The mouse plasma PAF acetylhydrolase: I. Characterization and properties.

Mouse plasma platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) has an apparent Km of 7.4 microM and a Vmax of 21.6 nmol/min per mg protein. Comparison with values reported for the human and the rat enzymes shows at least a 5-fold higher Vmax and similar enzyme-substrate affinity. Although lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and one component of the PAF-AH share similar masses and lipoprotein association, they are distinct enzymes. Similarly, PAF-AH is distinct from the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and the lysophospholipase of mouse plasma. A series of PAF structural analogs showed either competitive inhibition or a mixed type of inhibition of PAF-AH. Mouse plasma PAF-AH is highly sensitive to 5,5'-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid (DTNB) and is activated by deoxycholate. SDS-PAGE showed that two distinct proteins with molecular masses of 46 and 63 kDa contribute to the PAF-AH activity. The HDL-VHDL lipoprotein associated PAF-AH is precipitated to an extent of about 60% by phosphotungstate-MgCl2 and Tween 20 only partially solubilises the precipitated enzyme under conditions which can precipitate and solubilise the human enzyme.