Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.49 (reverse transcriptase)
 31,746 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Coronary arteriosclerosis is an underlying condition in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and stable angina pectoris (SAP), and is also related to restenosis (RS) following coronary intervention. To investigate the pathogenesis of this condition, a quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to determine relative levels of mRNA for interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 using directional coronary atherectomy (DCA) specimens. Eleven patients with AMI, 7 with UAP, 10 with SAP and 6 with RS following a previous coronary intervention underwent DCA. The mRNA intensity for each molecule was expressed by comparing it with that of beta-actin mRNA. The AMI and UAP patients showed high frequencies of mRNA for IL-1beta, IL-8, TGF-beta, and ICAM-1 together with strong intensities of expression, whereas SAP patients showed decreased mRNA expression for these molecules. Increased IL-6 mRNA expression was observed only in AMI samples. Specimens from RS patients revealed an accumulated expression of proinflammatory cytokines, except for IL-6, as well as of TGF-beta. The study suggests that variation in mRNA expression may reflect the pathophysiology of specific types of coronary artery disease, and remodeling following vascular injury.
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PMID:Expression of cytokine and adhesion molecule mRNA in atherectomy specimens from patients with coronary artery disease. 1047 71

It is well known that lymphocytes play a major role in coronary plaque destabilization in acute coronary syndromes. The aim of this study was to evaluate circulating lymphocyte apoptosis in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in comparison with subjects with stable angina and with healthy controls. We considered spontaneous lymphomonocyte apoptosis (evaluated by ELISA), interleukin (IL)-2 production (evaluated by ELISA), Fas expression on T cells (evaluated by flow cytometry) and Fas ligand mRNA (evaluated by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction), as well as Fas functionality. To evaluate T-cell activation, we also investigated T-cell subpopulations (CD4/CD8 ratio), T-cell surface HLA-DR and CD69 expression (evaluated by flow cytometry) in blood taken within 6 hours from onset of NSTEMI. Spontaneous apoptosis was significantly increased in NSTEMI patients in comparison with the two control groups and it was associated with an increased expression of Fas, an increased susceptibility to the Fas agonist (CH-11) and a normal production of IL-2 in cell cultures. We also found a significant increase of HLA-DR+ CD3+ and CD69+ CD4+ cells in NSTEMI patients. These data suggest that the enhanced apoptosis is due to a mechanism of "active" antigen-driven death, induced by the expression of death cytokines and not by the failure of cell growth factors. We conclude that in case of NSTEMI peripheral lymphocytes are activated and undergo an enhanced programmed cell death due to activation mechanisms. It is likely that lymphocyte activation occurs before the onset of acute ischemia and contributes to the plaque rupture and to the myocardial ischemic insult.
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PMID:[Lymphocyte apoptosis in non-ST segment elevation acute myocardial infarction ]. 1462 21

Cyclic nucleotides are important secondary messengers that control many physiologic processes, including smooth muscle contractility. Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) comprise of a superfamily of metallophosphydrolases that specifically cleave the 3',5'-cyclic phosphate moiety of cAMP and/or cGMP to produce the corresponding 5' nucleotide. Currently 21 PDE genes have been cloned and are classified into 11 families (1-11) according to their sequence of homology, biochemical and pharmacological properties. Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) is one of the members of the superfamily that specifically cleaves cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), a key intracellular secondary messenger. It is composed of 875 amino acids and was first identified in lungs, vascular and tracheal smooth muscle, and platelets. PDE5 is selectively inhibited by sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil, and less selectively by zaprinast and dipyridamole. PDE5 inhibitors have been reported to possess antiplatelet aggregation, weak cardiac inotropic effects and vascular relaxant properties. The tissue distribution of the PDE5 family is relatively restricted compared with other PDEs. Still, recent immunohistochemical and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis have demonstrated the presence of anti-PDE5 antibodies and PDE5 transcripts in rat cerebellum, kidney, pancreas, aortic smooth muscle cells, heart, placenta, skeletal muscle, and, to a much lesser extent, in other regions of the brain, liver and lungs. Research in this field is intense, with a goal of identifying and developing new, selective PDE5 inhibitors that would be beneficial in a number of maladies, as well as angina, hypertension and erectile dysfunction (ED).
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PMID:Phosphodiesterase 5 enzyme and its inhibitors: update on pharmacological and therapeutical aspects. 1567 22