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)

A plasminogen activator of human origin, urokinase, was endowed with magnetic property. The magnetic urokinase was composed of magnetite, polyethylene glycol derivative and urokinase, and dispersed in saline. Its particle size of magnetite was approximately 30-60 nm. It was selectively delivered to fibrin clot by magnetic force in continuously circulating plasma and exerted fibrinolytic activity without degrading fibrinogen.
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PMID:Magnetic urokinase: targeting of urokinase to fibrin clot. 336 51

The activated magnetic modifier was synthesized from magnetite, alpha, omega-dicarboxymethylpoly(oxyethylene) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 145, 908-914, 1987). Urokinase was directly coupled with the activated magnetic modifier to obtain magnetic urokinase. The magnetic urokinase dispersed in saline and exerted high fibrinolytic activity (13.8 X 10(4) IU/mg protein), and was readily recovered from saline by magnetic force of 250 Oe. By applying magnetic force, the urokinase was attracted at our will and local fibrinolysis was achieved on fibrin gel in a petri dish.
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PMID:Fibrinolysis by urokinase endowed with magnetic property. 367 86

Hypoxia underlies a number of biologic processes in which cellular migration and invasion occur. Because earlier studies have shown that the receptor for urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPAR) may facilitate such events, we studied the effect of hypoxia on the expression of uPAR by first trimester human trophoblasts (HTR-8/SVneo) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). Compared with control cells cultured under standard conditions (20% O2), HTR-8/SVneo cells and HUVEC cultured in 1% O2 expressed more uPAR, as determined by flow cytometric and [125I]-prourokinase ligand binding analyses. Increased uPAR expression paralleled increases in uPAR mRNA. The involvement of a heme protein in the hypoxia-induced expression of uPAR was suggested by the observations that culture of cells with cobalt chloride, or sodium 4, 5-dihydroxybenzene-1,3-disulfonate (Tiron), an iron-chelating agent, also stimulated uPAR expression, and that the hypoxia-induced uPAR expression was inhibited by adding carbon monoxide to the hypoxic atmosphere. Culture of HTR-8/SVneo cells with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) did not increase uPAR mRNA levels, suggesting that the hypoxia-mediated effect on uPAR expression by these cells did not occur through a VEGF-dependent mechanism. The functional importance of these findings is suggested by the fact that HTR-8/SVneo cells cultured under hypoxia displayed higher levels of cell surface plasminogen activator activity and greater invasion through a reconstituted basement membrane. These results suggest that hypoxia may promote cellular invasion by stimulating the expression of uPAR through a heme protein-dependent pathway.
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PMID:Hypoxia stimulates urokinase receptor expression through a heme protein-dependent pathway. 955 86

Tumor hypoxia and high levels of expression of the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) receptor (uPAR) represent a poor clinical outcome for patients with various cancers. Here, we examined the effect of hypoxia on in vitro invasion of extracellular matrix and uPAR expression by human carcinoma cells. Compared with culture under 20% O2, culture for up to 24 hr under 1% or 4% O2 resulted in increased cell surface uPAR. However, the highest uPAR levels were observed in cells cultured under 1% O2. Culture of MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells under hypoxia also resulted in increased uPAR mRNA levels. Furthermore, incubation with cobalt chloride or with an iron chelator also resulted in elevated uPAR expression, while presence of 30% carbon monoxide in the hypoxic atmosphere reduced the hypoxia-mediated uPAR mRNA upregulation. Increased uPAR expression was paralleled by higher cell-associated uPA levels and lower levels of secreted uPA as determined by gel zymography performed on cell extracts and culture-conditioned media. In addition, the in vitro invasiveness of MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cells was significantly higher when the invasion assay was performed under hypoxic conditions. This effect of hypoxia on invasion was abrogated by including in the assay a monoclonal, function-blocking anti-u PAR antibody or by the presence of 30% carbon monoxide in the hypoxic atmosphere. Our findings indicate that hypoxia stimulates carcinoma cell invasiveness by upregulating uPAR expression on the cell surface through a mechanism that requires a putative heme protein. Through a similar mechanism, hypoxia may stimulate tumor invasion and metastasis in vivo.
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PMID:Hypoxia-mediated stimulation of carcinoma cell invasiveness via upregulation of urokinase receptor expression. 993 66

The influence of urokinase and oxygen availability on growth, siderophore, protease and lipase production in Burkholderia cepacia and non-mucoid (PA01) and mucoid (PaWH) strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was assessed for cells grown in batch culture under iron-restriction. Siderophore production decreased with increasing concentration of urokinase in B. cepacia independent of oxygen availability but decreased in both strains of P. aeruginosa only under oxygen-depleted conditions. Protease activity was enhanced for all three strains irrespective of oxygen content whereas lipase production increased in B. cepacia and decreased in PA01 under both sets of growth conditions and varied with oxygen availability in PaWH. The evidence presented suggests that urokinase could contribute to the pathophysiology of pulmonary infections.
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PMID:Effect of urokinase on the extracellular virulence properties of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia. 1007 63

Iron and iron metabolism are critical in a variety of physiologic and pathophysiologic processes, including lung injury and repair. The plasmin/plasminogen activator (PA) system is involved in the extensive remodeling process that follows acute lung injury, and alveolar epithelial cells play a key role in this repair process. Herein we report that decreased intracellular iron availability markedly suppresses cell-surface plasmin generation by A549 human carcinoma-derived pulmonary epithelial cells. This effect is mediated by concomitant downregulation of urokinase-type PA and upregulation of PA inhibitor-type 1 expression. Northern analyses, runoff transcription assays, and messenger RNA half-life experiments using actinomycin demonstrate that transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms are operative. Given these potent in vitro effects on the plasmin/PA system, we speculate that adequate intracellular iron stores are important for successful repair of acute lung injury.
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PMID:Decreased intracellular iron availability suppresses epithelial cell surface plasmin generation. Transcriptional and post-transcriptional effects on u-PA and PAI-1 expression. 1042 12

Infection, mainly related to vascular access, is one of the main causes of morbidity and a preventable cause of death in hemodialysis patients. From January 1994 to April 1998 we conducted a prospective study to assess the incidence and risk factors of catheter-related bacteremia. One hundred and twenty-nine tunneled dual-lumen hemodialysis catheters were inserted percutaneously into the internal jugular vein in 89 patients. Bacteremia (n = 56) occurred at least once with 37 (29%) of the catheters (an incidence of 1.1/1,000 catheter-days); local infection (n = 45, 1/1,000 catheter-days) was associated with bacteremia in 18 cases. Death in 1 case was directly related to Staphylococcus aureus (SA) septic shock, and septicemia contributed to deaths in 2 additional cases. Catheters were removed in 48% of the bacteremic episodes. Treatment comprised intravenous double antimicrobial therapy for 15-20 days. Bacteriological data of bacteremia showed 55% involvement of SA. Nasal carriage of SA was observed in 35% of the patients with catheters. Bacteremic catheters were more frequently observed in patients with diabetes mellitus (p = 0.03), peripheral atherosclerosis (p = 0.001), a previous history of bacteremia (p = 0.05), nasal carriage of SA (p = 0.0001), longer catheter survival time (p = 0.001), higher total intravenous iron dose (p = 0.001), more frequent urokinase catheter infusion (p < 0.01), and local infection (p < 0.001) compared with non-bacteremic catheters. Monovariate survival analysis showed that significant initial risk factors for bacteremia were nasal carriage of SA (p = 0.00001), previous bacteremia (p = 0.0001), peripheral atherosclerosis (p = 0.005), and diabetes (p = 0.04). This study confirms the relatively high incidence of bacteremia with tunneled double-lumen silicone catheters and its potential complications. Possible preventive actions are discussed according to the risk factors.
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PMID:Risk factor analysis for long-term tunneled dialysis catheter-related bacteremias. 1211 69

The tubulin-binding anticancer activity of noscapine, an orally available plant-derived anti-tussive alkaloid, has been recently identified. Noscapine inhibits tumor growth in nude mice bearing human xenografts of hematopoietic, breast, lung, ovarian, brain and prostate origin. Despite its nontoxic attributes, significant elimination of the disease has not been achieved, perhaps since the bioavailability of noscapine to tumors saturates at an oral dose of 300 mg/kg body weight. To enable the selective and specific delivery of noscapine to prostate cancer cells, we have engineered a multifunctional nanoscale delivery vehicle that takes advantage of urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) overexpression in prostate cancer compared to normal prostate epithelia and can be tracked by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and near-infrared (NIR) imaging. Specifically, we employed the human-type 135 amino-acid amino-terminal fragment (hATF) of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), a high-affinity natural ligand for uPAR. Noscapine (Nos) was efficiently adsorbed onto the amphiphilic polymer coating of uPAR-targeted nanoparticles (NPs). Nos-loaded NPs were uniformly compact-sized, stable at physiological pH and efficiently released the drug at pH 4 to 5 within a span of 4h. Our results demonstrate that these uPAR-targeted NPs were capable of binding to the receptor and were internalized by PC-3 cells. uPAR-targeted Nos-loaded NPs enhanced intracellular noscapine accumulation as evident by the ~6-fold stronger inhibitory effect on PC-3 growth compared to free noscapine. In addition, Nos-loaded iron oxide NPs maintained their T2 MRI contrast effect upon internalization into tumor cells owing to their significant susceptibility effect in cells. Thus, our data provide compelling evidence that these optically and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-trackable uPAR-targeted NPs may offer a great potential for image-directed targeted delivery of noscapine for the management of prostate cancer.
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PMID:Enhanced noscapine delivery using uPAR-targeted optical-MR imaging trackable nanoparticles for prostate cancer therapy. 2104 37

The tumor stroma in human cancers significantly limits the delivery of therapeutic agents into cancer cells. To develop an effective therapeutic approach overcoming the physical barrier of the stroma, we engineered urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR)-targeted magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) carrying chemotherapy drug gemcitabine (Gem) for targeted delivery into uPAR-expressing tumor and stromal cells. The uPAR-targeted nanoparticle construct, ATF-IONP-Gem, was prepared by conjugating IONPs with the amino-terminal fragment (ATF) peptide of the receptor-binding domain of uPA, a natural ligand of uPAR, and Gem via a lysosomally cleavable tetrapeptide linker. These theranostic nanoparticles enable intracellular release of Gem following receptor-mediated endocytosis of ATF-IONP-Gem into tumor cells and also provide contrast enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of tumors. Our results demonstrated the pH- and lysosomal enzyme-dependent release of gemcitabine, preventing the drug from enzymatic degradation. Systemic administrations of ATF-IONP-Gem significantly inhibited the growth of orthotopic human pancreatic cancer xenografts in nude mice. With MRI contrast enhancement by IONPs, we detected the presence of IONPs in the residual tumors following the treatment, suggesting the possibility of monitoring drug delivery and assessing drug-resistant tumors by MRI. The theranostic ATF-IONP-Gem nanoparticle has great potential for the development of targeted therapeutic and imaging approaches that are capable of overcoming the tumor stromal barrier, thus enhancing the therapeutic effect of nanoparticle drugs on pancreatic cancers.
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PMID:Theranostic nanoparticles with controlled release of gemcitabine for targeted therapy and MRI of pancreatic cancer. 2340 93

The development of multifunctional nanoparticles that have dual capabilities of tumor imaging and delivering therapeutic agents into tumor cells holds great promises for novel approaches for tumor imaging and therapy. We have engineered urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) targeted biodegradable nanoparticles using a size uniform and amphiphilic polymer-coated magnetic iron oxide (IO) nanoparticle conjugated with the amino-terminal fragment (ATF) of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), which is a high affinity natural ligand for uPAR. We further developed methods to encapsulate hydrophobic chemotherapeutic drugs into the polymer layer on the IO nanoparticles, making these targeted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sensitive nanoparticles drug delivery vehicles. Using a fluorescent drug doxorubicin (Dox) as a model system, we showed that this hydrophobic drug can be efficiently encapsulated into the uPAR-targeted IO nanoparticles. This class of Dox-loaded nanoparticles has a compact size and is stable in pH 7.4 buffer. However, encapsulated Doxcan be released from the nanoparticles at pH 4.0 to 5.0 within 2 hrs. In comparison with the effect of equivalent dosage of free drug or non-targeted IO-Dox nanoparticles, uPAR-targeted IO-Dox nanoparticles deliver higher levels of Dox into breast cancer cells and produce a stronger inhibitory effect on tumor cell growth. Importantly, Dox-loaded IO nanoparticles maintain their T2 MRI contrast effect after being internalized into the tumor cells due to their significant susceptibility effect in the cells, indicating that this drug delivery nanoparticle has the potential to be used as targeted therapeutic imaging probes for monitoring the drug delivery using MRI.
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PMID:Development of Receptor Targeted Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Efficient Drug Delivery and Tumor Imaging. 2515 1


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