Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.6 (chymopapain)
 407 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We have used polarized light (POL) to monitor changes in the organization of the articular cartilage collagen network and matrix proteoglycans (PGs) after intra-articular injection of chymopapain (CP). POL viewing of sirius red stained sections revealed a loss of normal birefringence suggesting an apparent collapse of the collagen network following intra-articular CP. After 21 days, knees injected with 2.0 mg CP showed no return of normal birefringence, however, normal birefringence was noted in knees injected with only 0.2 mg CP. POL viewing of toluidine blue stained sections revealed a severe loss of matrix PGs followed by PG restoration in animals injected with 0.2 mg CP. The most important inference from the data is that articular cartilage can recover from enzyme-induced alterations in the spatial collapse of its fibrillar network. This is an important finding since it has often been inferred that damage to the collagen network leads invariably to progressive articular cartilage destruction.
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PMID:Alteration and recovery of the spatial orientation of the collagen network of articular cartilage in adolescent rabbits following intra-articular chymopapain injection. 890 75

A substance has been demonstrated in solutions of crude papain, which, when injected intravenously into 1 kilo rabbits, in amounts less than 5 mg., results in complete collapse of both ears. The phenomenon becomes visible 4 hours after injection, and is complete within 24 hours. 3 or 4 days after papain, the ears gradually reassume their normal form. Ear collapse is associated with depletion of the ear cartilage matrix, and the disappearance of basophilia from the matrix. Similar changes occur in all other cartilage tissues, including bones, joints, larynx, trachea, and bronchi. At the time when the ears are restored to normal shape, the basophilic matrix reappears in cartilage. Repeated injections of papain, over a period of 2 or 3 weeks, bring about immunity to the phenomenon of ear collapse. When the arterial circulation to one ear is occluded for 15 minutes at the time of injection of papain, this ear is protected against collapse. The effect of crude papain could not be reproduced by crystalline papain protease or crystalline papain lysozyme, which together comprise a considerable portion of the dry weight of papain. The nature of the responsible factor has not been determined, and the possibility that chymopapain may be implicated is currently under study. Cortisone prevents the return of papain-collapsed ears to their normal shape and rigidity. Possibly this reflects a capacity of cortisone to impede the synthesis or deposition of sulfated mucopolysaccharides in tissues.
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PMID:Reversible collapse of rabbit ears after intravenous papain, and prevention of recovery by cortisone. 1334 69