Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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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)

When human granulocytes were stimulated with the chemotactic peptide FNLPNTL (N-formyl-norleucyl-leucyl-phenylalanyl-norleucyl-tyrosinyl- lysin; in the presence of cytochalasin B), proteolytic enzymes were released which prevented activation of tumor-cell derived pro-uPA by plasmin. Elastase was identified by use of eglin C (elastase inhibitor) and an inhibitory monoclonal antibody to elastase as the functional proteolytic enzyme in these granulocyte supernatants. Purified human granulocyte elastase cleaves pro-uPA at amino acid position lle159-lle160 thus generating an enzymatically inactive two-chain form of uPA, as judged by N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis. An additional minor elastase-mediated cleavage site was detected at position Thr165-Thr166. This form of uPA was indistinguishable by SDS-PAGE from plasmin-generated enzymatically active HMW-uPA. Action of plasmin on the proenzyme form of uPA (pro-uPA) generates an enzymatically active uPA-molecule (high molecular weight form; HMW-uPA) which is cleaved at amino acid position Lys158-lle159 (Mr = 33,000 (B-chain) and 22,000 (A-chain). Thus elastase cannot substitute for plasmin in the proteolytic activation of pro-uPA to enzymatically active HMW-uPA. Enzymatically active HMW-uPA, however, was not affected by elastase. Elastase-containing granulocytes were identified by immunohistochemical staining of elastase in breast cancer tissue. Granulocytes were located close to the tumor cells and also in the tumor stroma surrounding the tumor nests. These tumor cells contain pro-uPA. Evidently, the conversion of tumor cell pro-uPA into enzymatically active HMW-uPA is controlled by elastase released from granulocytes into the tumor tissue.
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PMID:Human tumor cell urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA): degradation of the proenzyme form (pro-uPA) by granulocyte elastase prevents subsequent activation by plasmin. 183 19

Proteolytic enzymes released from granulocytes upon stimulation with the chemotactic N-formyl peptide FNLPNTL (in the presence of cytochalasin B) prevented activation of tumor cell single-chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator (pro-uPA) by plasmin. Elastase was identified by the use of eglin C (elastase inhibitor) and a monoclonal antibody to elastase as the functional proteolytic enzyme in granulocyte supernatants. Action of purified granulocyte elastase on pro-uPA generated enzymatically inactive two-chain uPA linked by disulfide bridges which was indistinguishable by SDS-PAGE from plasmin-generated HMW-uPA. The major elastase cleavage site in pro-uPA was located between Ile159 and Ile160. a minor one between Thr165 and Thr166. Elastase cannot substitute for plasmin in the proteolytic activation of pro-uPA to enzymatically active HMW-uPA. However, when pro-uPA was first activated by plasmin to form enzymatically active HMW-uPA, this enzymatic activity was not impaired by subsequent elastase treatment.
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PMID:Elastase released from human granulocytes stimulated with N-formyl-chemotactic peptide prevents activation of tumor cell prourokinase (pro-uPA). 252 37

The effect of tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) or urokinase on the specific binding of human Glu-plasminogen to fibrin I formed in plasma by clotting with Reptilase was studied using 125I-plasminogen and 131I-fibrinogen. In the absence of TPA, small amounts of plasminogen were bound to fibrin I. TPA induced binding of plasminogen to plasma fibrin I that was dependent upon the concentrations of TPA and plasminogen as well as upon the time of incubation. Plasminogen binding occurred in association with fibrin clot lysis and the formation in the clot supernatant of alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complexes. Urokinase also induced binding of plasminogen to plasma fibrin I that was concentration- and time-dependent. The molecular form of plasminogen bound to the fibrin I plasma clot was identified as Glu-plasminogen by dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and by fast performance liquid chromatography. Further studies demonstrated that fibrin I formed from fibrinogen that had been progressively degraded by plasmin-bound Glu-plasminogen. The mole ratio of plasminogen bound increased with the time of plasmin digestion. Glu-plasminogen did not bind to fibrin I formed from fibrinogen progressively digested by human leukocyte elastase, thereby demonstrating the specificity of plasmin. These studies demonstrate that plasminogen activators regulate the binding of Glu-plasminogen to fibrin I by catalyzing plasmin-mediated modifications in the fibrin substrate.
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PMID:Tissue plasminogen activator and urokinase mediate the binding of Glu-plasminogen to plasma fibrin I. Evidence for new binding sites in plasmin-degraded fibrin I. 315 57

Urokinase activation of blood fibrinolysis involves polymorphonuclear leukocytes. To determine if a leukocyte proteinase can modulate plasminogen activation, plasminogen was digested with leukocyte elastase. A major product was a small, approximately 34,000 dalton fragment (mini-plasminogen), without lysine-binding function, but with fibrin-binding activity. After urokinase activation, the resulting mini-plasmin had amidolytic activity for a tripeptide plasmin substrate and fibrinolytic activity. By 125I-fibrin assay, activities of mini-plasmin and plasmin (12 nmole/liter) were 38 and 20 ng fibrin lysed/min, respectively. Lysis times of fibrin clots containing urokinase, and mini-plasminogen or plasminogen (800 nmole/liter), were 282 and 290 sec, respectively. Mini-plasmin and plasmin were inhibited similarly by epsilon-aminocaproic acid and normal plasma, but differed in responses to gel filtration fractions of plasma containing alpha 2-antiplasmin and alpha 2-macroglobulin, the primary and secondary plasmin inhibitors. With purified inhibitors, mini-plasmin required higher concentrations of, or longer preincubation with, alpha 2-antiplasmin, and lower concentrations of, or shorter preincubation with, alpha 2-macroglobulin, to produce inhibition equivalent to that observed with plasmin. Leukocyte elastase digests plasminogen to generate a mini-plasminogen which, when activated by urokinase, has a novel pattern of response to the major plasmin inhibitors in plasma.
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PMID:Mini-plasminogen: a mechanism for leukocyte modulation of plasminogen activation by urokinase. 701 19

Urokinase is a proteinase that normally functions as a plasminogen activator. It is detected in a number of tissues and can be expressed by inflammatory cells such as macrophages and polymorphonuclear leucocytes. Addition of human urokinase to cultures of mucoid or nonmucoid variants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (strain PAO and clinical isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis) or Pseudomonas cepacia incubated in a minimal medium under nonshaking (oxygen limited) conditions led to dose-dependent enhancement of bacterial growth. The enzyme exhibited a minimal effect on the growth of bacteria when cultured under more intense aeration conditions. This enhancement of bacterial growth by urokinase required the presence of active enzyme and was not detected with inactivated enzyme or noncatalytic domains of the enzyme. Enhancement of bacterial growth was not observed following incubation of P. aeruginosa with other proteinases including thrombin, neutrophil elastase, trypsin, chymotrypsin, or pseudomonas elastase and pseudomonas alkaline proteinase. Therefore, the observed effect of urokinase was relatively specific for this enzyme. As urokinase is a natural constituent of the lung, this enzyme could contribute to bacterial growth during pulmonary infections, particularly in an inflammatory environment in which the oxygen tension may be reduced.
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PMID:Urokinase enhances the growth of Pseudomonas spp. in vitro under nonshaking (oxygen limited) conditions. 803 52

A high-affinity receptor for urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPAR) has been identified on the plasma membrane of a number of different cell types, and has been shown to be important for plasminogen activation, cell adhesion, and possibly signal transduction. uPAR and uPA cosediment with secretory vesicles and specific granules by subcellular fractionation and translocate to the plasma membrane upon activation of neutrophils. Here the subcellular distribution of uPAR and uPA is studied by electron microscopy of neutrophils using immunogold double labeling for uPAR and uPA and a set of markers for well-defined subtypes of granules: matrix metalloproteinase type-9 (MMP-9) for gelatinase granules, lactoferrin (LF) for specific granules, and myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase (NE) for primary granules. With this technique uPAR colocalizes with uPA in 71% of labeled granules. In granules containing uPAR the degree of coexpression with MMP-9, MPO and NE was 19, 66, and 74%, respectively. In granules labeled for uPA the corresponding overlap with MMP-9, MPO and NE was 24, 64, and 51%, respectively. Low levels of co-localization were found for uPAR and LF (7%) and for uPA and lactoferrin (5%). The results indicate that uPAR and uPA are present in gelatinase granules and primary granules, but rarely in specific granules. The demonstration of uPAR and uPA in primary granules is of particular interest, and may indicate that uPAR and uPA participate in the activation of latent hepatocyte growth factor of neutrophils.
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PMID:Subcellular distribution of urokinase and urokinase receptor in human neutrophils determined by immunoelectron microscopy. 1091 29