Hamster alpha-macroglobulin and murinoglobulin: comparison of chemical and biological properties with homologs from other mammals.

alpha-Macroglobulin and murinoglobulin were purified to homogeneity from Syrian hamster plasma and their properties were compared with those of their respective homologs from other mammals. The trypsin-inhibiting capacity of hamster murinoglobulin was much weaker than those of rat and mouse murinoglobulins. Hamster alpha-macroglobulin was cleaved by trypsin at a number of sites whereas the human homolog was split essentially only in a "bait" region into two fragments of similar size. Hamster alpha-macroglobulin treated with methylamine differed from that treated with trypsin in the electrophoretic mobility, intensity of fluorescence induced by binding of bis(8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate), and plasma clearance pattern, whereas virtually no difference was observed between the human homologs treated in the same manner. The reaction of hamster alpha-macroglobulin with methylamine, as measured by the generation of thiol groups and the decrease in trypsin-protein amidase activity, was much slower than that of the human homolog. Trypsin in a complex with hamster alpha-macroglobulin retained its fibrinolytic activity, but this was not the case for human or rabbit alpha-2-macroglobulin. These results suggest that, compared with the human homolog, hamster alpha-macroglobulin is more loosely packed in the native state, undergoes conformational change more slowly on treatment with methylamine, and less efficiently hinders the access of proteinaceous substrates to trapped proteinase. The serum concentration of hamster alpha-macroglobulin was 6.9 mg/ml, or about 3-fold higher than that of the human type, and showed little change during the acute-phase reaction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)