Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.27.5 (RNase)
17,967 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Purkinje cell toxicity is one of the characteristic features of the Gordon phenomenon, a syndrome manifested by ataxia, muscular rigidity, paralysis, and tremor that may lead to death (Gordon, 1933). Two members of the RNase superfamily found in humans, EDN (eosinophil-derived neurotoxin) and ECP (eosinophil cationic protein), cause the Gordon phenomenon when injected intraventricularly into guinea pigs or rabbits. We have found that another member of the RNase superfamily, an antitumor protein called onconase, isolated from Rana pipiens oocytes and early embryos, will also cause the Gordon phenomenon when injected into the cerebrospinal fluid of guinea pigs at a dose similar to that of EDN (LD50, 3-4 micrograms). Neurologic abnormalities of onconase-treated animals were indistinguishable from those of EDN-treated animals, and histology showed dramatic Purkinje cell loss in the brains of onconase-treated animals. The neurotoxic activity of onconase correlates with ribonuclease activity. Onconase modified by iodoacetic acid to eliminate 70% and 98% of the ribonuclease activity of the native enzyme displays a similar decrease in ability to cause the Gordon phenomenon. In contrast, the homologous bovine pancreatic RNase A injected intraventricularly at a dose 5000 times greater than the LD50 dose of EDN or onconase is not toxic and does not cause the Gordon phenomenon. A comparison of the RNase activities of EDN, onconase, and bovine pancreatic RNase A using three pancreatic RNA substrates demonstrates that onconase is orders of magnitude less active enzymatically than EDN and RNase A. Thus, another member of the RNase superfamily in addition to EDN and ECP can cause the Gordon phenomenon.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Toxicity of an antitumor ribonuclease to Purkinje neurons. 830 53

ECP (eosinophil cationic protein) was first purified from human myleoid cells in 1971 and identified as an eosinophil granule protein in 1975. ECP is a heterogeneous protein with molecular weights of the variants from 16-24 kDa. ECP is extremely basic with a pI of pH 10.8. The gene for ECP is found on chromosome 14 adjacent to other proteins of the ribonuclease family, with which ECP shares some sequence homologies. ECP has a variety of biological activities interacting with other immune cells and plasma proteins such as coagulation factors and proteins of the complement system. The cytotoxic activity, however, is the most conspicuous. The different isoforms of ECP seem to have different biological properties with respect to cytotoxicity and the effects on fibroblasts. ECP can be measured in biological fluids, by means of sensitive immunoassays, as an indication of eosinophil turnover and activity in vivo.
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PMID:Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP). 967 76

The eosinophil ribonucleases, eosinophilderived neurotoxin (EDN/RNase 2) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP/RNase 3) are two closely related proteins with intriguing functional and evolutionary properties. While both EDN and ECP maintain the structural and catalytic residues typical of the RNase A superfamily, the role of ribonuclease activity in the physiologic function of these proteins remains unclear. The biochemistry and physiology of EDN, ECP and the recently discovered ribonuclease k6 (RNase 6) will be reviewed in this chapter.
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PMID:The eosinophil ribonucleases. 976 Sep 88

The two eosinophil ribonucleases, eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN/RNase 2) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP/RNase 3), are among the most rapidly evolving coding sequences known among primates. The eight mouse genes identified as orthologs of EDN and ECP form a highly divergent, species-limited cluster. We present here the rat ribonuclease cluster, a group of eight distinct ribonuclease A superfamily genes that are more closely related to one another than they are to their murine counterparts. The existence of independent gene clusters suggests that numerous duplications and diversification events have occurred at these loci recently, sometime after the divergence of these two rodent species ( approximately 10-15 million years ago). Nonsynonymous substitutions per site (d(N)) calculated for the 64 mouse/rat gene pairs indicate that these ribonucleases are incorporating nonsilent mutations at accelerated rates, and comparisons of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution (d(N) / d(S)) suggest that diversity in the mouse ribonuclease cluster is promoted by positive (Darwinian) selection. Although the pressures promoting similar but clearly independent styles of rapid diversification among these primate and rodent genes remain uncertain, our recent findings regarding the function of human EDN suggest a role for these ribonucleases in antiviral host defense.
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PMID:Rapid evolution of the ribonuclease A superfamily: adaptive expansion of independent gene clusters in rats and mice. 1059 73

The eosinophil ribonucleases eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN/RNase 2) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP/RNase 3) are among the major secretory effector proteins of human eosinophilic leukocytes, cells whose role in host defense remains controversial and poorly understood. We have recently described the unusual manner in which this ribonuclease lineage has evolved, with extraordinary diversification observed in primate as well as in rodent EDNs and ECPs. The results of our evolutionary studies suggest that the EDN/ ECP ribonucleases are in the process of being tailored for a specific, ribonuclease-related goal. With this in mind, we have begun to look carefully at some of the intriguing associations that link eosinophils and their ribonucleases to disease caused by the single-stranded RNA viral pathogen, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Recent work in our laboratory has demonstrated that eosinophils can mediate a direct, ribonuclease-dependent reduction in infectivity of RSV in vitro, and that EDN can function alone as an independent antiviral agent. The results of this work have led us to consider the possibility that the EDN/ECP ribonucleases represent a heretofore unrecognized element of innate and specific antiviral host defense.
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PMID:Eosinophils, ribonucleases and host defense: solving the puzzle. 1074 66

Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP; RNase 3) is a human ribonuclease found only in eosinophil leukocytes that belongs to the RNase A superfamily. This enzyme is bactericidal, helminthotoxic and cytotoxic to mammalian cells and tissues. The protein has been cloned, heterologously overexpressed, purified and crystallized. Its crystal structure has been determined and refined using data up to 1. 75 A resolution. The molecule displays the alpha+beta folding topology typical for members of the ribonuclease A superfamily. The catalytic active site residues are conserved with respect to other ribonucleases of the superfamily but some differences appear at substrate recognition subsites, which may account, in part, for the low catalytic activity. Most strikingly, 19 surface-located arginine residues confer a strong basic character to the protein. The high concentration of positive charges and the particular orientation of the side-chains of these residues may also be related to the low activity of ECP as a ribonuclease and provides an explanation for its unique cytotoxic role through cell membrane disruption.
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PMID:Three-dimensional crystal structure of human eosinophil cationic protein (RNase 3) at 1.75 A resolution. 1090 70

There have been some attempts to develop immunotoxins utilizing human RNase as a cytotoxic domain of antitumor agents. We have recently shown that only human RNase 3 (eosinophil cationic protein, ECP) among five human pancreatic-type RNases excels in binding to the cell surface and has a growth inhibition effect on several cancer cell lines, even though the RNase activity of RNase 3 is completely inhibited by the ubiquitously expressed cytosolic RNase inhibitor. This phenomenon may be explained by that RNase 3 is very stable against proteolytic degradation because RNase 3 internalized through endocytosis could have a longer life time in the cytosol, resulting in the accumulation of enough of it to exceed the concentration of RNase inhibitor, which allows the degradation of cytosolic RNA molecules. Thus, we compared the stabilities of human pancreatic-type RNases (RNases 1-5) and bovine RNase A by means of guanidium chloride-induced denaturation experiments based on the assumption of a two-state transition for unfolding. It was demonstrated that RNase 3 is extraordinarily stabler than either RNase A or the other human RNases (by more than 25 kJ/mol). Thus, our data suggest that in addition to its specific affinity for certain cancer cell lines, the stability of RNase 3 contributes to its unique cytotoxic effect and that it is important to stabilize a human RNase moiety through protein engineering for the design of human RNase-based immunotoxins.
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PMID:RNase 3 (ECP) is an extraordinarily stable protein among human pancreatic-type RNases. 1241 23

Here we report on the expression and function of RNase 7, one of the final RNase A superfamily ribonucleases identified in the human genome sequence. The human RNase 7 gene is expressed in various somatic tissues including the liver, kidney, skeletal muscle and heart. Recombinant RNase 7 is ribonucleolytically active against yeast tRNA, as expected from the presence of eight conserved cysteines and the catalytic histidine-lysine- histidine triad which are signature motifs of this superfamily. The protein is atypically cationic with an isoelectric point (pI) of 10.5. Expression of recombinant RNase 7 in Escherichia coli completely inhibits the growth of the host bacteria, similar to what has been observed for the cationic RNase, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP/RNase 3, pI 11.4). An in vitro assay demonstrates dose-dependent cytotoxicity of RNase 7 against bacteria E.coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. While RNase 7 and ECP/RNase 3 are both cationic and share this particular aspect of functional similarity, their protein sequence identity is only 40%. Of particular interest, ECP/RNase 3's cationicity is based on an (over)abundance of arginine residues, whereas RNase 7 includes an excess of lysine. This difference, in conjunction with the independent origins and different expression patterns, suggests that RNase 7 and ECP/RNase 3 may have been recruited to target different pathogens in vivo, if their physiological functions are indeed host defenses.
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PMID:Human RNase 7: a new cationic ribonuclease of the RNase A superfamily. 1252 68

The Mus musculus eosinophil-associated ribonuclease (mEar) gene cluster includes multiple distinct coding sequences that are highly divergent orthologs of the human eosinophil ribonucleases, eosinophil-derived neurotoxin (EDN/RNase 2) and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP/RNase 3). We present a transcriptional analysis of the gene encoding mEar 2, the only member of this cluster with a well-defined expression profile. In this work, we demonstrate that the presence of non-coding exon 1 and the intron in tandem with a 361-bp 5' promoter of mEar 2 results in enhanced reporter gene expression, as much as 6-to 10-fold over the activity observed with the 5' promoter alone. We have identified a conserved purine-rich element in the intron of the mEar 2 gene that is necessary for maximum transcription and that interacts specifically with NFAT-binding proteins in nuclear extracts derived from the mouse LA4 epithelial cell line. Similar intronic enhancers have been described as regulating transcription of the human EDN gene, suggesting an overall conservation of an important regulatory strategy.
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PMID:Identification of a purine-rich intronic enhancer element in the mouse eosinophil-associated ribonuclease 2 (mEar 2) gene. 1505 83

Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP/RNase 3) and the skin derived ribonuclease 7 (RNase 7) are members of the RNase A superfamily. RNase 3 is mainly expressed in eosinophils whereas RNase 7 is primarily secreted by keratinocytes. Both proteins present a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and their bactericidal mechanism is dependent on their membrane destabilizing capacities. Using phospholipid vesicles as membrane models, we have characterized the protein membrane association process. Confocal microscopy experiments using giant unilamellar vesicles illustrate the morphological changes of the liposome population. By labelling both lipid bilayers and proteins we have monitored the kinetic of the process. The differential protein ability to release the liposome aqueous content was evaluated together with the micellation and aggregation processes. A distinct morphology of the protein/lipid aggregates was visualized by transmission electron microscopy and the proteins overall secondary structure in a lipid microenvironment was assessed by FTIR. Interestingly, for both RNases the membrane interaction events take place in a different behaviour and timing: RNase 3 triggers first the vesicle aggregation, while RNase 7 induces leakage well before the aggregation step. Their distinct mechanism of action at the membrane level may reflect different in vivo antipathogen functions.
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PMID:Comparison of the membrane interaction mechanism of two antimicrobial RNases: RNase 3/ECP and RNase 7. 1936 93


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