A major difference of kallikrein-binding protein in spontaneously hypertensive versus normotensive rats

A unique tissue kallikrein-binding protein was identified and partially characterized in the brain and serum of Sprague-Dawley rats and in the serum-free conditioned media of mouse anterior pituitary cells (AtT 20) and rodent neuroblastoma x glioma hybrids (NG108-15). Kallikrein and kallikrein-binding protein(s) form SDS- and heat-stable complexes with a molecular weight (Mr) of approximately 92,000. The complex formation of 125I-labelled kallikrein and the binding protein in the serum and brain is inhibited by excess unlabelled rat urinary kallikrein, rat arginine esterase A (a kallikrein-like kininogenase), and human urinary kallikrein. When the active site of kallikrein was blocked by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride or D-Phe-D-Phe-L-Arg-CH2Cl, no complex formation was detected. Kallikrein-binding protein only forms complexes with active kallikrein or trypsin-activated prokallikrein but not with prokallikrein. 125I-labelled kallikrein forms a 92-kilodalton protein with binding protein in various brain regions of perfused normotensive rats of the Wistar-Kyoto strain (WKY), including the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and brain stem; but complex formation was not found in corresponding brain regions of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). Similarly, the kallikrein-binding protein was identified in various tissues including thymus, lung, liver, prostate, Cowper's gland, adrenal gland, kidney, and pancreas of WKY rats but not in tissues of SHR. The results suggest a major difference in the kallikrein-binding protein in hypertensive versus normotensive rats. The role of this specific kallikrein-binding protein in cellular hemodynamic processes and blood pressure regulation remains to be investigated.