Regulation of type I plasminogen activator inhibitor by fibrin degradation products in rat lung fibroblasts

Persistent fibrin deposition in tissues characterizes the early pathology of many types of injury. In an animal model of bleomycin- induced lung fibrosis, increased expression of type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) is associated with accumulation of fibrin in fibroproliferative lesions. Plasmin proteolysis of cross-linked fibrin generates fibrin degradation products (FDPs) with multiple biological activities in several cell types. We reasoned that fibrin fragments may also regulate fibroblast-mediated fibrinolysis. In this study, we describe induction of PAI-1 mRNA, protein, and activity by soluble FDPs and fibrinogen in rat lung fibroblast monolayers. FDPs are more potent than fibrinogen, inducing a concentration-dependent, maximal 3.7 (+/- 0.9)-fold increase in PAI-1 mRNA as measured by northern blotting and a 9.0 (+/- 1.3)-fold induction of PAI-1 antigen levels. Active PAI-1 is demonstrated in fibrinogen- and FDP-stimulated conditioned media. Further characterization of this response shows that PAI-1 expression is induced by the DD/D fragments, but not by immunopurified fragment E. Experiments using Actinomycin D and puromycin indicate that the induction appears to be transcriptionally regulated and is not dependent on new protein synthesis. FDP induction of PAI-1 suggests a matrix-cell feedback process in which a fibrin fragment modulates expression of an important regulator of fibrinolysis.