Heparin affin regulatory peptide modulates the endogenous anticoagulant activity of heparin and heparan sulphate mimetics.

Pleiotrophin, also known as heparin affin regulatory peptide (HARP), is a growth factor expressed in various tissues and cell lines. In this work, HARP was tested for its capacity to modulate the anticoagulant activity of heparin and heparan sulphate mimetics (OTR4120). We used both in vitro and in vivo assays. HARP was found to be differently effective for neutralization of the anticoagulant activity of the mimetic heparan sulphate (OTR4120) and heparin in purified system and human plasma. HARP was shown to compete with both antithrombin and thrombin for binding to heparin and to OTR4120, respectively. In the presence of OTR4120, the V(max) was constant and the calculated maximum velocity was 1.56 U/min; the thrombin Km value (0.011 nM) was affected by HARP concentrations. The Km (HARP) value was 0.085 nM, which is consistent with high affinity of HARP to OTR4120. Under the same conditions, initial velocity patterns for antithrombin-heparin were determined in the presence or in the absence of HARP. The antithrombin value Km (0.022 nM) was affected by HARP (0.077 nM). HARP exhibits efficacy equivalent to or greater than protamine. Interestingly, intraperitoneally administered HARP decreased the anticoagulant activity of heparin and of OTR4120 in mice. Taken together, these data provide the first evidence for a physiological role of HARP in the modulation of anticoagulant activity of heparin and heparin-like material.