Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.31 (beta-glucuronidase)
 7,680 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We studied neutrophil function and clinical responses in seven patients with severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) after they received treatment with recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF). Two subpopulations of patients with SCN were defined by their pattern of absolute neutrophil response, superoxide production, and cytochrome b559 levels. One group had an oscillating absolute neutrophil count and reduced ability to produce superoxide and cytochrome b559 (n = 4), and the second group had a relatively constant absolute neutrophil count response with normal superoxide and cytochrome levels (n = 3). Neutrophils from both groups had decreased surface expression of FcRIII and abnormal upregulation of the C3bi receptor (CR3). All patient neutrophils, however, had normal contents of the primary granule constituent, beta-glucuronidase, and the specific granule constituent, vitamin B 12 binding protein. The clinical response to rhG-CSF was evident by marked improvement in the degree of periodontitis and reduction in the number of oral ulcers in both groups of patients. Although neutrophil function is not completely normal in patients with SCN, it is likely that enough redundancy exists in neutrophil bactericidal capacity to promote normal host response to inflammation.
 ...
PMID:Severe congenital neutropenia: clinical effects and neutrophil function during treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. 170 86

Cocaine and its derivatives blunted responses of neutrophils (cell/cell aggregation, up-regulation of the receptor for C3bi (CR3, CD11b/CD18), generation of superoxide anion (O2-) and degranulation to various stimuli. The order of potency of these agents was the same as that for local anesthesia: tetracaine greater than bupivacaine greater than cocaine greater than lidocaine. Neutrophil aggregation elicited by the chemoattractant FMLP (10(-7) M) was inhibited by cocaine (10 mM) to 13.6 +/- 6% of control (p less than 0.002); the IC50 was approximately 4 mM. Cocaine and the other local anesthetics not only inhibited the upregulation of CR3 and O2- generation, but also blocked degranulation of cytochalasin B-treated cells. Cocaine (10 mM) reduced beta-glucuronidase and lysozyme secretion to 4.3 +/- 0.7 and 13 +/- 2.2% controls, respectively; its IC50 was 4 mM. Local anesthetics added after ligand/receptor engagement (FMLP) interrupted aggregation and halted generation of O2-. Moreover, local anesthetics rapidly inhibited aggregation, O2- generation, and degranulation elicited by PMA (1 microgram/ml) or the Ca ionophore A23187 (10 microM): the effects of cocaine could therefore not be attributed to unique actions at the FMLP receptor. Peak levels of intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca]i) at 5 to 10 s, and levels of [Ca]i 120 s after FMLP in Fura 2-loaded cells were significantly lower in cells treated with lidocaine, findings that could be explained by enhanced 45Ca2+ efflux from neutrophils. In cells loaded with bis(carboxyethyl)carboxyfluorescine (pH indicator) local anesthetics failed to affect the initial FMLP-induced (0 to 15 s) drop of pHi but inhibited the later (120 s) realkalinization of the cytosol (lidocaine, bupivacaine). Most remarkably, autoradiographs of SDS gels prepared from stimulated, 32P-labeled neutrophils treated with local anesthetics showed no difference from resting cells, either with respect to patterns of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation or their kinetics. Labeling of a 47-kDa protein, a component of the reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate-oxidase system, was unchanged. The effects of local anesthetics, which blunt neutrophil responses without affecting protein phosphorylation, suggest that protein phosphorylation is an insufficient signal for neutrophil activation. Inasmuch as cocaine and its derivatives affect cell functions at sites distal to activation of protein kinase C, these agents should prove useful in uncoupling protein phosphorylation from functional responses.
 ...
PMID:Cocaine and its derivatives blunt neutrophil functions without influencing phosphorylation of a 47-kilodalton component of the reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase. 216 79

After circulating in the vascular system a short time, polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) migrate to extravascular sites in response to chemotactic stimuli. Prestimulation of PMN in vitro by secretagogues has been shown to increase their number of N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine (fmet-leu-phe) and complement component C3bi (CR3) receptors. We investigated whether the same phenomenon occurred in vivo, comparing characteristics of human skin chamber and guinea pig peritoneal exudate and blood PMN. Exudate PMN of both species contained approximately 28% less of the specific granule marker vitamin B12-binding protein (P less than 0.01) but a similar amount of the azurophil granule marker beta-glucuronidase. The total number of fmet-leu-phe receptors was 5.9 times higher in guinea pig exudate than in blood PMN (P less than 0.01) and 2.9 times higher in human exudate than in blood PMN (P less than 0.02). All exudate PMN and most blood PMN preparations showed a high affinity receptor (Kd approximately 2.3 X 10(-8) M) and a low affinity receptor (approximately 1.5 X 10(-7) M). The upregulation of fmet-leu-phe receptors in exudate PMN correlated with an improved responsiveness to fmet-leu-phe induced membrane depolarization, oxidative metabolism, and chemotaxis. In addition, the concentration of fmet-leu-phe that produced a half-maximal response of chemotaxis, superoxide production, and membrane potential depolarization was 10-fold lower in exudate PMN than in blood PMN. Human exudate PMN had a twofold increased C3bi receptor expression compared with blood PMN. Thus, a preferential loss of specific granules is associated with increased number of high and low affinity fmet-leu-phe receptors and increased C3bi receptor expression not only in vitro, but also in vivo. The data indicate that exudation primes PMN for their subsequent responsiveness to fmet-leu-phe, a modification that may be crucial for efficient antimicrobial host defense.
 ...
PMID:Exudation primes human and guinea pig neutrophils for subsequent responsiveness to the chemotactic peptide N-formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine and increases complement component C3bi receptor expression. 300 69

Basophilic granulocytes were purified from the blood of normal individuals by successive isopyknic centrifugation and elutriation centrifugation. Starting with the leukocyte-rich fraction of 500 ml of blood, we recovered 31 to 80% (mean 51%, n = 20) of the basophils in 45 to 87% purity (mean 69%, n = 23). The contaminating cells were mainly lymphocytes. The basophils were greater than 98% vital (exclusion of ethidium bromide and hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate). The histamine content of the basophils was 1.1 to 2 pg/cell (mean 1.6 pg/cell, n = 22). With anti-IgE, 30 to 50% of the histamine was released; with phorbol myristic acetate (PMA) or the calcium ionophore A23187, 70 to 100% of the histamine was released. Serum-opsonized zymosan (STZ) did not induce histamine release. Reactions with monoclonal antibodies revealed that the basophils expressed the C3bi receptor (CR3) and the leukocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA1), but not the gp 150,95 antigen, the C3b receptor (CR1), or the low avidity Fc gamma receptor. Basophils carry class I but not class II HLA antigens. During incubation of the basophils with serum-opsonized Staphylococcus aureus or Escherichia coli, these bacteria were neither phagocytized nor killed. STZ, PMA, A23187, or anti-IgE did not initiate an "oxidative burst" in the basophils. This was tested with oxygen consumption, cytochrome c reduction, NBT reduction, chemiluminescence, and release of hydrogen peroxide. Moreover, we did not detect cytochrome b558, superoxide dismutase, catalase, or peroxidase in the basophils. Of the typical granule-associated enzymes lysozyme, Vitamin B12-binding protein, and beta-glucuronidase, only beta-glucuronidase was present in the basophils in detectable amounts. This enzyme was released, together with histamine, on incubation of the cells with PMA, A23187, or anti-IgE, but not with STZ. We conclude that basophils from normal human blood are not phagocytes and are probably not involved in the oxidative defense of the host against foreign antigens.
 ...
PMID:Metabolic comparison between basophils and other leukocytes from human blood. 300 19

We have investigated the interaction between quartz and granulocytes with respect to complement receptor expression. When N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (fMLP)-stimulated leukocytes were exposed to quartz at 37 degrees C, CR1 was down-regulated but CR3 was not affected. This was a direct effect on granulocytes because it occurred in a similar fashion when mixed leukocyte suspensions and isolated granulocyte populations were used as targets for quartz. The observed down-regulation by quartz was not affected by the microfilament-disrupting agent cytochalasin B and the total detectable pool of CR1 was reduced after quartz exposure. When protease inhibitors, such as aprotinin or phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, were present during quartz exposure, the down-regulation of CR1 was less pronounced, but this was not the case not when protease inhibitors such as EDTA-Na2 and pepstatin were present. Exposure to quartz was not accompanied by a pronounced release of beta-glucuronidase (marker for the primary granules) or vitamin B12 binding protein (marker for the secondary granules). In contrast to quartz, exposure to alumina did not affect the expression of CR1 and CR3. The spontaneous mobilization of CR1 at 37 degrees C was reduced when quartz was present but the CR3 mobilization was unaffected. Our results indicate that quartz induces a granule protease-dependent selective shedding of CR1 but not CR3 despite a low degree of degranulation.
 ...
PMID:Quartz selectively down-regulates CR1 on activated human granulocytes. 767 48

Biogenesis of phagolysosomes is a very rapid event in neutrophils which takes place with nascent unclosed phagosomes, leading to the release of lysosomal enzymes such as beta-glucuronidase in the extracellular medium. We have previously shown that, under nonopsonic conditions, both pathogenic and nonpathogenic mycobacteria uncouple phagocytosis from fusion of azurophil granules (specialized secretory lysosomes) with phagosomes. In the present study we questioned whether they actively act on neutrophils to block this process or use phagocytic receptors that negatively control the biogenesis of phagolysosomes. As for live unicellular Mycobacterium smegmatis, we observed that nonopsonic phagocytosis of heat-killed mycobacteria did not induce the release of beta-glucuronidase, indicating that M. smegmatis does not actively act on the fusion process in neutrophils. In contrast, phagocytosis of unicellular M. smegmatis opsonized in immune serum or that of small nonopsonized mycobacterial aggregates restored the biogenesis of phagolysosomes. Aggregates were internalized in a CR3- and cholesterol-dependent manner as unicellular mycobacteria. However, aggregates but not unicellular bacteria triggered F-actin and Hck recruitment at the phagosomes, events that have been associated with lysosome fusion. Thus, we propose that M. smegmatis does not actively control the fusion of azurophil granules at early time points postinfection and that mycobacterial aggregates recruit large clusters of receptors at the neutrophil surface which could trap proteins implicated in the biogenesis of phagolysosomes.
 ...
PMID:Lack of fusion of azurophil granules with phagosomes during phagocytosis of Mycobacterium smegmatis by human neutrophils is not actively controlled by the bacterium. 1185 48