Inhibition of endothelial secretion of tissue-type plasminogen activator and its rapid inhibitor by agents which increase intracellular cyclic AMP.

We investigated the effect of agents which raise intracellular levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP) on the secretion of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) by cultured human umbilical-vein endothelial cells. Significant inhibition of baseline (unstimulated) t-PA and PAI-1 secretion was observed in response to several agents which, when added exogenously, cause increased intracellular cAMP: cholera toxin, 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (MIX), dibutyryl-cAMP, and prostaglandin E1. These agents also significantly reduced or abolished the previously reported stimulatory effects of thrombin and histamine on t-PA secretion, and, with the exception of MIX, significantly reduced the previously reported stimulatory effect of thrombin on PAI-1 secretion. MIX at a concentration (10 microM) below that required to inhibit t-PA and PAI-1 secretion when tested alone, significantly increased the inhibitory effects of cholera toxin, dibutyryl-cAMP, and prostaglandin E1 on both t-PA and PAI-1 secretion. The data suggest that elevated intracellular levels of cAMP inhibit both spontaneous endothelial secretion of t-PA and PAI-1, and secretion induced by agents (thrombin and histamine) which stimulate endothelial phosphoinositide metabolism, consistent with bidirectional regulation of endothelial fibrinolytic protein secretion by the adenylate cyclase and phosphoinositide signal transduction pathways. The inhibitory effects of cAMP do not appear to be specific for t-PA and PAI-1, since cholera toxin and MIX also inhibited endothelial secretion of the adhesive protein, fibronectin. Significant inhibition of baseline endothelial t-PA and PAI-1 secretion was also caused by the stable prostacyclin analogue iloprost (ZK 36 374) and by arachidonic acid, which is converted by endothelial cells to prostacyclin, suggesting that prostacyclin produced endogenously by endothelial cells may inhibit secretion of fibrinolytic proteins by increasing intracellular cAMP.