Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.23.5 (cathepsin D)
 4,130 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Net changes in the concentrations of 18 amino acids in perfusate and skeletal muscle were followed during perfusion of hemicorpus preparations from fed rat. Perfusate levels of 16 amino acids showed little change from their initial concentrations during the 1st h, but increased dramatically during the 2nd and 3rd h. Aspartate and glutamate levels decreased continuously throughout the perfusion. Release of alanine and glutamine accounted for approximately 50% of the total change in perfusate amino acids. The increase in perfusate amino acids was derived from net breakdown of muscle proteins and not from leakage from the intracellular pool as evidenced by elevated concentrations of intracellular amino acids in perfused muscle. Addition of insulin to the perfusate did not change the pattern of amino acid release during the 1st h of perfusion. However, during the 2nd and 3rd h the hormone completely prevented the net release of most amino acids and maintained intracellular concentrations of most amino acids at levels found in upperfused tissue. Effects of time of perfusion and insulin on amino acid release were accounted for by changes in the rate of protein turnover. Protein synthesis in gastrocemius and psoas muscles in control perfusions decreased after 1 h to approximately 50% of the initial rate. This decrease was accompanied by a 2-fold increase in the level of ribosomal subunits, indicating development of a block in peptide chain initiation. Addition of insulin maintained the initial rate of synthesis and the in vivo level of ribosomal subunits, demonstrating that the hormone prevented the block in peptide chain initiation from forming. Addition of insulin after 2 h reversed the perfusion-induced block in initiation. Synthesis of the specific muscle protein myosin was increased 45% over the control rate in the presence of insulin. Insulin also produced a 50% decrease in the rate of protein degradation during the 2nd and 3rd h of perfusion. A similar effect was noted when protein synthesis was inhibited by addition of cycloheximide. Higher concentrations of insulin were required to maximally inhibit protein degradation than to increase protein synthesis. Involvement of lysosomal proteases in the effect of insulin on protein degradation was evaluated by measuring cathepsin D activity in psoas muscle homogenates. "Free" enzyme activity increased as a result of perfusion while addition of insulin maintained this activity at the unperfused level. Neither perfusion nor insulin had any effect on total cathepsin D activity. Alterations in protein degradation and lysosomal enzyme activity were not due to changes in levels of adenine nucleotides, GTP, or creatine phosphate.
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PMID:Regulation by insulin of amino acid release and protein turnover in the perfused rat hemicorpus. 83 25

Pure cultures of three types of mononuclear phagocytes-mouse peritoneal macrophages, unstimulated or after thioglycollate stimulation, and human monocytes-synthesize and secrete large amounts of lysozyme in vitro. The macrophage lysozyme is indistinguishable from authentic lysozyme in its ability to lyse M. lysodeikticus, inhibition by specific antisera, a similar size of 14,000 and cationic charge. Lysozyme secretion in culture is characterized by a large net increase in total lysozyme, 4-20-fold in 3 h, 75-95% of which is in the medium, and its continued extracellular accumulation over at least 2 wk in culture. Lysozyme is the major (14)C-labeled protein secreted into the medium by both unstimulated and thioglycollate-stimulated macrophages and the 0.75-1 microg produced per 1 x 10(6) cells/day represents 0.5-2.5% of the total cell protein. Lysozyme is a cell-specific marker for mononuclear phagocytes and the PMN, which contains preformed enzyme, since it is absent in lymphoid cells and a variety of fibroblast and epithelioid cell lines. Lysozyme production is also a useful measure of mononuclear phagocyte cell number. The rate of lysozyme production and secretion is remarkably constant for all cell types under a variety of culture conditions. Production by the mouse macrophage increases threefold on the 2nd day in culture and then remains linear with time. Production is optimal at a relatively low serum concentration, but can be maintained, in the absence of serum, in lactalbumin hydrolysate or, at a reduced level in basal media. The production and secretion of lysozyme are independent of the production of macrophage acid hydrolases. Net increase and secretion of lysozyme occur under conditions where acid hydrolases like N-acetyl beta-glucosaminidase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-galactosidase, and cathepsin D are neither accumulated nor secreted. Massive phagocytosis of latex particles has no effect on lysozyme production and secretion. Lysozyme production can be rapidly inhibited by treatment with cycloheximide (0.4 microg/ml) whereas inhibition of its production by colchicine (10(-6) M) occurs only after a lag period of more than 8 h, and is probably due to a secondary effect. These results show that mouse macrophages provide a simple in vitro system to measure lysozyme secretion and its control. These studies also indicate the possible importance of mononuclear phagocytes in the secretion of a variety of biologically active products and in the modification of their environment.
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PMID:In vitro synthesis and secretion of lysozyme by mononuclear phagocytes. 482 44

The ability of cathepsin D, chymosin, pepsin and renin to produce endothelin-1 (ET-1) from proendothelin-1 (proET-1) was compared. No significant conversion was observed when proET-1 was incubated with up to 1 U of renin for 15 min at 37 degrees C. Cathepsin D generated, as well as degraded, ET-1 rapidly. Net production of ET-1 reached a maximum when 0.003 U of cathepsin D was used, and about 16% of the initial proET-1 was detected as ET-1 by HPLC. Pepsin up to 1 U converted proET-1 into ET-1 dose-dependently with a maximum of 71% conversion. A further increase of the amount of pepsin in the reaction mixture produced nonspecific cleavage of ET-1. Less than 10% of ET-1 remained in the presence of 15 U of pepsin. Chymosin also generated ET-1 dose-dependently, and a complete conversion was obtained at 1 U of enzyme. Greater than 1 U of chymosin only slightly degraded ET-1; at least 80% of ET-1 was still present when 15 U of chymosin was included in the assay. Other properties associated with the conversion of proET-1 into ET-1 by chymosin were investigated. Similar to authentic ET-1, the product of chymosin treatment caused contraction of isolated rabbit aortic rings, and pre-incubation of chymosin with pepstatin A abolished this contractile response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Conversion of proendothelin-1 into endothelin-1 by aspartylproteases. 822 77