Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.64 (proteinase K)
 4,071 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The mechanism of bone destruction in periapical lesions was studied using a rat model system. Periapical lesions were induced by pulp exposure and infection from the oral environment. Lesions expanded most rapidly between induction on day 0 and day 15 ("active phase"), with enlargement occurring at a slower rate thereafter (days 20 and 30, "chronic phase"), as assessed by radiography and automated image analysis. Pooled extracts of day 15 periapical tissues contained significant levels of bone resorbing activity (BRA), as determined by 45Ca release from fetal rat long bones. Normal rat dental pulp and periodontal ligament contained no activity. In kinetic experiments, highest levels of BRA were detected in active phase tissues on days 10 and 15, with BRA declining thereafter in chronic phase tissues to near baseline levels by day 30. In characterization studies, BRA in pooled day 15 tissue extracts was unaffected by treatment with polymyxin B, but was completely abolished by proteinase K treatment or heating to 70 degrees C, indicating an active moiety distinct from bacterial LPS, probably a protein(s). FPLC gel filtration chromatography revealed that BRA could be resolved into four major peaks, of MW 30-60 kD (Peak I); 15-20 kD (II); 1-2 kD (III); less than 1kD (IV), consistent with the presence of the following bone resorptive mediators: (I) cytokines TNF alpha, TNF beta and/or unprocessed IL-1 alpha; (II) processed IL-1 alpha and/or IL-1 beta; (IV) PGE2. These findings demonstrate that bone resorbing activity is temporally related to bone destruction, and that the activity present during the rapid phase of periapical lesion expansion is primarily attributable to bone resorptive cytokines.
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PMID:Characterization of bone resorptive mediators in active periapical lesions. 150 1

The two interleukin 1 (IL-1) genes (IL-1 alpha and beta) encode 31-kDa precursor molecules, which are cleaved upon secretion to generate the mature, active, carboxyl-terminal 17-kDa proteins. The IL-1 beta precursor is inactive, whereas the IL-1 alpha precursor is as active as the mature IL-1 alpha. In this report, we demonstrate that when either of the recombinant precursors is processed to the mature form, the mature region undergoes a conformational change from a proteinase K-sensitive structure to one that is proteinase K-insensitive. In addition, cysteine residues that are exposed to solvent in the IL-1 beta precursor become buried in the mature protein. Limited structure-activity mapping of the IL-1 beta precursor indicates that the amino-terminal 76 residues are responsible for the conformational change, whereas the most dramatic change in biological activity occurs after further removal of residues 77-94. These findings suggest that the altered structure of the mature region in precursor IL-1s has been conserved for some function. Denaturation/renaturation experiments implicate the precursor domain in protein folding, and by analogy with signal-directed secretory proteins, the unique conformation of the precursors may play a role in IL-1 secretion.
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PMID:Structure-function mapping of interleukin 1 precursors. Cleavage leads to a conformational change in the mature protein. 201 16

An acidic lipid termed leukocyte adhesion lipid (LAL) was isolated from PMA stimulated lymphoid and myeloid cell lines HL60, Jurkat, K562 and U937 but not from unstimulated cells or PMA treated Cos7 cells. LAL treated peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) adhered strongly to IL-1 beta activated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), and the interaction could be inhibited by antibodies to intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) or lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1). Leukocytes treated with LAL maintained the high avidity state of LFA-1 for at least 1 hr whereas the avidity of LFA-1 in PMA treated cells declined after 30 min. LAL was stable to heat (100 degrees C, 10 min), alkaline phosphatase and proteinase K treatments. Chemical analysis suggested that LAL contained unsaturated lipids. Our findings provide evidence for the involvement of lipids in LFA-1 activation.
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PMID:A leukocyte lipid up-regulates the avidity of lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1. 790 14

To identify the mediators that stimulate periapical bone resorption following infection, a rat model system was used in which active (rapid) and chronic (slow) phases of bone destruction can be distinguished. Extracts of inflammatory tissues from active lesions contained high levels of bone-resorbing activity, which was destroyed by proteinase K and heat (70 degrees C), but was unaffected by polymyxin B, indicating the presence of protein mediator(s) rather than lipopolysaccharide. Fast-performance liquid chromatography gel filtration of extracts of active lesions demonstrated that most activity was associated with macromolecules of MW 30-60 kDa and 15-20 kDa, consistent with bone resorptive cytokines, including interleukin 1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Inhibition with cytokine-specific antisera demonstrated that resorbing activity in active lesions was significantly neutralized by anti-IL-1 alpha, whereas anti-IL-1 beta, anti-TNF alpha and anti-TNF beta had only slight effect. A lower amount of resorbing activity was present in extracts of chronic lesions, which was also neutralized only by anti-IL-1 alpha. Inflammatory tissue explants produced more IL-1 alpha than IL-1 beta in vitro, confirming findings with extracts, and high levels of IL-1 alpha were present in active lesions by radioimmunoassay. These data indicate that bone resorption stimulated by bacterial infection is primarily mediated by IL-1 alpha in this model. The similarity of cytokines in active and chronic lesions suggests that quantitative rather than qualitative differences in these mediators may account for lesion progression.
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PMID:The role of interleukin-1 alpha in the pathogenesis of periapical bone destruction in a rat model system. 851 Sep 85

To confirm the production of IL-1 beta and to optimize detection and semiquantitation of IL-1 beta mRNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques in skeletal muscle tissue, immunocytochemistry, immunoblotting and several procedures of RNA extraction and reverse transcription (RT)-PCR amplification were used on muscle samples from 12 patients with conditions associated with local production of IL-1 beta (AZT myopathy: 6 patients; sarcoid myopathy: 6 patients) and from 9 patients with normal muscle used as controls. Abundant IL-1 beta immunoreactivities, corresponding to both pro IL-1 beta and mature IL-1 beta as assessed by immunoblotting, were observed in all diseased muscles, either in inflammatory cells (sarcoid myopathy) or in atrophic muscle fibers (AZT myopathy). Acid guanidinium isothiocyanate phenol-chloroform extraction of RNA appeared less efficient for IL-1 beta mRNA detection by RT-PCR than proteinase K digestion followed by phenol-chloroform extraction. Even using the latter procedure, RT-single PCR for IL-1 beta mRNA was puzzlingly negative in all cases but one; in contrast, RT-nested PCR specified by DNA enzyme immunoassay yielded detection of IL-1 beta mRNA in all diseased muscles and in occasional controls, including the expected PCR product of 391 bp, but also another product of 935 bp, corresponding to IL-1 beta mRNA with unsplicing of the fourth intron. Semi-quantitative PCR showed that production of IL-1 beta mRNA was higher in sarcoid myopathy than in AZT myopathy, and in AZT myopathy than in controls. In conclusion, IL-1 beta expression can be reliably studied using immunocytochemistry, but assessment of IL-1 beta mRNA production in muscle tissue requires optimized extraction and RT-PCR procedures.
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PMID:Interleukin (IL)-1 beta and IL-1 beta mRNA expression in normal and diseased skeletal muscle assessed by immunocytochemistry, immunoblotting and reverse transcriptase-nested polymerase chain reaction. 918 56

Apoptosis induction of host macrophages has emerged as a common virulence mechanism among bacterial pathogens. Infection with Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide and is characterized by an acute inflammatory response in the small intestine. The authors used the human monocytic cell line THP-1 to examine apoptosis induction and pro-inflammatory cytokine production during C. jejuni infection. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that 48 h after inoculation, a C. jejuni wild-type isolate induced apoptosis in 63 % of THP-1 cells while only 34 % of cells inoculated with a ciaB mutant, which does not secrete the Cia (Campylobacter invasion antigens) proteins, underwent apoptosis. Complementation of the ciaB mutant resulted in levels of apoptosis similar to those induced by the C. jejuni wild-type isolate, suggesting that the Cia proteins have a role in apoptosis induction. It was shown that a proteinase K- and heat-stable component of C. jejuni also stimulated THP-1 apoptosis. Inoculation with a C. jejuni gmhD mutant indicated that lipooligosaccharide was not the stimulatory molecule. Immunoblot and ELISA analyses revealed that C. jejuni infection stimulated the synthesis, processing and secretion of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1 beta). Inhibition of caspase 1 activity eliminated IL-1 beta processing and secretion, but did not affect apoptosis induction. In addition, treatment of cells with a caspase-9-specific inhibitor did not affect apoptosis induction, arguing against activation of an apoptotic pathway dependent on either caspase 1 or 9 activation. Collectively, these data suggest that the inoculation of macrophages with C. jejuni results in the processing of IL-1 beta and apoptosis through different regulatory pathways. Furthermore, these data argue that C. jejuni may use a mechanism distinct from Salmonella typhimurium and Shigella flexneri to initiate macrophage apoptosis and release of IL-1 beta.
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PMID:Campylobacter jejuni infection of differentiated THP-1 macrophages results in interleukin 1 beta release and caspase-1-independent apoptosis. 1499 5