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Query: EC:3.4.21.37 (neutrophil elastase)
 4,078 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The effect of ATP on intracellular Ca2+ levels and elastase secretion in isolated normal human peripheral blood neutrophils was investigated as was its in vivo effect on lung resistance and mucous secretion. ATP (10(-5) M) increased [Ca2+]i from 61 +/- 3 to 165 +/- 15 nM in nonactivated neutrophils; elastase secretion was increased by 40% from nonactivated neutrophils but was unaffected in fMLP (10(-5) M) activated cells. Instillation of ATP (10(-5) and 10(-3) M) into the airways of brown Norway rats increased both lung resistance and secretion. These findings suggest that aerosolization of ATP into the cystic fibrosis-affected bronchial tree might be hazardous in terms of enhancement of parenchymal damage, which would result from neutrophil elastase release, and in terms of impaired respiratory lung function.
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PMID:Extracellular ATP stimulates elastase secretion from human neutrophils and increases lung resistance and secretion from normal rat airways after intratracheal instillation. 145 Oct 29

The Fischer rat is known for its susceptibility to develop liver necrosis when challenged with paraquat (Smith et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 235: 172-177, 1985). We postulated that other organs, specifically the lung, may also be more susceptible to injury and examined whether lungs from Fischer (F) rats were injured more easily when challenged with active oxygen species than Sprague-Dawley (SD) rat lungs. We aimed to investigate whether increased susceptibility to oxidant injury was related to differences in lung antioxidant defenses. Perfused lungs from both rat strains were challenged by addition of H2O2 to the perfusate or by short-term hyperoxic ventilation. To assess nonoxidant modes of lung injury, we examined lung responses after exposure to protamine sulfate or neutrophil elastase. Intravascular H2O2 or 3 h in vitro hyperoxia caused lung edema in F but not SD rats, and elastase injured F rat lungs more than the lungs from SD rats. Protamine, however, injured the lungs from both strains to a similar degree. Catalase, but not superoxide dismutase or allopurinol, protected F rat lungs against edema, resulting from 3 h in vitro hyperoxia. The lung homogenate levels for reduced glutathione or conjugated dienes and the activities of lung tissue catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and cytochrome P-450 were not different between the two strains. Lung tissue ATP levels, however, were lower in F than in SD rats. Although the F rat strain appears to have an altered oxidant-antioxidant defense balance, the exact cause of the greater susceptibility to oxidant stress of the F rat strain remains elusive.
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PMID:Lung injury in Fischer but not Sprague-Dawley rats after short-term hyperoxia. 226 Jun 76

Evidence obtained by biochemical analysis of BAL fluids from patients with ARDS indicates that at least 2 important pathogenic events take place in the pulmonary tissues. These are the release of neutrophil elastase and the generation of oxidants. Both events can lead to severe pulmonary injury as has been demonstrated in experimental animals. To better understand the mechanisms of oxidant damaged cells, H2O2 was added to cultured cells. H2O2 compromises a multitude of cellular functions, the combination of which leads to cell death. DNA is an important target for oxidant-induced injury. The formation of DNA strand breaks leads to activation of pADP-RP which in turn causes depletion of NAD and ATP, followed by Ca++ influx and eventually cell lysis. Inhibition of pADP-RP prevented cell lysis, but not DNA damage. A similar sequence of events has been described for cell injury following DNA damage induced by gamma-irradiation and alkylating agents and was proposed to be a suicide mechanism for cells with irreversibly damaged DNA. Sublethal doses of H2O2 will delay cell replication, but not necessarily prevent it.
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PMID:Biochemical events associated with pulmonary failure in shock and trauma. 244 44

The effects of neutrophil elastase on endothelial prostacyclin (PGI2) production, nucleotide release, and responsiveness to vasoactive agents were compared with the effects of cathepsin G (the other major neutral protease of neutrophils), pancreatic elastase, trypsin, chymotrypsin, and thrombin. PGI2 production by pig aortic endothelial cells cultured on microcarrier beads and perfused in columns was stimulated in a dose-dependent manner by trypsin, chymotrypsin, and cathepsin G (1-100 micrograms/ml for 3 min). Thrombin, while active at low concentrations (0.1-10 National Institutes of Health U/ml), induced smaller responses. Neutrophil and pancreatic elastase had little or no effect on PGI2 production. Dose-dependent, selective release of adenine nucleotides was induced by neutrophil elastase (3-30 micrograms/ml). The other proteases were much less active; for example, trypsin (100 micrograms/ml) induced a response only approximately 5% as great as did 30 micrograms/ml neutrophil elastase. After exposure to 30 micrograms/ml neutrophil elastase, cells did not exhibit the characteristic burst of PGI2 production in response to extracellular ATP; responsiveness gradually returned after 40-120 min. This effect was not seen with the other proteases. Elastase partly inhibited responses to bradykinin and had no effect on PGI2 production that was stimulated by ionophore A23187. There was no evidence of cytotoxicity, as measured by release of lactate dehydrogenase. Neutrophil degranulation can generate concentrations of elastase and cathepsin G comparable with those tested in the present study, and the effects of these enzymes on endothelial function lead us to suggest that they may play a role in vasoregulation and vascular pathology.
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PMID:Effects of neutrophil elastase and other proteases on porcine aortic endothelial prostaglandin I2 production, adenine nucleotide release, and responses to vasoactive agents. 643 44

The molecular and ionic mechanisms responsible for the regulation of mucus exocytosis in human airway gland cells remain poorly defined. To determine whether dynamic changes of intracellular free Ca2+ concentration [Ca2+]i can promote different exocytotic responses, we monitored dynamic changes in [Ca2+]i and secretory granule (SG) exocytosis in individual human tracheal submucosal serous gland (HTG) cells. These changes were in response to exposure of the cells to three different secretagogues associated with airway inflammation and disease: human neutrophil elastase (HNE), histamine, and ATP. Dynamic changes in [Ca2+]i from single cells were determined with Indo-1/AM using quantitative UV laser microspectrofluorometry. The rate of SG exocytosis was measured in single cells by fluorescence videomicroscopy of SG degranulation and by the ELISA method. Exposure of HTG cells to a low concentration of HNE (1.0 microM) caused a high rate of SG exocytosis (52% decrease in the initial quinacrine fluorescence) during the first 8-min stimulation period compared with that observed following exposure of the cells to 100 microM histamine (10% decrease) or 100 microM ATP (6% decrease). In contrast to a rapid and transient rise in [Ca2+]i induced by histamine (1.0-100 microM) and ATP (10-100 microM), HNE (0.01-1 microM) generated asynchronous oscillations in [Ca2+]i over the first 8-min period. Depletion of internal Ca2+ stores with thapsigargin (500 nM) induced a significant reduction (P < 0.01) in the observed increases in [Ca2+]i upon addition of each of the secretagogues, but did not greatly affect the SG exocytotic responses. Interestingly, the removal of extracellular Ca2+ (+5 mM EGTA) significantly reduced (P < 0.01) both the [Ca2+]i increases and the rate of SG exocytosis following exposure to the secretagogues. We also demonstrate that the influx of extracellular Ca2+ and [Ca2+]i oscillations rather than the absolute level of [Ca2+]i regulate the rapid onset and extent of exocytotic responses to HNE in airway gland cells. Taken together, these results provide strong evidence that [Ca2+]i is a critical intracellular messenger in the regulation of exocytosis process in human airway gland cells.
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PMID:Neutrophil elastase promotes rapid exocytosis in human airway gland cells by producing cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations. 944 43

Proteinase inhibitor 9 (PI-9) is a human serpin present in the cytoplasm of cytotoxic lymphocytes and epithelial cells. It inhibits the cytotoxic lymphocyte granule proteinase granzyme B (graB) and is thought to protect cytotoxic lymphocytes and bystander cells from graB-mediated apoptosis. Following uptake into cells, graB promotes DNA degradation, rapidly translocating to the nucleus, where it binds a nuclear component. PI-9 should therefore be found in cytotoxic lymphocyte and bystander cell nuclei to ensure complete protection against graB. Here we demonstrate by microscopy and subcellular fractionation experiments that PI-9 is present in the nuclei of human cytotoxic cells, endothelial cells, and epithelial cells. We also show that the related serpins, PI-6, monocyte neutrophil elastase inhibitor (MNEI), PI-8, plasminogen activator inhibitor 2 (PAI-2), and the viral serpin CrmA exhibit similar nucleocytoplasmic distributions. Because these serpins lack classical nuclear localization signals and are small enough to diffuse through nuclear pores, we investigated whether import occurs actively or passively. Large (approximately 70 kDa) chimeric proteins comprising PI-9, PI-6, PI-8, MNEI, or PAI-2 fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) show similar nucleocytoplasmic distributions to the parent proteins, indicating that nuclear import is active. By contrast, CrmA-GFP is excluded from nuclei, indicating that CrmA is not actively imported. In vitro nuclear transport assays show that PI-9 accumulates at a rate above that of passive diffusion, that it requires cytosolic factors but not ATP, and that it does not bind an intranuclear component. Furthermore, PI-9 is exported from nuclei via a leptomycin B-sensitive pathway, implying involvement of the export factor Crm1p. We conclude that the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of PI-9 and related serpins involves a nonconventional nuclear import pathway and Crm1p.
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PMID:Nucleocytoplasmic distribution of the ovalbumin serpin PI-9 requires a nonconventional nuclear import pathway and the export factor Crm1. 1146 22

It is widely assumed that the functional activity of signal sequences has been conserved throughout evolution, at least between Gram-negative bacteria and eukaryotes. The ovalbumin family of serine protease inhibitors (serpins) provides a unique tool to test this assumption, since individual members can be secreted (ovalbumin), cytosolic (leukocyte elastase inhibitor, LEI), or targeted to both compartments (plasminogen activator inhibitor 2, PAI-2). The facultative secretion of PAI-2 is mediated by a signal sequence proposed to be inefficient by design. We show here that the same internal domain that promotes an inefficient translocation of murine PAI-2 in mammalian cells is a weak signal sequence in Escherichia coli. In contrast, the ovalbumin signal sequence is much more efficient, whereas the corresponding sequence elements from LEI, maspin and PI-10 are entirely devoid of signal sequence activity in E.coli. Mutations that improve the activity of the PAI-2 signal sequence and that convert the N-terminal regions of maspin and PI-10 into efficient signal sequences have been characterized. Taken together, these results indicate that several structural features contribute to the weak activity of the PAI-2 signal sequence and provide new insights into the plasticity of the "hydrophobic core" of signal sequences. High-level expression of two chimeric proteins containing the PAI-2 signal sequence is toxic, and the reduced viability is accompanied by a rapid decrease in the membrane proton motive force, in ATP levels and in translation. In unc- cells, which lack the F0F1 ATP-synthase, the chimeric proteins retain their toxicity and their expression only affected the proton motive force. Thus, the properties of these toxic signal sequences offer a new tool to dissect the interactions of signal sequences with the protein export machinery.
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PMID:Functional activity of eukaryotic signal sequences in Escherichia coli: the ovalbumin family of serine protease inhibitors. 1467 54

Human neutrophil elastase (HNE) is a serine protease, which is present in its active form in inflamed tissue as well as in psoriatic lesions. In extension of our research on natural compounds as inhibitors of HNE or of its release, several phenolics of different size were tested. The ellagitannins agrimoniin and pedunculagin were the most potent direct HNE inhibitors (IC (50) = 0.9 and 2.8 microM, respectively). Ligand docking calculations provided evidence that inhibition may occur in an unspecific manner. Agrimoniin also showed anti-proliferative effects in the ATP assay (IC (50) = 3.2 microM), suggesting that this type of tannin could have beneficial effects in the treatment of diseases such as psoriasis. Tests with other phenolics combined with ligand docking experiments revealed that, besides the presence of ORTHO-dihydroxy groups, a specific lipophilic shape is necessary for an inhibitory activity. The phenolic genistein deserves special interest as an inhibitor of elastase release because its effect was remarkably potent (IC (50) = 0.6 microM).
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PMID:Plant phenolics inhibit neutrophil elastase. 1702 89

Mucin secretion is an innate defence mechanism, which is noxiously upregulated in obstructive lung diseases (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis and asthma). Mucin granule exocytosis is regulated by specific protein complexes, but the SNARE exocytotic core has not been defined in airway goblet cells. In this study, we identify VAMP8 as one of the SNAREs regulating mucin granule exocytosis. VAMP8 mRNA was present in human airway and lung epithelial cells, and deep-sequencing and expression analyses of airway epithelial cells revealed that VAMP8 transcripts were expressed at 10 times higher levels than other VAMP mRNAs. In human airway epithelial cell cultures and freshly excised tissues, VAMP8 immunolocalised mainly to goblet cell mucin granules. The function of VAMP8 in airway mucin secretion was tested by RNA interference techniques. Both VAMP8 short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) reduced mucin secretion induced by PAR agonists, neutrophil elastase and ATP in two airway epithelial cell culture models. Notably, basal (non-agonist elicited) mucin secretion was also reduced in these experiments. VAMP8 knockdown was also effective in decreasing mucin secretion in airway epithelial cell cultures with induced mucous metaplasia/mucin hypersecretion. Unlike VAMP8 silencing, knockdown of VAMP2 or VAMP3 did not affect mucin secretion. Importantly, in VAMP8 knock-out (KO) mice with IL-13-induced mucous metaplasia, mucin content in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and ATP-stimulated mucin secretion in the trachea were reduced compared to WT-matched littermates. Our data indicate that VAMP8 is an essential SNARE in airway mucin granule exocytosis. Reduction of VAMP8 activity/expression may provide a novel therapeutic target to ameliorate airway mucus obstruction in lung diseases.
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PMID:VAMP8 is a vesicle SNARE that regulates mucin secretion in airway goblet cells. 2214 78

Neospora caninum represents a relevant apicomplexan parasite causing severe reproductive disorders in cattle worldwide. Neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) generation was recently described as an efficient defense mechanism of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) acting against different parasites. In vitro interactions of bovine PMN with N. caninum were analyzed at different ratios and time spans. Extracellular DNA staining was used to illustrate the typical molecules of NETs [i.e., histones (H3), neutrophil elastase (NE), myeloperoxidase (MPO), pentraxin] via antibody-based immunofluorescence analyses. Functional inhibitor treatments were applied to reveal the role of several enzymes [NADPH oxidase (NOX), NE, MPO, PAD4], ATP-dependent P2Y2 receptor, store-operated Ca++entry (SOCE), CD11b receptor, ERK1/2- and p38 MAPK-mediated signaling pathway in tachyzoite-triggered NETosis. N. caninum tachyzoites triggered NETosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Scanning electron microscopy analyses revealed NET structures being released by bovine PMN and entrapping tachyzoites. N. caninum-induced NET formation was found not to be NOX-, NE-, MPO-, PAD4-, ERK1/2-, and p38 MAP kinase-dependent process since inhibition of these enzymes led to a slight decrease of NET formation. CD11b was also identified as a neutrophil receptor being involved in NETosis. Furthermore, N. caninum-triggered NETosis depends on Ca++ influx as well as neutrophil metabolism since both the inhibition of SOCE and of P2Y2-mediated ATP uptake diminished NET formation. Host cell invasion assays indicated that PMN-derived NETosis hampered tachyzoites from active host cell invasion, thereby inhibiting further intracellular replication. NET formation represents an early and effective mechanism of response of the innate immune system, which might reduce initial infection rates during the acute phase of cattle neosporosis.
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PMID:Bovine Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils Cast Neutrophil Extracellular Traps against the Abortive Parasite Neospora caninum. 2861 72


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