Epigenetic control of tissue-type plasminogen activator synthesis in human endothelial cells

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) is produced by endothelial cells (EC) and is responsible for the removal of intravascular fibrin deposits. We investigated whether expression of t-PA by EC is under epigenetic control.Methylation analysis of the proximal t-PA promoter revealed a stretch of unmethylated CpG dinucleotides from position -121 to +59, while upstream CpG dinucleotides were all methylated. In contrast, in human primary...