Differences in the reactivities of human urokinase and the porcine tissue plasminogen activator.

It has previously been shown, that large differences exist between the effects of 6-aminohexanoic acid or alpha1-antitrypsin on fibrinolysis caused by a porcine tissue plasminogen activator or by human urokinase, while insignificant differences exist between the effects of a number of natural protease inhibitors on fibrinolysis caused by the two types of plasminogen activator. The present study shows that changes in substrate composition (pH, ionic strength fibrinogen concentration, plasminogen concentration) may influence to different degrees the fibrinolytic activities of human urokinase and the porcine tissue plasminogen activator. It is suggested, that this finding is partly related to marked differences in affinity for fibrin of the two activators.