminogen activators were reported by several groups which were cited in a previous paper(l). In the present communication, we found that fucosterol, which is present mainly in brown algae, Phaeophyta, enhances the production of plasminogen activator in endothelial cells, as well as sitosterol. A similar enhancement was not observed for other steroids and sex hormones including androsterone, testosterone, estrone and estradiol. Synthesis of plasminogen activator induced with fucosterol or sitosterol was inhibited by protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide. The plasminogen activators produced in cells were, in the present study, classified into urokinase-type activators with molecular weights of 31,000 and 55,000 and tissue-type ones with molecular weights of 81,000 and 130,000, which were identified with respective antibodies. The synthesis of each type of plasminogen activator in endothelial cells was stimulated by sitosterol or by fucosterol.