Abstract
Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) is the main inhibitor of tissue-type (t-PA)
and urokinase-type (u-PA) plasminogen activator and therefore plays an important role
in the plasminogen–plasmin system. PAI-1 is involved in a variety of cardiovascular
diseases (mainly through inhibition of t-PA) as well as in cell migration and tumor
development (mainly through inhibition of u-PA and interaction with vitronectin).
PAI-1 is a unique member of the serpin superfamily, exhibiting particular unique conformational
and functional properties. Because of its involvement in various biologic and pathophysiologic
processes, PAI-1 has been the subject of many studies, including extensive structural
investigations, in vitro cell biologic studies, in vivo animal studies, and epidemiologic
studies. The review provides an overview on the current knowledge on PAI-1.
Keywords
plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 - PAI-1 - fibrinolysis - cancer - plasminogen activation
- serpin