Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.17 (lysozyme)
 21,489 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the hypothesis that members of the trefoil peptide family are involved actively in maintaining the integrity of the gastrointestinal mucosa and facilitating its repair. To date, three trefoil peptides are known in man: pS2, ITF and SP. Each is a secretory peptide expressed in specific compartments throughout the gut, in patterns that appear generally to be conserved between mammalian species. Ulceration, whether due to common pathological processes or experimentally induced, results in altered local expression of trefoil peptides. In diverse chronic ulcerative conditions in man, glandular structures develop within the mucosa, derived from the UACL. These UACL glands express three trefoil peptides, EGF and lysozyme, all potentially able to contribute to the healing process. In fact local goblet and endocrine cell types may also be recruited to secrete pS2 into the local environment. In experimental ulcers, in rate stomach or intestinal resection margins, there is also accentuation of trefoil peptide expression at the margins and in the poorly differentiated mucous cells extending out presumably in attempts to restore epithelial integrity. Several trefoil peptides have been expressed as 'recombinant' proteins in bacterial, baculoviral or yeast systems, and these procedures have allowed some of the biological properties of these peptides to be determined. In vitro, rITF, hITF and hSP are motogens, able to promote migration of epithelial cells. In vivo, rITF and hSP are able to prevent much of the gastric damage effect by a single dose of indomethacin, when given systemically. There is synergy between EGF and rITF both in vitro and in vivo, which may allow the development of new peptide therapies for ulceration that will maximize repair and minimize cell proliferation.
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PMID:Trefoil peptides. 873 4

The main pathways of epithelial differentiation in the intestine, Paneth, mucous, endocrine and columnar cell lineages are well recognized. However, in abnormal circumstances, for example in mucosal ulceration, a cell lineage with features distinct from these emerges, which has often been dismissed in the past as 'pyloric' metaplasia, because of its morphological resemblance to the pyloric mucosa in the stomach. However, we can conclude that this cell lineage has a defined phenotype unique in gastrointestinal epithelia, has a histogenesis that resembles that of Brunner's glands, but acquires a proliferative organization similar to that of the gastric gland. It expresses several peptides of particular interest, including epidermal growth factor, the trefoil peptides TFF1, TFF2, TFF3, lysozyme and PSTI. The presence of this lineage also appears to cause altered gene expression in adjacent indigenous cell lineages. We propose that this cell lineage is induced in gastrointestinal stem cells as a result of chronic mucosal ulceration, and plays an important part in ulcer healing; it should therefore be added to the repertoire of gastrointestinal stem cells.
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PMID:Aspects of the biology of regeneration and repair in the human gastrointestinal tract. 968 90

Gastric carcinoma is the fourth most common cause of cancer death worldwide but its molecular biology is poorly understood. We catalogued the genes expressed in two gastric adenocarcinomas and normal stomach, using serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE), and compared the profiles on-line with other glandular epithelia. Candidates were validated by Northern blotting and immunohistochemistry. A total of 29 480 transcripts, derived from 10 866 genes, were identified. In all, 1% of the genes were differentially expressed (>/=fivefold difference plus P-value </=0.01) between cancers and normal stomach. The most abundant transcripts included ribosomal and mitochondrial proteins, of which most were upregulated in the tumours, as were other widely expressed genes including transcription factors, signalling molecules (serine/threonine protein kinases), thymosin beta 10 and collagenase I. Transcripts abundant in normal stomach were functionally important, including gastrin, immunoglobulin alpha, lysozyme, MUC5, pS2 and pepsinogens, which were among 55 gastric-specific genes. Many transcripts were minimally characterized or new, some cancer-associated genes reflected their intestinal morphology, and some normal gastric genes had previously been considered as pancreatic carcinoma markers. The gastric carcinoma profiles resembled other tumours', supporting the existence of common cancer-associated targets. These data provide a catalogue from which to develop markers for better diagnosis and therapy of gastric carcinoma.
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PMID:Profiling, comparison and validation of gene expression in gastric carcinoma and normal stomach. 1283 51

Both the major and minor salivary glands are the sources of saliva, a fluid vital for the maintenance of a healthy oral cavity. Here, the expression profiles of human submandibular (SMG) and labial glands (LG) were compared by RT-PCR analysis of laser microdissected mucous and serous cells, respectively. The focus was on trefoil factor family (TFF) genes, but also other genes encoding secretory proteins (mucins, lysozyme, amylase, statherin, and histatins) or aquaporin 5 were included. Immunofluorescence studies concerning TFF1-3, FCGBP, amylase, and lysozyme are also presented. It was shown that LGs clearly contain serous cells and that these cells differ in their expression profiles from serous SMG cells. Furthermore, all three TFF peptides, together with MUC5B, MUC7, MUC19, and FCGBP, were clearly detectable in mucous acini of both LGs and SMGs. In contrast, lysozyme was differentially expressed in LGs and SMGs. It can be expected that labial saliva may play a particularly important role for protecting the teeth.
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PMID:Expression analysis of human salivary glands by laser microdissection: differences between submandibular and labial glands. 2079 22