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)

cDNA encoding the core protein of rat syndecan was cloned from a neonatal rat aortic cDNA library by polymerase chain reaction amplification. Expression of syndecan mRNA in rat aortic vascular smooth muscle (VSM) cells was demonstrated by reverse transcriptase-linked polymerase chain reaction amplification of syndecan sequences using total RNA from rat aortic VSM cells as templates. Polyclonal antibodies against rat syndecan core protein were produced by immunizing rabbits with a recombinant fusion protein containing a fragment of the extracellular domain. The anti-syndecan antibodies immunoprecipitated a large 35SO4-labeled molecule synthesized by cultured rat aortic VSM cells. The immunoprecipitated molecule was identified as a hybrid proteoglycan, based on results of alkaline, nitrous acid, and chondroitinase ABC digestions. On immunoblots the antibodies recognized a proteoglycan of greater than 200 kDa, with a core protein size after deglycosylation of approximately 50 kDa. The anti-syndecan antibodies stained cultured rat aortic VSM cells as well as tissue sections of neonatal and adult rat aortas in the medial, smooth muscle layer. On Northern blots of RNA isolated from cultured VSM cells, a syndecan cDNA probe hybridized to a major RNA species of 2.6 kilobases. Quantitative Northern blot analysis of total RNA isolated from VSM cells harvested at different cell densities revealed a decrease in syndecan mRNA levels with increased cell density. These results demonstrate the regulated synthesis of syndecan by rat VSM cells.
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PMID:Regulated expression of syndecan in vascular smooth muscle cells and cloning of rat syndecan core protein cDNA. 163 9

Proteoglycans metabolically labelled with [35S]sulphate and [3H]glucosamine or [3H]leucine were isolated from the incubation medium and cell layer of human adult mesangial cells and glomerular visceral epithelial cells using sequential DEAE chromatography purification steps followed by gel-filtration chromatography. The proteoglycan composition of each peak was analysed by treatment with HNO2, chondroitinase ABC or chondroitinase AC followed by chromatography on Sephadex G-50 columns. Heparan sulphate proteoglycan (HSPG) and dermatan sulphate proteoglycan were detected in both the culture medium and cell layer of mesangial cells. Culture medium of glomerular visceral epithelial cells contained HSPG and a second proteoglycan with the properties of a hybrid molecule containing HS and chondroitin sulphate (CS). The cell layer contained HSPG and CSPG. Detailed analysis of the hybrid molecule revealed that it had an apparent molecular mass of 400 kDa. SDS/PAGE of hybrid molecules, after treatment with heparitinase and chondroitinase ABC, revealed a core protein of 80 kDa. Using 1.8% polyacrylamide/0.6% agarose-gel electrophoresis, we deduced that the HS and CS were independently attached to one core protein. Because glomerular-basement-membrane HSPG is thought to be derived from mesangial cells and glomerular visceral epithelial cells and this molecule is involved in several kidney diseases, we investigated its synthesis in more detail. Anti-(rat glomerular-basement-membrane HSPG) monoclonal antibodies (JM403) and anti-(human glomerular-basement-membrane HSPG) polyclonal antibodies (both antibodies known to react with the large basement-membrane HSPG, perlecan) reacted strongly with HSPG obtained from both mesangial cells and glomerular visceral epithelial cells. However, the hybrid molecule did not react with these antibodies, suggesting that the HS side chain and the core protein were different from glomerular-basement-membrane HSPG. To quantify HS we performed an inhibition ELISA using mouse antibodies specific for glomerular-basement-membrane HS glycosaminoglycan side chains. Glomerular visceral epithelial cells produced significantly higher levels of HS (between 197.56 and 269.40 micrograms/72 h per 10(6) cells) than mesangial cells (between 29.8 and 45.5 micrograms/72 h per 10(6) cells) (three different cell lines; n = 3; P < 0.001). HS production by these cells was inhibited by cycloheximide, revealing that it was synthesized de novo. Expression of perlecan mRNA, demonstrated using reverse transcriptase PCR, was different in the two cell types. We conclude that glomerular visceral epithelial cells and mesangial cells have characteristic patterns of proteoglycan production. Glomerular visceral epithelial cells produced a hybrid proteoglycan containing CS and HS independently attached to its core protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Proteoglycan production by human glomerular visceral epithelial cells and mesangial cells in vitro. 753 59

The role of cell-surface proteoglycans in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection of T-cell lines was investigated. HIV-1-susceptible lymphoblastic T-cell lines, MT-4 and H9, were analyzed for proteoglycan synthesis and found to make heparan sulfate (HS) and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Enzymatic treatment of these cells with heparitinase, but not chondroitinase, significantly prevented HIV-1(IIIB) infection as measured by inhibition of cytopathicity, reverse transcriptase production, and syncytia formation. Sulfation of glycosaminoglycans HS chains was critical to viral entry as shown by inhibition of viral infection with sodium chlorate and its specific reversal with exogenous sulfate addition. Quantitation of direct virus binding to cells showed that treatment of cells with heparitinase inhibited HIV-1 binding to the T-cell surface. Exogenous HS added to cultures inhibited virus infection in a manner analogous to dextran sulfate, further supporting a functional role for HS in HIV-1 binding. These results provide evidence for participation of cell-surface HS proteoglycans in HIV-cell attachment and virus entry.
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PMID:Cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan mediates HIV-1 infection of T-cell lines. 809 45

CD44 is a cell-surface glycoprotein postulated to play a role in a variety of biological processes, including lymphocyte homing and tumor-cell metastasis. Several isoforms of CD44 have been identified in human cells, and the genesis of some of these isoforms has been attributed to alternative splicing. In the study presented here we amplified three novel transcript variants of CD44 from human cell lines using a reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction strategy. Two of the novel isoforms differed from previously described CD44 isoforms as a result of alternative splicing that occurred at previously reported splice junctions. The third novel CD44 isoform was generated from a previously unreported alternative splice junction near the 5' end of the open reading frame. Southern blot analysis of genomic DNA revealed that these novel isoforms and all of the previously described CD44 isoforms arose from alternative splicing. The capability of cells to modify their CD44 alternative splicing pattern was demonstrated in MCF-7 cells, which altered their CD44-isoform expression pattern in response to treatment with hyaluronidase. A better understanding of mechanisms regulating CD44 alternative splicing may provide insights into diverse processes, including tumor-cell metastasis and lymphocyte homing.
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PMID:Novel variants of CD44 arising from alternative splicing: changes in the CD44 alternative splicing pattern of MCF-7 breast carcinoma cells treated with hyaluronidase. 835 81

Expression of CD44 and of specific splice-variants of CD44 has been causally related to metastatic behaviour in a variety of carcinomas and lymphomas. To elucidate whether, in principle, similar splice-variants could be involved in glioma cell invasion we examined the expression of CD44 and its splice-variants in a series of 38 primary human brain tumors (28 astrocytomas, WHO grade I-III and 10 glioblastomas, WHO grade IV) and in cell lines derived from 9 glioblastomas. All brain tumors examined showed strong immunoreactivity for an N-terminal epitope present on all CD44 isoforms known. Using a polyclonal antiserum raised against the complete sequence encoded by variant exons v3 to v10, CD44 splice-variants could be detected irrespective of the grade of malignancy in many of the tumor samples at a low level and often restricted to only a few clustered tumor cells. Thus, the N-terminal epitope probably indicates the presence of the smallest and most ubiquitous isoform CD44s. Interestingly, all glioblastomas expressed CD44 variants whereas expression in astrocytomas WHO grade I, II, and III could only be detected in about half of the tumor samples. Using reverse transcriptase-PCR we were able to detect different CD44 splice-variants in the glioblastoma cell lines and in cultured primary astrocytic cells. Glioblastoma cells analyzed by flow cytometry showed the expected binding capacity for hyaluronic acid which could be increased twofold after pretreatment with hyaluronidase. The results presented show that there is low expression of CD44 variants in human tumors of astrocytic origin. Expression of CD44 and its splice-variants could contribute to the migration capacity of neoplastic astrocytes, and may be considered as a target for new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in the clinical management of brain tumors.
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PMID:Expression of variant CD44 epitopes in human astrocytic brain tumors. 875 Jan 82

Tissues must quickly recognize injury to respond to the rapid pace of microbial growth. In skin, dermal microvascular endothelial cells must also react to danger signals from the surrounding tissue and immediately participate by initiating the wound repair process. Components of the extracellular matrix such as hyaluronan are rapidly broken down into smaller molecular weight oligosaccharides in a wound, and these can activate a variety of biological processes. This study set out to determine if hyaluronan fragments released following injury can stimulate endothelial cells and what mechanism is responsible for this response. Using genechip microarray analysis, a response to hyaluronan fragments was detected in endothelial cells with the most significant increase observed for the chemokine IL-8. This observation was verified with qualitative reverse transcriptase-PCR and ELISA in human endothelial cell culture, and in a mouse model by observing serum levels of MIP-2 and KC following hyaluronan fragment administration in vivo. Activation was TLR4-dependent, as shown by use of TLR4 blocking antibody and TLR4-deficient mice, but not due to the presence of undetected contaminants as shown by inactivation following digestion with the hyaluronan-degrading enzyme chondroitinase ABC or incubation with the hyaluronan-specific blocking peptide Pep-1. Inactivation of LPS activity failed to diminish the action of hyaluronan fragments. These observations suggest that endogenous components of the extracellular matrix can stimulate endothelia to trigger recognition of injury in the initial stages of the wound defense and repair response.
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PMID:Hyaluronan fragments stimulate endothelial recognition of injury through TLR4. 1476 99

Hyaluronan is a major molecule in joint fluid and plays a crucial role in joint motion and the maintenance of joint homeostasis. The concentration and average molecular weight of hyaluronan in the joint fluids are reduced in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. To elucidate the underlying mechanism, we analyzed the message expression of three isoforms of hyaluronan synthase and hyaluronidase from knee synovium, using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Synovia were obtained from 17 patients with osteoarthritis, 14 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and 20 healthy control donors. The message expression of hyaluronan synthase-1 and -2 in the synovium of both types of arthritis was significantly less than in the control synovium, whereas that of hyaluronidase-2 in the synovium of both arthritides was significantly greater than in the control synovium. The decreased expression of the messages for hyaluronan synthase-1 and -2 and/or the increased expression of the message for hyaluronidase-2 may be reflected in the reduced concentration and decreased average molecular weight of hyaluronan in the joint fluids of patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
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PMID:Expression analysis of three isoforms of hyaluronan synthase and hyaluronidase in the synovium of knees in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. 1553 29

Within tumors there appears to be an intricate balance between hyaluronan (HA) synthesis and degradation where the invading edges display increased HA metabolism. The metabolism of HA has not been characterized in breast cancer cell lines; therefore, this study quantitatively identifies and characterizes the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and degradation of HA while correlating gene expression to cancer cell invasiveness and HA receptor status. In ten well-established breast cancer cell lines, the expression of the genes for each hyaluronan synthase (HAS) and hyaluronidase (Hyal) isoform was quantitated using real-time and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The synthesis and degradation rates of hyaluronan were determined by ELISA, while quantitation of HA receptors, CD44 and RHAMM was performed by comparative Western blotting. The molecular weight of HA synthesized by each HAS isoform and the degradation products of each hyaluronidase were characterized by size exclusion chromatography. It was demonstrated that highly invasive cell lines preferentially expressed the HAS2 and Hyal-2 isoforms, while less invasive cells expressed HAS3 and Hyal-3. There was a correlation between elevated levels of HA synthesis, CD44 expression and cancer cell migration thereby highlighting the pivotal role that HA metabolism plays in the aggressive breast cancer phenotype.
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PMID:The over-expression of HAS2, Hyal-2 and CD44 is implicated in the invasiveness of breast cancer. 1612

Cell surface proteoglycans play an important part in the functional and metabolic behaviour of leucocytes. We studied the expression of cell surface proteoglycans in human monocytes, in monocyte-derived immature and mature dendritic cells and in macrophages by metabolic labelling with [(35)S]-sulphate, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. Immature dendritic cells had the highest metabolic activity for the synthesis of cell surface proteoglycans. The major part of these proteoglycans was in phosphatidylinositol-anchored form and was released after treatment with phospholipase C. A minor part was released by trypsin. Digestion with chondroitinase ABC and mild HNO(2) treatment showed that cell surface proteoglycans had a higher proportion of chondroitin sulphate, both in the phospholipase C and trypsin fractions, suggesting that at least some glypicans contained chondroitin sulphate chains. RT-PCR detected the transcripts of glypicans 1, 3, 4 and 5 and all syndecans. Immature dendritic cells expressed a most complex spectrum of glypicans and syndecans, glypican-1 and syndecan-1 being expressed preferentially by this type of cells. Mature dendritic cells expressed glypican-3, which was not present in other lineages. These results suggest that different mononuclear cells synthesize cell surface proteoglycans actively with characteristic expression of different syndecans and glypicans genes, depending on the degree of cell differentiation and/or maturation.
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PMID:Cell surface proteoglycan expression during maturation of human monocytes-derived dendritic cells and macrophages. 1673 18

Abstract The treatment of human articular chondrocytes with Streptomyces hyaluronidase (St-HA'ase) or hyaluronan hexasaccharides (HA6) provides two approaches to the selective depletion of specific components of the extracellular matrix, and an opportunity to follow the reparative responses initiated by these changes. In this study, changes in the relative expression of messenger RNA for hyaluronan synthase-2, CD44, and aggrecan were determined by competitive, quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Changes in the size of the cell-associated matrix surrounding live chondrocytes were analyzed by the particle exclusion assay, and hyaluronan accumulation was characterized using a biotin-labeled hyaluronan-specific binding protein. Both Streptomyces hyaluronidase as well as hyaluronan hexasaccharide treatment of chondrocytes resulted in an approximately 2-fold increase in hyaluronan synthase-2 mRNA copy numbers, together with a 1.8-fold increase in the mRNA copy number for the proteoglycan aggrecan. However, although matrix biosynthesis was enhanced, the chondrocytes failed to retain these components. Both treatments resulted in a diminished accumulation of extracellular hyaluronan as well as a loss of the chondrocyte proteoglycan-rich cell-associated matrix. Thus, this model is similar to the early stages of osteoarthritis. Upon removal of the Streptomyces hyaluronidase or hyaluronan hexasaccharides, the normal, healthy, adult human chondrocytes used in this study regained their capacity to retain extracellular hyaluronan and to reassemble and retain a cell-associated matrix. This stimulation of hyaluronan synthase-2 (HAS-2) and aggrecan mRNA expression, and the subsequent capacity to retain the newly synthesized extracellular matrix, illustrate the events which are necessary for adult human articular chondrocytes to undergo effective repair.
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PMID:Extracellular matrix recovery by human articular chondrocytes after treatment with hyaluronan hexasaccharides or Streptomyces hyaluronidase. 2438 18


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