Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.21.73 (urokinase-type plasminogen activator)
 10,685 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

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

Implanted vascular access devices (ports) play a major role in the management of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) and many haematological conditions. With the expanding use of ports, new and more frequent complications are being encountered. To retrospectively review the complications associated with ports, the case notes of all patients who underwent insertion of a port between 1997 and 2000 were analysed. Details of the underlying disorder, type of vascular device, nature of use, and complications were recorded; 55 ports were inserted in 41 patients (a second port was required in 12, a third port in 2) during this period. Their underlying diagnoses were CF (11), haemophilia (4), haemolytic anaemias (2), immunological disorders (6), solid neoplasms (8), and leukaemia (10). Thirteen ports (24%) were removed and replaced for various complications: infection (2), blockage (4), leak (2), dislodgement (2), and malposition (3). Including four port-related problems managed conservatively (3 access problems managed by change in access technique; 1 blockage managed by urokinase), the over all complication rate was 31%. Ports thus have a high complication rate with long-term use. Selecting the right port system, proper installation of the port chamber, and efficient handling and maintenance by trained staff could prevent the vast majority of port-related complications.
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PMID:Implanted vascular access devices (ports) in children: complications and their prevention. 1272 47

Serine proteases are attractive targets for the design of enzyme inhibitors since they are involved in the etiology of several diseases. Within the class of serine proteases, HLE is one of the most destructive enzymes in the body. It is implicated in the promotion or exacerbation of a number of diseases including pancreatitis, acute respiratory syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, pulmonary emphysema, and cystic fibrosis. Thrombin, a trypsin-like serine protease, plays a dual role in thrombogenesis, including fibrin formation and platelet activation. As a result, thrombin constitutes one of the most widely studied targets for antithrombotic strategy. Numerous inhibitors of serine proteases have been reported during the past three decades. Among them, coumarin-type molecules displayed a high inhibitory potency towards various serine proteases. At that time, halomethyl dihydrocoumarins have been shown to behave as the first general suicide inhibitors of serine protease. These molecules inhibit several proteases such as human leucocyte elastase, porcine pancreatic elastase, thrombin, urokinase and human plasmin. Isocoumarins are very effective as mechanism-based inhibitors of serine proteases. Pharmacomodulation on the 3-alkoxy-4-chloroisocoumarins and the 3-alkoxy-7-amino-4-chloroisocoumarins led to strong inhibitors of numerous serine proteases such as HLE, human factor XIa and XIIa, thrombin, urokinase and kallikrein. Recently, a series of coumarins characterised by an alkyl, aryl ester, amide, thioester or ketone in the position 3 and an electrophilic chloromethyl moiety in the position 6 have been developed. These compounds were found to be high inhibitors of alpha-chymotrypin, HLE and human thrombin.
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PMID:Coumarin and isocoumarin as serine protease inhibitors. 1557 71

Cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is expressed in the epithelial cells of a wide range of organs/tissues from which most cancers are derived. Although accumulating reports have indicated the association of cancer incidence with genetic variations in CFTR gene, the exact role of CFTR in cancer development and the possible underlying mechanism have not been elucidated. Here, we report that CFTR expression is significantly decreased in both prostate cancer cell lines and human prostate cancer tissue samples. Overexpression of CFTR in prostate cancer cell lines suppresses tumor progression (cell growth, adhesion and migration), whereas knockdown of CFTR leads to enhanced malignancies both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, we demonstrate that CFTR knockdown-enhanced cell proliferation, cell invasion and migration are significantly reversed by antibodies against either urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) or uPA receptor (uPAR), which are known to be involved in various malignant traits of cancer development. More interestingly, overexpression of CFTR suppresses uPA by upregulating the recently described tumor suppressor microRNA-193b (miR-193b), and overexpression of pre-miR-193b significantly reverses CFTR knockdown-enhanced malignant phenotype and abrogates elevated uPA activity in prostate cancer cell line. Finally, we show that CFTR gene transfer results in significant tumor repression in prostate cancer xenografts in vivo. Taken together, the present study has demonstrated a previously undefined tumor-suppressing role of CFTR and its involvement in regulation of miR-193b in prostate cancer development.
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PMID:CFTR suppresses tumor progression through miR-193b targeting urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) in prostate cancer. 2279 75

An increased risk of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and carriers of CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutations has been proposed. However, the role of CFTR in lung cancer remains controversial. In the present study, CFTR expression was assessed in 165 NSCLC tumors and 22 normal lung samples with validation in an independent series of 131 samples. The effect of gain and loss of CFTR on the malignant behavior of NSCLC was examined. The effect of CFTR manipulation on tumor metastasis was examined in a mouse model. Expression of CFTR was downregulated in NSCLC (p=0.041). Low CFTR expression was correlated with advanced stage (p<0.001) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.009). Low CFTR expression was significantly associated with poor prognosis (overall survival: 45 vs. 36 months, p<0.0001; progression-free survival: 41 vs. 30 months, p=0.007). Knockdown of CFTR in NSCLC cells enhanced malignant behavior (epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion and migration); in contrast, overexpression of CFTR suppressed cancer progression in vitro and in vivo. The tumor-suppressing effect of CFTR was associated with inhibition of multiple uPA/uPAR-mediated malignant traits in culture. These results show that CFTR plays a role in inhibition of NSCLC metastasis and suggest that CFTR may serve as a novel indicator for predicting adverse prognosis and metastasis in NSCLC patients.
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PMID:The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator as a biomarker in non-small cell lung cancer. 2576 Apr 46