Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.21.4 (trypsin)
 42,187 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The factor(s) that causes excessive mast cell (MC) proliferation in indolent forms of mastocytosis is not known, nor is it known whether that proliferation is a regulated clonal expansion or merely a non-neoplastic hyperplasia. Human MCs display phenotypes that depend on the microenvironment. Thus, if the phenotype of MCs in mastocytosis lesions is determined to be abnormal for that tissue site (and therefore the MCs are refractory to microenvironmental signals) then a clonal process would be suggested. The authors determined the phenotypes of MCs from the lesional skin of 17 patients with indolent mastocytosis and the bone marrows of 9 patients. They compared them with the phenotypes of MCs from the lesional skin of 8 patients with various dermatitides, the skin of 2 patients with idiopathic anaphylaxis, and the breast skin of 15 control patients. MCs from all the skin specimens showed the characteristic skin MC phenotype, with predominantly scroll-poor granules by ultrastructure and containing tryptase and chymase by immunofluorescence detection (the MCTC immunophenotype). The skin MCs of each patient bound avidin and contained carboxypeptidase by immunofluorescence detection. MCs from the bone marrow of patients with indolent mastocytosis, the source of progenitors, also showed the scroll-poor and MCTC phenotypes. These findings do not support an unregulated clonal expansion in indolent forms of mastocytosis. They are consistent with a non-neoplastic hyperplasia or possibly a clonal process in which MCs remain responsive to microenvironmental regulation.
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PMID:Mast-cell phenotype in indolent forms of mastocytosis. Ultrastructural features, fluorescence detection of avidin binding, and immunofluorescent determination of chymase, tryptase, and carboxypeptidase. 156 49

The most frequent site of organ involvement in patients with any form of mastocytosis is the skin. Cutaneous expressions include urticaria pigmentosa, mastocytoma, diffuse and erythrodermic cutaneous mastocytosis, and telangiectasia macularis eruptiva perstans. The cutaneous lesions tend to appear early in life. Although urticaria pigmentosa has been reported in 12 pairs of twins and one set of triplets, the majority of affected individuals have no familial association. Most patients with systemic mastocytosis have skin lesions; however, an occasional patient will have systemic disease with no other skin features than flushing. In lesional cutaneous sites and in non-lesional skin, there is an increase in the number of mast cells. Electron microscopy shows quantitative differences between lesional skin mast cells from patients with and without systemic disease. The mast cells from adult patients with systemic disease have a larger mean cytoplasmic area, nuclear size, and granule diameter. The granules contain predominantly grating/lattice structures. The cutaneous mast cells contain tryptase and chymase. They retain their functional reactivities to relevant secretory stimuli, such as C3a, morphine sulfate, and calcium ionophore A23187. Lesional skin contains histamine, leukotriene B4, prostaglandin D2, 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, platelet-activating factor, and heparin. Treatment of the cutaneous manifestations includes the use of H1 and H2 antihistamines, oral disodium cromoglycate, psoralens plus ultraviolet A photochemotherapy, and potent topical corticosteroid preparations.
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PMID:The skin in mastocytosis. 167 36

Systemic mastocytosis is characterized by an abnormal proliferation of tissue mast cells. Symptoms of mastocytosis are primarily attributed to the release of mast cell mediators during episodes of systemic activation of the excessive numbers of mast cells. Thus, biochemical evidence for the release of increased quantities of mast cell secretory products can suggest or confirm, depending on the clinical situation, a diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis. A major advantage of the biochemical approach to the diagnosis of systemic mast cell disease is that it has allowed the recognition of a class of patients in whom episodes of systemic mastocytes activation can be unequivocally documented biochemically but in whom clear-cut evidence of abnormal mast cell proliferation is lacking by current histologic criteria. Although the release of increased quantities of mast cell mediators can be demonstrated during episodes of mast cell activation in such patients, mediator levels are usually normal at quiescent times. By contrast, patients with proliferative mast cell disease (mastocytosis) usually exhibit chronic overproduction of mast cell mediators. Mast cell secretory products that can be measured in an attempt to obtain biochemical evidence of systemic mast cell activation include histamine, prostaglandin D2, tryptase, and heparin. The analytical approaches to assessing release of those individual mast cell products are evaluated. In general, the diagnosis and investigation of patients with systemic mast cell activation can best be accomplished by concerted use of histologic examination of key tissues together with analysis of chemical markers of the mast cell.
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PMID:Biochemical diagnosis of systemic mast cell disorders. 200 47

Lesional (n = 15) and non-lesional (n = 10) skin of subjects with mastocytosis was analysed for the distribution and concentration of trypase positive, chymase negative mast cells (MCT) and tryptase positive, chymase positive mast cells (MCTC) cells and compared to normal skin (n = 23) and non-lesional skin of subjects with unexplained anaphylaxis or flushing episodes (n = 6). Skin biopsies were fixed in Carnoy's fluid and subjected to double immunohistochemical staining with biotinylated mouse monoclonal anti-chymase antibody followed by alkaline phosphatase-conjugated mouse monoclonal anti-tryptase antibody. MCTC cells were the only type of mast cells seen in all specimens analysed and in each case were more numerous in superficial compared to deep regions of dermis. The concentration (mean +/- s.d.) of mast cells in the superficial dermis of mastocytosis lesions (40 985 +/- 21 772 mast cells/mm3) was significantly increased over that in corresponding areas of non-lesional skin from subjects with mastocytosis (7178 +/- 3607 mast cells/mm3), skin from subjects with idiopathic anaphylaxis or flushing episodes (6974 +/- 3873 mast cells/mm3) and normal skin (7347 +/- 2973 mast cells/mm3). The exclusive presence of MCTC cells in skin lesions of mastocytosis which are characterized by non-malignant hyperplasia of mast cells suggests involvement of local tissue factors in mast cell recruitment and differentiation.
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PMID:Mast cells in cutaneous mastocytosis: accumulation of the MCTC type. 231 Sep 82

Better methods are needed to assess mast-cell activation in vivo and to distinguish the activation of mast cells from that of basophils. Tryptase, a neutral protease selectively concentrated in the secretory granules of human mast cells (but not basophils), is released by mast cells together with histamine and serves as a marker of mast-cell activation. In 17 patients with systemic mastocytosis, concentrations of tryptase in plasma were linearly related to those of histamine (P less than 0.01). Eleven of the 17 patients had tryptase levels of 4 to 88 ng per milliliter, indicating ongoing mast-cell activation. In each of six patients who experienced corresponding anaphylactic reactions after penicillin, aspirin, or melon ingestion, a wasp sting, exercise, or antilymphocyte globulin injection, tryptase levels in serum ranged from 9 to 75 ng per milliliter, indicating mast-cell activation during each of these events. In contrast, serum tryptase levels were less than 5 ng per milliliter in all patients presenting with myocardial disease (n = 8, 6 with hypotension) or sepsis (n = 6, 3 with hypotension) and in the controls (n = 20). One patient had a myocardial infarction after anaphylaxis in response to a wasp sting and an elevated tryptase level of 25 ng per milliliter. Thus, the plasma or serum tryptase level is a diagnostic correlate of mast-cell-related events.
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PMID:Tryptase levels as an indicator of mast-cell activation in systemic anaphylaxis and mastocytosis. 329 49

A monoclonal antibody (H4) against tryptase purified from human pulmonary mast cells was prepared and used as an immunoreactive marker for the cellular localization of tryptase in normal human skin and in lesional skin from subjects with systemic mastocytosis. Mast cells had characteristic metachromatic staining of cytoplasmic granules with Giemsa reagent and were detected in small numbers about superficial vessels in the papillary dermis of nonlesional skin and in large numbers about deep as well as superficial vessels of lesional skin. By both direct immunofluorescence with fluorescein isothiocyanate-H4 and indirect immunoperoxidase cytochemistry with H4, all mast cells were selectively stained. The reactivity was confined to the cytoplasm and was granular in character. In addition, keratinocytes in epidermal tissue and in cell suspensions stained diffusely with H4 antibody. A tryptase-like activity that cleaved tosyl-L-arginine methyl ester (0.003 U/10(6) cells) and was not inhibited by soy bean and lima bean trypsin inhibitors was detected in sonicated suspensions of purified epidermal keratinocytes. Monoclonal antitryptase antibody represents an immunologic probe for the presence of tryptase, a preformed mediator of human mast cells, in tissues and cells.
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PMID:Localization of tryptase to human cutaneous mast cells and keratinocytes by immunofluorescence and immunoperoxidase cytochemistry with monoclonal antitryptase antibody. 389 79

Mast cells may be cultured from human peripheral blood in the presence of recombinant human stem cell factor (rhSCF). The characteristics of the cells in peripheral blood that give rise to mast cells are unknown. Because mast cell precursors in human marrow are CD34+, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with mastocytosis and normal controls were sorted on the basis of CD34 expression and the positive and negative cell populations were cultured in rhSCF, recombinant human interleukin-3 (rhIL-3), or both for 6 weeks. Cell cultures were examined every 2 weeks for total and mast cell number and cell differential using Wright Giemsa and acid toluidine blue stains and antibodies to mast cell tryptase and chymase, cell-associated histamine, and expression of CD34, c-kit, Fc epsilon RI, and Fc gamma RII using flow cytometric analysis. The ultrastructural anatomy of mast cells was examined by electron microscopy. Peripheral blood CD34+ cells cultured in rhSCF with or without rhIL-3 gave rise to cell cultures consisting of greater than 80% mast cells by 6 weeks. CD34+ cells cultured in rhIL-3 alone did not give rise to mast cells, whereas rhIL-3 plus rhSCF increased the final mast cell number eightfold when compared with cells cultured in rhSCF alone. Mast cells increased concomitantly with a decrease in large undifferentiated mononuclear cells. CD34- cells did not give rise to mast cells. Histamine content per cell at 6 weeks was approximately 5 pg. Electron microscopy of 4-week cultures showed immature mast cells containing predominantly tryptase-positive granules that were either homogeneous or contained lattice structures, partial scroll patterns, or central dense cores and mixtures of vesicles, fine granular material, and particles. The CD34+ population at day 0 expressed Kit (65%) and Fc gamma RII (95%), but not Fc epsilon RI, by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. At 6 weeks, CD34+-derived mast cells exhibited Fc epsilon RI in addition to Kit and Fc gamma RII, and were negative for CD34 antigen. Patients with mastocytosis showed a higher number of mast cells per CD34+ cell cultured compared with normal controls. Thus, the mast cell precursor in human peripheral blood is CD34+/Fc epsilon RI- and gives rise to mast cells in the presence of rhSCF with or without rhIL-3, and the number of mast cells arising per CD34+ cell in culture is greater when the CD34+ cells are obtained from patients with mastocytosis compared with normal subjects.
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PMID:Mast cells cultured from the peripheral blood of normal donors and patients with mastocytosis originate from a CD34+/Fc epsilon RI- cell population. 752 30

To test the hypothesis that histamine release in mastocytosis patients generally occurs without activation of the mast cells, histamine turnover, measured as histamine metabolite excretion in the urine, was compared with the serum level of mast cell specific tryptase, which is released only during active discharge of mast cell granular contents. Twenty mastocytosis patients with a wide range of histamine turnover rates were investigated. Slightly increased levels of tryptase were found in seven patients with no obvious relationship to histamine metabolite excretion. In contrast, there seemed to be a connection between the tryptase level and the severity of symptoms. These results strengthen the view that histamine in mastocytosis is predominantly released from the mast cells without any accompanying active release process. This does not exclude the possibility that, in some mastocytosis patients, a limited number of mast cells, or a subpopulation, may be actively secreting histamine together with tryptase.
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PMID:No relationship between histamine release measured as metabolite excretion in the urine, and serum levels of mast cell specific tryptase in mastocytosis. 752 41

Autonomous, factor-independent growth and differentiation of malignant cells in preleukemic and leukemic disease states is a well-recognized phenomenon and is often associated with a poor prognosis. Mast cells are distinct hematopoietic cells and express a unique profile of antigens. Growth and differentiation of normal mast cells is dependent on mast cell growth factor (MGF), the ligand of the c-kit protooncogene product. In this study, we screened for mast cell-lineage involvement in 52 patients suffering from myeloid leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), systemic mastocytosis, or other diseases by probing for mast cell-related molecules (c-kit, tryptase, histamine, and MGF) and by analyzing kit ligand/MGF-independent growth of mast cells in long-term suspension culture. Of the 52 patients tested, 2 patients with refractory anemia with excess of blast cells in transformation and 1 patient suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia blast crisis (CML-BC) were diagnosed as mastocytic disease. These patients were characterized by complex chromosomal abnormalities, splenomegaly, high percentages of circulating metachromatic cells (5% to 25%), high levels of cellular tryptase (> 10 ng/10(5) peripheral blood mononuclear cells/mL) and a tryptase/histamine (ng:ng) ratio greater than 1. The metachromatic cells expressed the mast-cell-related surface antigen c-kit, but not basophil-related antigens (CD11b, CDw17). Furthermore, in these 3 patients, spontaneous, MGF-independent growth of mast cells along with spontaneous synthesis of tryptase was demonstrable in long-term culture. No autocrine production, paracrine production, or overproduction of MGF was found. The spontaneous growth of mast cells could neither be abbrogated by addition of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) to c-kit nor by MoAbs against MGF (< 5% inhibition), whereas factor (MGF)-dependent differentiation of mast cells in these patients could be abbrogated by MoAbs to c-kit or MoAbs to MGF (> 70% inhibition, P < .001). In addition, serum MGF levels in these patients were within the normal range and MGF could not be detected in cell-free culture supernatants. All 3 patients showed rapid progression of disease and had a survival time of less than 1 year. In conclusion, we describe a unique form of transformation in MDS and CML-BC characterized by mast cell lineage involvement and factor-independent differentiation of mast cells. This form of leukemic transformation has to be delineated from chronic myeloid leukemia with basophilia or basophil crisis, from primary mast cell leukemia, and from monocytic leukemias and myelodysplastic disorders associated with basophilia.
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PMID:Kit ligand/mast cell growth factor-independent differentiation of mast cells in myelodysplasia and chronic myeloid leukemic blast crisis. 752 72

In order to identify possible cellular abnormalities in human mastocytosis, sections from 13 urticaria pigmentosa lesions and 5 mastocytomas were compared with 5 normal skin specimens using histochemical, enzyme histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques. All toluidine blue-positive mast cells also reacted with Fc epsilon RI and c-kit antibodies, almost all stained for tryptase, many for chymase and the myeloid workshop mast cell antibodies, few for Fc epsilon RII and none for the proliferation marker Ki-67. Urticaria pigmentosa lesions contained fewer epidermal Langerhans cells and a lower percentage of avidin-positive mast cells than mastocytomas and normal skin. Mastocytomas exhibited generally weaker staining for mast cell markers and mostly lacked Fc epsilon RI-bound IgE on mast cells and Langerhans cells, although the receptor was able to bind IgE in tissue sections. Most of the mast cell antibodies also reacted with other cell types. Only toluidine blue, avidin, tryptase and chymase stains were mast cell specific. Mast cells in mastocytosis thus differed only to a minor degree from normal mast cells, although distinct pathomechanisms may play a role in urticaria pigmentosa and mastocytosis.
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PMID:Phenotypic characterization of skin lesions in urticaria pigmentosa and mastocytomas. 754 Nov 89


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