Objective Factors and mechanisms that activate macrophages in atherosclerotic plaques are incompletely understood. We examined the capacity of heparanase to activate macrophages. Results/Methods Highly purified heparanase was added to mouse peritoneal macrophages (MPM) and macrophage-like J774 cells and the levels of TNFα, MMP-9, IL-1, and MCP-1 were evaluated by ELISA. Gene expression was determined by RT-PCR. Cells collected from Toll like receptor (TLR)-2 and -4 knockout mice (KO) were evaluated similarly. Heparanase levels in the plasma of patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI), stable angina (SA), and healthy subjects were determined by ELISA. Immunohistochemistry was applied to detect the expression of heparanase in control specimens and specimens of patients with SA or acute MI. Addition or over expression of heparanase variants resulted in marked increase in TNFα, MMP-9, IL-1 and MCP-1 levels. MPM harvested from TLR-2 or TLR-4 knockout mice were not activated by heparanase. Plasma heparanase level was higher in patients with acute MI, compared to patients with SA and healthy subjects. Pathologic coronary specimens obtained from vulnerable plaques showed increased heparanase staining compared to specimens of stable plaque and controls. Conclusion Heparanase activates macrophages, resulting in marked induction of cytokine expression associated with plaque progression towards vulnerability.

Summary. Background: Over-expression of tissue factor (TF) and activation of the coagulation system are common in cancer patients. Heparanase is an endo-b-D-glucuronidase that cleaves heparan sulfate chains on cell surfaces and in the extracellular matrix, activity that closely correlates with cell invasion, angiogenesis and tumor metastasis. The study was undertaken to investigate the involvement of heparanase in TF expression. Methods: Tumor-derived cell lines were transfected with heparanase cDNA and TF expression was examined. The effect of exogenous addition of active and inactive heparanase on TF expression and activity was studied in tumor cell lines and primary human umbilical vein endothelial cells. TF expression was also explored in heparanase over-expressing transgenic (Tg) mice. Blast cells were collected from acute leukemia patients and TF and heparanase expression levels were analyzed. Results: Over-expression of heparanase in tumor-derived cell lines resulted in a 2-fold increase in TF expression levels, and a similar trend was observed in heparanase Tg mice in vivo. Likewise, exogenous addition of heparanase to endothelial or tumor-derived cells resulted in enhanced TF expression and activity. Interestingly, TF expression was also induced in response to enzymatically inactive heparanase, suggesting that this effect was independent of heparanase enzymatic activity. The regulatory effect of heparanase on TF expression involved activation of the p38 signaling pathway. A positive correlation between TF expression levels and heparanase activity was found in blasts collected from 22 acute leukemia patients. Conclusions: Our results indicate that in addition to its well-known function as an enzyme paving a way for invading cells, heparanase also participates in the regulation of TF gene expression and its related coagulation pathways.

Tumor metastasis, the leading cause of cancer patients' death, is still insufficiently understood. While concepts and mechanisms of tumor metastasis are evolving, it is widely accepted that cancer metastasis is accompanied by orchestrated proteolytic activity executed by array of proteases. While matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) attracted much attention, other proteases constitute the tumor milieu, of which a large family consists of cysteine proteases named cathepsins. Like MMPs, some cathepsins are often upregulated in cancer and, once secreted or localized to the cell surface, can degrade components of the extracellular matrix. In addition, cathepsin L is held responsible for processing and activation of heparanase, an endo-β-glucuronidase capable of cleaving heparan sulfate side chains of heparan sulfate proteoglycans, activity that is strongly implicated in cell dissemination associated with tumor metastasis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. In this review, we discuss recent progress in heparanase research focusing on heparanase-related molecules namely, cathepsin L and heparanase 2 (Hpa2), a heparanase homolog.

Heparanase is an endoglycosidase that specifically cleaves heparan sulfate side chains of heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Utilizing an ELISA method capable of detection and quantification of heparanase, we examined heparanase levels in the plasma and urine of a cohort of 29 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), 14 T2DM patients who underwent kidney transplantation, and 47 healthy volunteers. We provide evidence that heparanase levels in the urine of T2DM patients are markedly elevated compared to healthy controls (1162±181 vs. 156±29.6 pg/ml for T2DM and healthy controls, respectively), increase that is statistically highly significant (P<0.0001). Notably, heparanase levels were appreciably decreased in the urine of T2DM patients who underwent kidney transplantation, albeit remained still higher than healthy individuals (P<0.0001). Increased heparanase levels were also found in the plasma of T2DM patients. Importantly, urine heparanase was associated with elevated blood glucose levels, implying that glucose mediates heparanase upregulation and secretion into the urine and blood. Utilizing an in vitro system, we show that insulin stimulates heparanase secretion by kidney 293 cells, and even higher secretion is observed when insulin is added to cells maintained under high glucose conditions. These results provide evidence for a significant involvement of heparanase in diabetic complications.

BackgroundHeparanase is an endo-β-D-glucuronidase dominantly involved in tumor metastasis and angiogenesis. Recently, we demonstrated that heparanase is involved in the regulation of the hemostatic system. Our hypothesis was that heparanase is directly involved in activation of the coagulation cascade. Design and MethodsActivated factor X and thrombin were studied using chromogenic assays, immunoblotting and thromboelastography. Heparanase levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A potential direct interaction between tissue factor and heparanase was studied by coimmunoprecipitation and far-western assays. ResultsInterestingly, addition of heparanase to tissue factor and activated factor VII resulted in a 3-to 4-fold increase in activation of the coagulation cascade as shown by increased activated factor X and thrombin production. Culture medium of human embryonic kidney 293 cells overexpressing heparanase and its derivatives increased activated factor X levels in a non-enzymatic manner. When heparanase was added to pooled normal plasma, a 7-to 8-fold increase in activated factor X level was observed. Subsequently, we searched for clinical data supporting this newly identified role of heparanase. Plasma samples from 35 patients with acute leukemia at presentation and 20 healthy donors were studied for heparanase and activated factor X levels. A strong positive correlation was found between plasma heparanase and activated factor X levels (r=0.735, P=0.001). Unfractionated heparin and an inhibitor of activated factor X abolished the effect of heparanase, while tissue factor pathway inhibitor and tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 only attenuated the procoagulant effect. Using co-immunoprecipitation and farwestern analyses it was shown that heparanase interacts directly with tissue factor. ConclusionsOverall, our results support the notion that heparanase is a potential modulator of blood hemostasis, and suggest a novel mechanism by which heparanase increases the generation of activated factor X in the presence of tissue factor and activated factor VII.Key words: heparanase, coagulation cascade, tissue factor, Xa level.Citation: Nadir Y, Brenner B, Fux L, Shafat I, Attias J, and Vlodavsky I. Heparanase enhances the generation of activated factor X in the presence of tissue factor and activated factor VII. Haematologica 2010;95(11):1927-1934. doi:10.3324/haematol.2010 Heparanase enhances the generation of activated factor X in the presence of tissue factor and activated factor VII