Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.1.6.4 (chondroitinase)
 2,039 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have previously suggested that sulfated polysaccharides could be used in a vaginal formulation to inhibit infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). This supposition was based on studies in which we developed and employed an in vitro model to simulate the mechanism of HIV-1 transmission during coitus. We found that adhesion of mononuclear cells to epithelia was the initial step in infection and speculated that blocking adhesion would prevent HIV-1 transmission. We observed that certain sulfated polysaccharides prevented adhesion of lymphoma cell lines to epithelial cell lines, which were derived from the genital tract, in concentrations of a few milligrams per milliliter; and we theorized that sulfated polysaccharides could thus be used as active ingredients in a topical "microbicide." In the present in vitro study, evidence is presented that a number of sulfated polysaccharides, including carrageenan, dextran sulfate, heparin, fucoidan, and pentosan polysulfate, are capable of blocking infection by mechanisms other than adhesion at concentrations of a thousand times lower than the dosages that are needed to block cell adhesion. One of these compounds, iota carrageenan, is capable not only of blocking infection of epithelia at concentrations of 1-2 micrograms, but of blocking adhesion to a far greater extent than the other sulfated polysaccharides tested. For this reason, as well as for considerations of safety, stability, and gelling properties, we suggest that iota carrageenan may be the best choice of the sulfated polysaccharides tested for use as a vaginal microbicide. The same in vitro model was employed to decipher the cell surface molecules involved in lymphocyte-to-epithelial adhesion. To accomplish this, we screened for the presence of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs), carbohydrates, proteoglycans, and carbohydrate-binding sites. HIV-1-infected lymphocytic cells expressed a CAM profile typical of activated, infected cells (e.g., HLA-DR+, CD4-, LFA-1+, ICAM-1+, LFA-3+, CD2+) whereas epithelia expressed few CAMs (LFA-3, ICAM-1, VLA-5, CD44, CD26, sLEX). Both cell types expressed heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. A variety of sugars (mannose, fucose, galactose, Nac-galactosamine, Nac-glucosamine) were also present, but these cells expressed few carbohydrate-binding sites; lymphocytes bound beta-galactose. We were unable to block the adhesion with anti-CAM antibodies or with exogenous sugars. When enzymes were used against sulfated cell surface molecules, chondroitinase was found to block the adhesion. Our evidence suggests that this CAM-independent adhesion may be a lectin-glycosaminoglycan interaction.
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PMID:Sulfated polysaccharides inhibit lymphocyte-to-epithelial transmission of human immunodeficiency virus-1. 883 15

We performed ex vivo experiments with Plasmodium falciparum-infected human placentas from primi- and multigravida women from Cameroon. All women, independent of their gravida status, had anti-chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) adhesion antibodies which cross-reacted with heterologous strains, such as FCR3 and Palo-Alto(FUP)1, which were selected for CSA binding. These antibodies, directed against the surface of infected erythrocytes obtained by flushing with CSA (IRBC(CSA)), were restricted to the immunoglobulin G3 isotypes. Massive desequestration of parasites was achieved with soluble CSA but not with anti-ICAM-1 and anti-CD36 monoclonal antibodies. All of the CSA-flushed parasites were analyzed immediately by using in vitro assays of binding to Saimiri brain endothelial cells (SBEC) expressing various adhesion receptors. Parasites derived from all six placentas displayed the CSA adhesion phenotype. However, only partial inhibition of adhesion was observed in the presence of soluble CSA or when Sc1D SBEC were treated with chondroitinase ABC. These results suggest that an additional adhesive molecule of IRBC(CSA) which binds to an unidentified receptor is present in the placenta. This new phenotype was lost once the parasites adapted to in vitro culture. We observed additional differences in the CSA adhesion phenotype between placental parasites and in vitro-cultured parasites panned on endothelial cells carrying CSA. The minimum size of fractionated CSA required for a significant inhibition of placental IRBC(CSA) adhesion to Sc1D cells was 1 to 2 kDa, which contrasts with the 4-kDa size necessary to reach equivalent levels of inhibition with panned IRBC(CSA) of this phenotype. All placental IRBC(CSA) cytoadhered to Sc17 SBEC, which express only the CSA receptor. Panning of IRBC(CSA) on these cells resulted in a significant quantitative increase of IRBC cytoadhering to the CSA of Sc1D cells but did not change their capacity for adhesion to CSA on normal placenta cryosections. Our results indicate that the CSA binding phenotype is heterogeneous and that several distinct genes may encode P. falciparum-CSA ligands with distinct binding properties.
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PMID:Ex vivo desequestration of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes from human placenta by chondroitin sulfate A. 1056 80