Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.48 (transcriptase)
 9,479 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We measured in rat aorta rings the relaxant activity of a number of peptides derived from the activating sequence (SLIGRL, or PP6) of the proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2). The relaxant action of PP6-NH2 mimicked the action of low concentrations of trypsin (0.5-1 unit/ml; 1-2 nM), was dependent on an intact endothelium, and was blocked by N-omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester but not by N-omega-nitro-D-arginine methyl ester. The relaxant actions of PP6, SLIGRL-NH2 (PP6-NH2), SLIGR (PP5), and SLIGR-NH2 (PP5-NH2) were comparable in magnitude, with relative potencies of PP6-NH2 > or = PP6 > PP5-NH2 > PP5. Peptides lacking either a leucine at position 2 (SAIGRL) or an arginine at position 5 (SLIGAL) exhibited markedly reduced or no relaxant activity; nevertheless, the tetrapeptide LIGR-NH2 exhibited low but detectable intrinsic activity. With the use of reverse-transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction, we documented the presence of PAR-2 mRNA in aorta tissue and determined that the rat aorta amino-terminal receptor-activating sequence was the same as that reported for the murine PAR-2 receptor. We concluded that the rat aorta tissue has a PAR-2 receptor that can be activated by peptides as short as four amino acids; the leucine and arginine at positions 2 and 5, respectively, of the proteolytically revealed PAR-2 receptor-activating sequence play key roles in regulating receptor function.
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PMID:Proteinase-activated receptor-2 in rat aorta: structural requirements for agonist activity of receptor-activating peptides. 863 54

We have examined protease-mediated activation of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase cascade in rat aortic smooth-muscle cells and bovine pulmonary arterial fibroblasts. Exposure of smooth-muscle cells to trypsin evoked rapid and transient activation of c-Raf-1, MAP kinase kinase 1 and 2 and MAP kinase that was sensitive to inhibition by soybean trypsin inhibitor. The actions of trypsin were closely mimicked by the proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2)-activating peptide sequence SLIGRL but not LSIGRL. Peak MAP kinase activation in response to both trypsin and SLIGRL was also dependent on concentration, with EC50 values of 12.1 +/- 3.4 nM and 62.5 +/- 4.5 microM respectively. Under conditions where MAP kinase activation by SLIGRL was completely desensitized by prior exposure of smooth-muscle cells to the peptide, trypsin-stimulated MAP kinase activity was markedly attenuated (78.9 +/- 15.1% desensitization), whereas the response to thrombin was only marginally affected (16.6 +/- 12.1% desensitization). Trypsin and SLIGRL also weakly stimulated the activation of the MAP kinase homologue p38 in smooth-muscle cells without any detectable activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Strong activation of the MAP kinase cascade and modest activation of p38 by trypsin were also observed in fibroblasts, although in this cell type these effects were not mimicked by SLIGRL nor by the thrombin receptor-activating peptide SFLLRNPNDKYEPF. Reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis confirmed the presence of PAR-2 mRNA in smooth-muscle cells but not fibroblasts. Our results suggest that in vascular smooth-muscle cells, trypsin stimulates the activation of the MAP kinase cascade relatively selectively, in a manner consistent with an interaction with the recently described PAR-2. Activation of MAP kinase by trypsin in vascular fibroblasts, however, seems to be independent of PAR-2 and occurs by an undefined mechanism possibly involving novel receptor species.
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PMID:Trypsin stimulates proteinase-activated receptor-2-dependent and -independent activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases. 900 84