Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: 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)

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) have been described as sensitive and specific markers for active Wegener's granulomatosis (WG). ANCA in WG produce a characteristic cytoplasmic staining pattern of neutrophils (c-ANCA) and are directed against proteinase 3 (Pr3), a serine protease from the azurophilic granules. c-ANCA, more or less equivalent to anti-Pr3, occur in more than 90% of patients with extended WG, in 75% of patients with limited WG without renal involvement, and in some 40% to 50% of patients with vasculitic overlap syndromes suggestive of WG such as microscopic polyarteritis. The presence of c-ANCA is highly specific for those diseases (greater than 98%). Changes of levels of c-ANCA precede disease activity and may be used as guidelines for treatment. Antibodies producing a perinuclear staining of ethanol-fixed neutrophils (p-ANCA) occur in a wide range of diseases. They are directed against different cytoplasmic constituents of neutrophils. Among those, antibodies to myeloperoxidase are found in patients with idiopathic crescentic glomerulonephritis, the Churg-Strauss syndrome, polyarteritis nodosa with visceral involvement, and vasculitic overlap syndromes. Their specificity for this group of necrotizing vasculitides is high (94% to 99%), although they may occur in patients with hydralazine-induced glomerulonephritis, anti-glomerular basement membrane disease, and possibly in some patients with idiopathic systemic lupus erythematosus. Antibodies to leukocyte elastase are incidentally found in patients with vasculitic disorders, whereas lactoferrin antibodies are detected in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis with or without ulcerative colitis and in rheumatoid arthritis. Their diagnostic significance awaits further studies. p-ANCA of undefined specificity may distinguish ulcerative colitis (sensitivity of 75%) from Crohn's disease (sensitivity of 20%). p-ANCA also occur in autoimmune liver diseases: in 75% of patients with chronic active hepatitis, in 60% to 85% of those with primary sclerosing cholangitis, and in about 30% of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Finally, p-ANCA are detected in chronic arthritides and in some 5% of healthy controls. Assessment of their diagnostic value has to await further characterization of the antigens involved, allowing the development of antigen-specific assays.
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PMID:Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies: a still-growing class of autoantibodies in inflammatory disorders. 782 11

The metabolism of big endothelin 1 (bET) and endothelin 1 (ET-1) by subcellular fractions from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) was investigated by bioassay and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. More than 80% of endothelin-converting activity was recovered from the cytosolic fraction, which in addition to ET-1 generated other peptides from bET. The processing of bET to all its metabolites including ET-1 was prevented by the serine protease inhibitor 3,4-dichloroisocoumarin (DCI; 50 microM) or the elastase inhibitor ONO-5046 (100 microM) but not by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF; 143 microM), another serine protease inhibitor. Paradoxically, human leukocyte elastase, despite generating a bET fragmentation pattern similar to that of PMN cytosol, produced very little ET-1. However, subsequent treatment of the elastase-derived metabolites of bET with PMN cytosol in the presence of ONO-5046 dramatically increased the amount of ET-1 formed. The generation of ET-1 following this intervention was inhibited by DCI. The PMN membrane preparation degraded ET-1 to a major metabolite, similar to that produced from ET-1 by elastase, and several minor products, paralleled by a loss of its smooth muscle contracting activity. The degradation of ET-1 by PMN microsomes was prevented by DCI, PMSF, or ONO-5046. Our results suggest that an elastase-initiated serine protease cascade is responsible for the sequential conversion of bET to ET-1 by the PMN cytosol. Elastase also partly accounts for the ET-metabolizing properties of PMN microsomes.
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PMID:The two-step conversion of big endothelin 1 to endothelin 1 and degradation of endothelin 1 by subcellular fractions from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. 149 79

The human neutrophil and monocyte-derived serine protease homologues neutrophil elastase (NE), proteinase 3 (PR3), and azurocidin (AZU) are involved in a variety of immune defense reactions. NE and PR3 assist in the destruction of phagocytosed microorganisms, cleave the important connective-tissue protein elastin, and generate chemotactic activities by forming alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor complexes and elastin peptides. AZU is cytotoxic to certain microorganisms and chemotactic for monocytes. All three proteins are produced and packaged into azurophil granules in large quantities during neutrophil differentiation. We have isolated several cosmid clones each of which contains the functional genes for AZU, PR3, and NE in this order. The PR3 gene is separated by 8 kilobases from the 3' end of the AZU gene and by 3 kilobases from the 5' end of the NE gene. We report a physical map of the gene cluster, its location on chromosome 19pter, and the exon-intron organization of the AZU and PR3 genes. Our fluorescence in situ hybridization studies disprove the previous chromosomal assignment of the human NE gene to 11q14. The five exons of AZU and PR3 are organized like those of NE and other granule-associated serine proteases of hematopoietic cells. NE, PR3, and AZU are coordinately downregulated in the premonocytic cell line U937 during induced terminal differentiation. The cluster-like physical organization of these genes and concerted regulation during hematopoietic differentiation suggests that they are located in a developmentally activated chromatin domain promoting high-level, cell-specific expression in the monocyte-myelocyte lineage.
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PMID:Three human elastase-like genes coordinately expressed in the myelomonocyte lineage are organized as a single genetic locus on 19pter. 151 49

The respiratory manifestations of cystic fibrosis (CF) are characterized by neutrophil-dominated airway inflammation. Since a variety of inflammatory stimuli are capable of inducing bronchial epithelial cells to express the gene for IL-8, a cytokine that attracts and activates neutrophils, mediators in respiratory epithelial lining fluid (ELF) of CF individuals might induce IL-8 production by epithelial cells, thus recruiting neutrophils to the airways. BET-1A human bronchial epithelial cells at rest or incubated with normal ELF showed little IL-8 gene expression, but after incubation with CF ELF, a marked increase in IL-8 transcript levels was observed. CF ELF contained high levels of neutrophil elastase (NE) and various serine protease inhibitors prevented CF ELF from inducing IL-8 gene expression in BET-1A cells, suggesting that NE was the dominant inducer for IL-8 production in CF ELF. The addition of purified NE caused BET-1A cells to increase IL-8 gene transcription with accumulation of mRNA transcripts and to release IL-8-like neutrophil chemotactic activity. These observations suggest a self-perpetuating inflammatory process on the CF bronchial surface where NE released by neutrophils induced the bronchial epithelium to secrete IL-8, which in turn recruits additional neutrophils to the bronchial surface.
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PMID:Neutrophil elastase in respiratory epithelial lining fluid of individuals with cystic fibrosis induces interleukin-8 gene expression in a human bronchial epithelial cell line. 156 86

Human neutrophil elastase (NE), a 29-Kd potent serine protease stored in azurophilic granules of mature neutrophils, is coded for by the NE gene, a single copy gene with 5 exons spanning a 6-kb segment of chromosome 11 at q14. With the knowledge that the NE gene expression is limited to early myeloid cell differentiation, mechanisms modulating expression of the NE gene were evaluated in the HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cell line, a model of early bone marrow precursor cells. Consistent with the presence of NE messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts in undifferentiated HL-60 cells, nuclear transcription run-on analyses showed that HL-60 cells actively transcribed the NE gene. However, the transcription rate of the NE gene was relatively low, only 40% of the myeloperoxidase gene, a gene expressed in parallel with NE. When induced toward the mononuclear phagocytic lineage with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), HL-60 cells exhibited marked suppression of NE gene transcription, declining to 17% of the resting rate within 2 days. Induction toward mononuclear phagocytic lineage differentiation caused no change in NE mRNA transcript half-life (T1/2), but mRNA levels decreased markedly over time, with levels undetectable 1.5 days after PMA stimulation. In contrast, when induced toward the myelocytic lineage with dimethyl sulfoxide, the rate of NE gene transcription increased 1.9-fold within 5 days. Interestingly, the mRNA transcript levels increased 2.5-fold by 5 days despite the fact that induction toward myelocytic lineage differentiation was accompanied by a marked reduction of NE mRNA transcript T1/2. Together, these observations suggest that the NE gene expression during bone marrow differentiation is modulated mainly at the transcriptional level, with some posttranscriptional modulation contributing, particularly during myelocytic lineage differentiation.
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PMID:Transcriptional and posttranscriptional modulation of human neutrophil elastase gene expression. 158 20

Cationic antimicrobial protein CAP37 (Mr = 37 kD) is derived from the azurophilic granules of human PMN. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that CAP37 is a novel monocyte-specific chemoattractant. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of CAP37 shares significant homology with a number of inflammatory molecules with protease activity including elastase and cathepsin G. However, substitutions in the catalytic triad (serine for a histidine at position 41 and glycine for a serine at position 175), may account for its lack of serine protease activity. A full length cDNA for CAP37 was identified in an HL60 cDNA library screened with oligonucleotide probes designed from the N-terminal amino acid sequence. Sequencing of the cDNA reveals a protein of 225 amino acids with significant nucleotide homology to cathepsin G and human neutrophil elastase.
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PMID:Human neutrophil granule cationic protein CAP37 is a specific macrophage chemotaxin that shares homology with inflammatory proteinases. 175 83

Tannins of natural or synthetic origin are well-known adjuvants in topical anti-inflammatory therapy of skin diseases. In this study, the influence of synthetic tannin on neutrophil accumulation, enzyme release, and on the proinflammatory activity of neutrophil-derived enzymes was investigated. The results show that synthetic tannin (Tamol) specifically inhibits the neutrophil serine protease human leukocyte elastase (HLE) in an irreversible manner with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.3 microgram/ml. Exogenous protein partially abolished the tannin-dependent HLE inhibition (IC50 of Tamol at 1% protein-concentration:1.0 microgram/ml). Synthetic tannin did not influence the activities of other neutrophil enzymes like Cathepsin G, beta-glucuronidase, and myeloperoxidase. The specificity of Tamol for HLE was further substantiated by the lack of inhibition of other serine proteases. Additionally, Tamol had no effect on f-met-leu-phe-induced neutrophil chemotaxis and did not alter enzyme degranulation of neutrophils in response to f-met-leu-phe and opsonized zymosan. We conclude from our results that the anti-inflammatory properties of synthetic tannin may at least in part be due to inactivation of the proinflammatory protease HLE.
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PMID:Selective inactivation of human neutrophil elastase by synthetic tannin. 187 53

Human cationic antimicrobial protein (CAP37) is a neutrophil granule protein with monocyte chemotactic and antibacterial activity. A CAP37 cDNA clone of 899 bp was isolated from an HL-60 cDNA library using degenerate oligonucleotide probes based on partial N-terminal sequence of the CAP37 protein. The cDNA sequence predicts an open reading frame of 753 bp encoding a protein of 251 amino acids. A 26-residue eukaryotic signal peptide and a potential 7 amino acid pro-peptide are present at the N-terminus of the protein. The cDNA sequence also predicts three N-linked glycosylation attachment sites and eight intramolecular cysteines. The deduced amino acid sequence of CAP37 shows 44, 42, and 32% homology at the amino acid level to neutrophil elastase, myeloblastin, and cathepsin G, respectively, suggesting that CAP37 is a member of the serine protease gene family. CAP37 does not possess serine protease activity probably due to mutations in two of three residues in the catalytic triad of the "charge relay system." Whereas CAP37 is expressed in undifferentiated HL-60 cells no message is detected in mature neutrophils.
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PMID:Cloning of the cDNA for the serine protease homolog CAP37/azurocidin, a microbicidal and chemotactic protein from human granulocytes. 191 11

The clinical and pathological features of diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) have been well reported to date though its pathogenesis remains unknown. This study was designed to evaluate the protease antiprotease imbalance in patients with DPB. For this purpose, we performed bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in sixteen patients with DPB, twelve patients with chronic bronchitis (CB) and control subjects (nine smokers and eleven non-smokers), and determined elastase activity and alpha 1 antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT) concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Elastase activity was measured using a synthetic substrate, succinyl-tri-L-alanine-p-nitroanilide. BALF from eleven of sixteen patients with DPB showed elastase activity. However, only two of twelve patients with CB showed elastase activity, and control subjects did not show any elastase activity in BALF. Although alpha 1 AT concentration is elevated in BALF from patients with DPB, it is assumed that elastase burden exceeded the elastase inhibitory capacity of alpha 1 AT in BALF. The percentage of neutrophils in BALF correlated significantly with elastase activity which was inhibited by DFP, but not by EDTA. These data revealed that the elastase in BALF was a serine protease of neutrophil origin. In five DPB-patients treated with low-dose long-term erythromycin chemotherapy, elastase activity in BALF decreased significantly. The above mentioned findings suggest that the neutrophil elastase plays an important role in the pathogenesis of DPB, and the mode of action of erythromycin on DPB is to decrease the elastase burden.
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PMID:[Elastase activity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with diffuse panbronchiolitis]. 191 96

alpha 1 Antitrypsin (alpha 1AT) is the main physiological inhibitor of neutrophil elastase, a serine protease which has been implicated in tissue degradation at inflammatory sites. We report here that the connective tissue metalloproteinase, stromelysin, cleaved alpha 1AT (54 kDa), producing fragments of approximately 50 kDa and 4 kDa, as shown by gel electrophoresis. The cleavage of alpha 1AT was accompanied by inactivation of its elastase inhibitory capacity. Isolation of the 4 kDa fragment by reversed-phase HPLC, followed by N-terminal amino acid sequencing, demonstrated that the cleavage of alpha 1AT occurred at the Pro357-Met358 (P2-P1) peptide bond, one peptide bond to the N-terminal side of the inhibitory site. We suggest that stromelysin may potentiate the activity of neutrophil elastase by proteolytically inactivating alpha 1AT.
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PMID:Proteolytic inactivation of human alpha 1 antitrypsin by human stromelysin. 199 50


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