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

Physiologic and pathologic events associated with cutaneous differentiation and repair are the result of a concerted action of various types of resident tissue cells. In vitro models simulating this complex in vivo situation are therefore needed to clarify the specific contribution and relevant interaction of, for example, dermal mast cells with other major cutaneous cells. The aim of this study was to establish a long-term coculture model that includes dermal mast cells, dermal fibroblasts, and keratinocytes in a human skin equivalent organotypic setting. Normal dermal mast cells and fibroblasts (1:4) were enclosed in collagen gel and normal keratinocytes were grown on top with exposure to the air interface. Under these conditions, mast cell integrity and functionality was preserved even after 4 wk of culture, as shown by electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry using antibodies against the mast-cell-specific granule enzyme tryptase and the receptors for stem cell factor and IgE. Mast cells also released histamine on stimulation with anti-IgE, and on ultrastructure were found to degranulate, with decrease of granule matrix density and formation of cell-cell contacts with fibroblasts. After 2 wk of culture, keratinocytes had formed an epidermis-like multilayer and were able to proliferate and differentiate, as shown by bromodeoxyuridine incorporation of basal cells and immunohistochemical staining for transglutaminase and cytokeratins 1 and 10. The model presented here thus provides a potentially relevant tool to further clarify the interaction of dermal mast cells with major other skin cells and their contribution to cutaneous physiology, repair processes, and pathology.
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PMID:A long-term coculture model for the study of mast cell-keratinocyte interactions. 1219 Aug 64

We have previously shown that mast cells enhance eosinophil survival and activation. In this study we further characterized mast cell activity toward eosinophils. Sonicate of both rat peritoneal mast cells and the human mast cell line 1 (HMC-1) induced a concentration-dependent IL-6 and IL-8 release from human peripheral blood eosinophils (ELISA). HMC-1-induced IL-8 release was significantly reduced by the tryptase inhibitors GW-45 and GW-58 (90 and 87%, respectively, at an optimal concentration) but not by anti-stem cell factor, anti-TNF-alpha, or anti-IFN-gamma neutralizing Abs or by the antihistamine drugs pyrilamine and cimetidine. In a manner similar to HMC-1, human recombinant tryptase induced the expression of mRNA for IL-8 (RT-PCR) and caused IL-8 release from the eosinophils. Addition of cycloheximide, actinomycin D, dexamethasone, PD 98059, curcumin, or SB 202190 completely inhibited the tryptase-induced IL-6 and IL-8 release. In contrast, cyclosporin A had no effect on tryptase-induced IL-8 release. Tryptase caused phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2, c-Jun N-terminal kinases 1 and 2, and p38 (Western blot). Tryptase also induced the translocation of c-Jun from the cytosol to the nucleus (confocal microscopy) and enhanced AP-1 binding activity to the DNA (EMSA). Eosinophils were found to express proteinase-activated receptor 2 (FACS). When eosinophils were incubated with tryptase in the presence of anti-proteinase-activated receptor 2 antagonist Abs a significant decrease in the IL-6 and IL-8 release occurred. In summary, we have demonstrated that the preformed mast cell mediator tryptase induces cytokine production and release in human peripheral blood eosinophils by the mitogen-activated protein kinase/AP-1 pathway.
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PMID:Tryptase activates the mitogen-activated protein kinase/activator protein-1 pathway in human peripheral blood eosinophils, causing cytokine production and release. 1219 39

Mast cells are involved in inflammatory skin disorders and wound healing processes, but the mechanism behind mast cell activation is obscure. In this study, we stained the stem cell factor (SCF) and the Kit receptor in tryptase-positive mast cells, since these molecules are essential for mast cell survival, growth, migration and activation. For this purpose, biopsies were taken from the edge of normally healing wounds of 12 patients undergoing skin transplantation on days 0, 1, 3, 7 and 14, and from chronic leg ulcers and psoriatic skin for comparison. In healing wounds, SCF-positive cells rapidly increased in number in the dermis peaking on day 1, but declined thereafter to their baseline values. The percentage of Kit-positive mast cells increased slowly but steadily reaching a maximum (73+/-22%, P=0.02) on day 14. In chronic ulcers, most of the mast cells were Kit-positive both in the wound bed and in the perilesional skin (87+/-9% and 86+/-13%, respectively). The number of SCF-positive cells was higher in the wound bed than in the dermis of perilesional skin. In the psoriatic skin of ten patients, lesional specimens showed significantly higher numbers of SCF-positive dermal cells as well as a higher percentage (88+/-12% vs 46+/-26%, P=0.004) of Kit-positive mast cells than nonlesional skin. In conclusion, our findings show that the expression of SCF increases rapidly in the early stages of wound healing but declines thereafter, whereas the expression of Kit in mast cells is induced slowly in healing wounds. In chronic wounds as well as in psoriatic lesions, both SCF and Kit are intensely expressed. Thus, it seems possible that SCF and Kit receptor interact, and this could lead to persistent mast cell activation and growth in chronic wounds and psoriasis, whereas only temporary mast cell activation is apparently needed in healing wounds.
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PMID:Transient production of stem cell factor in dermal cells but increasing expression of Kit receptor in mast cells during normal wound healing. 1237 38

Stem cell factor (SCF) and its receptor c-kit take part in the regulation of developmental processes of mast cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and melanocytes, as well as in the growth control of human malignancies. To explore the possible role of the SCF-c-kit system and of mast cells in pancreatic cancer, the concomitant expression and distribution of the two molecules were examined in 17 normal and 26 cancerous human pancreatic tissues and in 6 cultured pancreatic cancer cell lines. Mast cell distribution was also evaluated in the same tissue samples. In addition, the effects of SCF and of the c-kit tyrosine-kinase inhibitor STI571 on the growth of the cancer cell lines and of the normal pancreatic ductal cell line TAKA-1 were assessed. SCF immunoreactivity was absent in acinar, ductal, and islet cells of the normal pancreas and faint in pancreatic cancer tissues and cell lines. In contrast, c-kit was clearly present in some normal and hyperplastic ducts of the normal pancreas, in the cancer cells of 73% of the tumor samples, and in all the cell lines tested. Mast cells, identified by tryptase and chymase immunostaining on consecutive tissue sections, showed immunoreactivity for SCF and c-kit in both normal and cancerous specimens and their number was significantly increased (p = 0.03) in pancreatic cancer compared with the normal pancreas. SCF showed a dose-dependent growth inhibitory effect on TAKA-1 cells (p < 0.001), whereas pancreatic cancer cells were resistant to the SCF-induced growth inhibition. Nonetheless, the growth of TAKA-1 cells and pancreatic cancer cells was inhibited by the c-kit tyrosine kinase inhibitor STI571. In conclusion, the SCF-c-kit system, possibly with the contribution of mast cells, may have a growth-regulating role in the normal pancreas, which is altered during malignant transformation.
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PMID:The stem cell factor-c-kit system and mast cells in human pancreatic cancer. 1242 8

There is much evidence that angiogenesis is related to mast cells. Mast cells accumulate in many angiogenesis-dependent situations, including tumor growth, rheumatoid arthritis, ovulation, would healing, and tissue repair. Several mast cell mediators are angiogenic and regulate endothelial cell proliferation and function. Stem cell factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, epidermal growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, and platelet-derived growth factor induce chemotactic migration of mast cells to sites of neovascularization. Mast cell products such as tryptase also degrade connective tissue matrix to provide space for neovascular sprouts. Angiogenesis has been proposed as a target for anticancer therapy and for treatment of inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Future studies on the cascade of angiogenic events, including mast cell-target cell interaction, and various intracellular signaling pathways are indicated to provide a new approach for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory disorders and for tissue repair.
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PMID:Mast cells and angiogenesis. 1250 Feb 62

Stem cell factor plays a key role in the development of human mast cells via interaction with Kit receptor. We and other groups have previously shown that a number of cytokines can regulate the stem-cell-factor-dependent development of mast cells in vitro. In this study we investigated the effect of retinoic acid on human mast cells in vitro and in vivo. Retinoids are known to have strong modulatory effects on hematopoietic differentiation. We found that all-trans-retinoic acid, at concentrations as low as 1 nM, inhibits the stem-cell-factor-dependent differentiation of mast cells in vitro. This effect of retinoic acid was found to be on progenitor cells, whereas more mature mast cells were less affected. The use of specific agonists binding either to the RAR or the RXR nuclear receptors indicated involvement of both the RAR/RXR and RXR/RXR pathways in inhibiting mast cell differentiation. In contrast to the effects on mast cell progenitors, retinoic acid had no effect on the number of mature mast cells in skin organ cultures. Furthermore, topical treatment of normal skin with a retinoic-acid-containing cream caused an increase in the number of tryptase-positive mast cells, whereas the numbers of the major cutaneous mast cell type, tryptase- and chymase-positive mast cells, remained unaffected. Our results suggest that retinoic acid suppresses commitment of progenitor cells into the mast cell lineage and/or acts on early mast cell progenitors, whereas mature cutaneous mast cells are less susceptible to retinoic acid.
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PMID:Retinoic acid inhibits in vitro development of mast cells but has no marked effect on mature human skin tryptase- and chymase-positive mast cells. 1254 29

Mast cells accumulate and persist predominantly in the upper dermis of the skin but the mechanism for this is obscure. The skin is normally exposed to external air, which is essential for the maturation of the epidermis and probably also the dermis. In order to clarify the importance of air exposure on dermal mast cells, skin organ culture at the air-liquid interface (ALI) and submerged (SM) in medium (10% fetal calf serum and Dulbecco's modification of Eagle's medium) was used to study changes in tryptase-, chymase- and Kit-positive mast cell numbers during cultivation for up to 14 days. In addition, possible apoptosis (TACS TdT in situ apoptosis detection method) in chymase-positive mast cells was studied during the culture. In the less-physiologic SM culture, the number of Kit-positive mast cells decreased rapidly on day 1-2 and tryptase-positive cells decreased markedly on day 14. This decrease in mast cell numbers can be explained by the finding that a rapid increase in the apoptosis index of mast cells was induced on day 1-2. In contrast, in the more physiologic ALI culture, the number of Kit-positive cells was sustained over 1-2 days but then decreased on day 7. In addition, tryptase-positive cells decreased steadily in number but not to the same extent as those in the SM culture. Moreover, the increase in the apoptosis index of mast cells was delayed until day 7 in the ALI culture. Addition of exogenous stem cell factor (up to 200 ng/ml) to the SM culture could not prevent the decay in tryptase- and chymase-positive cells. However, stem cell factor reduced significantly the number of Kit-positive cells already on day 2 indicating that the cells had responded. Addition of histamine (0.25 or 1 mM) or tumor necrosis factor-alpha (500 or 2000 U/ml) caused a decrease in the number of tryptase- and Kit-positive cells in the SM culture. In conclusion, a novel finding was that air exposure in the ALI culture markedly delayed the rapid apoptosis and subsequent decrease in mast cell numbers noted to occur in the SM culture. Stem cell factor could not prevent the rapid decrease in mast cell numbers. Histamine and tumor necrosis factor-alpha are possible factors promoting the decline in mast cells.
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PMID:Mast cell survival and apoptosis in organ-cultured human skin. 1263 Dec 47

We examined the effects of IL-9 on human mast cell development from CD34(+) cord blood (CB) and peripheral blood cells in serum-deprived cultures. IL-9 apparently enhanced cell production under stimulation with stem cell factor (SCF) from CD34(+) CB cells. A great majority of the cultured cells grown with SCF + IL-9 became positive for tryptase at 4 wk. In methylcellulose cultures of CD34(+) CB cells, IL-9 increased both the number and size of mast cell colonies grown with SCF. Furthermore, SCF + IL-9 caused an exclusive expansion of mast cell colony-forming cells in a 2-wk liquid culture of CD34(+) CB cells, at a level markedly greater than for SCF alone. Clonal cell cultures and RT-PCR analysis showed that the targets of SCF + IL-9 were the CD34(+)CD38(+) CB cells rather than the CD34(+)CD38(-) CB cells. IL-9 neither augmented the SCF-dependent generation of progeny nor supported the survival of 6-wk-cultured mast cells. Moreover, there was no difference in the appearance of tryptase(+) cells and histamine content in the cultured cells between SCF and SCF + IL-9. The addition of IL-9 increased numbers of mast cell colonies grown with SCF from CD34(+) peripheral blood cells in children with or without asthma. It is of interest that mast cell progenitors of asthmatic patients responded to SCF + IL-9 to a greater extent than those of normal controls. Taken together, IL-9 appears to act as a potent enhancer for the SCF-dependent growth of mast cell progenitors in humans, particularly asthmatic patients.
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PMID:IL-9 enhances the growth of human mast cell progenitors under stimulation with stem cell factor. 1264 6

Mastocytosis comprises a heterogeneous group of hematological disorders which are morphologically defined by proliferation and accumulation of tissue mast cells in one or more organs. Clinical manifestations of mastocytosis range from disseminated maculopapular skin lesions (= urticaria pigmentosa [UP]) that may spontaneously regress to highly aggressive neoplasms like mast cell leukemia or mast cell sarcoma. Recently, it could be shown that systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a clonal disorder often exhibiting mutations of c-kit, a protooncogene encoding the tyrosine kinase receptor for stem cell factor (SCF). Mutations of c-kit are considered to play a key role in the pathogenesis of mastocytosis. Therefore, we investigated the unique case of a 36 year-old male patient with indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) evolving from UP (cutaneous mastocytosis) by means of histology, immunophenotyping and molecular biology. At the time of initial diagnosis the bone marrow showed only a mild diffuse increase in mast cells but compact infiltrates were missing. The serum tryptase levels were normal. Five years later, however, the bone marrow histology displayed patchycompact mast cell infiltrates, which now allowed to establish the diagnosis of an ISM. The serum tryptase levels at this time were markedly elevated. At both time points, mast cells were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using anti-tryptase antibody AA1, by flow cytometry using antibodies against CD2 and CD25, and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on laser-microdissected, single pooled mast cells. Immunohistochemistry revealed strong tryptase-positivity of mast cells in both cutaneous and bone marrow infiltrates. Flow cytometry yielded an aberrant expression of CD2 and CD25 on bone marrow mast cells. However, repeated thorough PCR analysis failed to unveil c-kit mutation in atypical mast cells of skin and bone marrow samples of both dates. These findings clearly show that ISM can evolve from UP. Moreover, our study provides further evidence that the c-kit mutation Asp-816-Val is not invariably present in ISM.
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PMID:Evolution of urticaria pigmentosa into indolent systemic mastocytosis: abnormal immunophenotype of mast cells without evidence of c-kit mutation ASP-816-VAL. 1268 51

Cells of the innate immune system and their mediators were studied at the single-cell level in the rectums of pediatric and adult patients with Shigella infection to better understand why children are at higher risk for severe infection. Adult patients had increased infiltration of mucosal mast cells (MMC) at the acute stage (3 to 5 days after the onset of diarrhea) and eosinophils in early convalescence (14 to 16 days after onset). Increased expression of stem cell factor and prostaglandin H synthase-1 (PGHS-1) was associated with increased tryptase-K(i)67-double-positive MMC in the acute stage and increased apoptosis of MMC, which led to a rapid decline in early convalescence. The eosinophils demonstrated increased expression of major basic protein (MBP), eotaxin, and CCR3, as well as increased necrotic death. The neutrophils showed enhanced alpha-defensin and lactoferrin expression in the acute phase. In contrast to adults, the pediatric patients demonstrated delayed accumulation of mast cells and eosinophils, while alpha-defensin expression persisted during convalescence. In contrast, neutrophil counts and lactoferrin expression were reduced in children compared to adults. The results suggest that children with shigellosis have a persistent activation of the innate immune response in the convalescent phase, indicating delayed elimination of Shigella antigens compared to adults.
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PMID:Persistence of mucosal mast cells and eosinophils in Shigella-infected children. 1270 43


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