Isolation of Peptides with Anti-Urokinase Activity from the Human Placenta

Summary

It is known that the fibrinolysis inhibitors in the human placenta are proteins which, in vitro, block urokinase plasminogen activation and are for this reason called urokinase inhibitors. In the present study it was found, for the first time, that a low-molecular urokinase inhibitor also occurs in the human placenta. It is a peptide which can be isolated through a three-step procedure: dialysis of human placenta homogenate, extraction of peptides from a filtrable fraction, and ion exchange chromatography of peptides on a Dowex-50 column.

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