Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.1 (chymotrypsin)
 10,938 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A growth factor acting synergistically with IL-3 on thiol-sensitive "mucosal type" bone marrow-derived mast cell lines, and therefore termed mast cell growth enhancing activity, is present in PWM stimulated spleen cell conditioned medium. Mast cell growth enhancing activity can be partially purified and completely separated from IL-3, IL-4, and IL-5, and for the most part from IL-6 and GM-CSF using strong cation exchange and Procion red affinity chromatography. Mast cell growth enhancing activity binds to Con A-Sepharose and can be digested with trypsin and chymotrypsin. It shows a Mr ranging from 37 to 43 kDa under nonreducing SDS-PAGE and a main isoelectric point ranging from 6.2 to 7.3.
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PMID:Partial purification of a mast cell growth-enhancing activity and its separation from IL-3 and IL-4. 278 57

The chance of life-threatening complications occurring late after brain irradiation limits the efficacy of this form of cancer therapy. The molecular and cellular events that trigger radiation-induced brain damage are still unknown, but since they have the potential to serve as valuable targets for therapeutic intervention they are worth delineating. In this murine study, the effect of irradiation on the expression of molecules which are known to contribute to brain damage in other model systems was examined. Expression of genes encoding cytokines (TNF-alpha/beta, IL-1 alpha/beta, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and IFN-gamma), cytokine receptors (TNF-Rp55 and p75, IL-1R- p60 and p80, IFN-gamma R, and IL-6R), the cell adhesion molecule (ICAM-1), inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS), anti-chymotrypsin (EB22/5.3), and the gliotic marker (GFAP) was evaluated over a 6-month period using a sensitive RNase protection assay (RPA). We had previously demonstrated that within 24 h of brain irradiation there is an acute transitory molecular response involving TNF-alpha, IL-1, ICAM-1, EB22/5.3 and GFAP. This study shows re-elevation of TNF-alpha, EB22/5.3 and GFAP mRNA levels at 2-3 months, but only TNF-alpha mRNA was overexpressed at 6 months. These time points are when neurological abnormalities are seen after higher doses. The data suggest that TNF-alpha may be involved in late brain responses to irradiation and could contribute to clinical symptoms.
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PMID:Delayed molecular responses to brain irradiation. 924 93

Changes in the levels of cytokines in the circulating blood and skin have been reported in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). We determined IFN-gamma, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10 in both the serum and plasma of 45 AD patients and 20 healthy donors. Since differences in the levels of these cytokines between serum and plasma were found, the roles of Ca2+ and proteolytic enzymes were examined. Levels of IL-2 and IL-10 were measured in citrated plasma to which various amounts of CaCl2, protease inhibitors, and proteases had been added. All cytokine determinations were carried out using a standard ELISA. The plasma levels of IFN-gamma, IL-2, and IL-5 were significantly elevated, but the serum levels of these cytokines were not significantly changed. The levels of IL-2 in the plasma of the AD patients averaged 4.25-fold higher than in the serum of the AD patients, and 2.5-fold higher than in the plasma of healthy controls (P < 0.001). CaCl2 produced a dose-dependent decrease in IL-2 and IL-10 in citrated plasma. The protease inhibitors PMSF, aprotinin and leupeptin produced a dose-dependent increase in measurable levels of IL-2 and IL-10 in plasma. A decrease in IL-2 levels was also seen in CaCl2-supplemented serum-free medium, and this was accentuated by the addition of the proteases thrombin, trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase. These findings suggest that although significant changes in cytokine levels have been reported not to occur in circulating blood but have been reported to occur in the skin of AD patients both in vivo and in vitro, cytokines can indeed also be found to be elevated in circulating blood when assessed carefully by statistically valid methods. Further, it is suggested that during the preparation of serum, some circulating cytokines are degraded by calcium-dependent proteases, and that Ca2+ itself can also affect the measurement of cytokines. The measurement of circulating cytokines needs to be carefully reassessed.
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PMID:Evidence for degradation of cytokines in the serum of patients with atopic dermatitis by calcium-dependent protease. 1099 73