Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.24.17 (MMP-3)
 3,419 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Rat alpha-1-macroglobulin (alpha(1)M) and alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha(2)M) are murine homologs of human alpha(2)M, and rat alpha(2)M is generally known as an acute-phase protein. Monoamine-activated forms of human alpha(2)M have been shown to inhibit various neuronal functions, but the effect of rat alpha(1)M and acute-phase alpha(2)M on neurons is largely unknown. In this report, rat serotonin-activated alpha(2)M (5HT-alpha(2)M) has been demonstrated to inhibit nerve growth factor (NGF)-promoted neurite extension in pheochromocytoma PC12 cells, and we investigated its possible mechanism of action including its effect on NGF-promoted signal transduction and gene expression in these cells. Especially in the absence of NGF, 5HT-alpha(2)M was found to bind to TrkA (the high-affinity receptor for NGF) much better than normal alpha(2)M (N-alpha(2)M). 5HT-alpha(2)M dose-dependently inhibited NGF-promoted autophosphorylation of TrkA, and decreased the expression of two immediate-early genes (NGFI-A and c-jun) and two delayed-response genes (SCG10 and transin) which are associated with neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. The unmodified N-alpha(2)M, on the other hand, exhibited very little or no inhibitory effects on neurite extension, Trk phosphorylation, or expression of these genes. The results of this study taken together suggest that monoamine-activated acute-phase rat alpha(2)M appears to inhibit neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells possibly via its direct binding to TrkA and subsequent blocking of TrkA-mediated signal transduction and gene expression.
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PMID:Rat alpha(2)-macroglobulin inhibits NGF-promoted neurite outgrowth, TrK phosphorylation, and gene expression of pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. 1046 59

The thinning of the cornea that occurs in keratoconus has been well described; however, the mechanism of tissue degradation remains unknown. Elevated proteinase activity is one possibility and approximately 20 publications over the last 20 years have addressed this hypothesis. Early studies reported increased collagenase and gelatinase activities in the medium of keratoconus corneal cultures. After the characterization of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes, studies focused on the expression of specific MMPs, in particular the gelatinases, MMP-2 and MMP-9. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 was found to be the major MMP of the cornea and was constitutively produced in normal tissue, whereas MMP-9 expression was induced by various stimuli, including phorbol esters and even tissue culturing. These studies suggested that there were no differences in the amounts or states of activation of MMP between normal and keratoconus corneas, although the amounts of some proteinase inhibitors, including tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases, alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha-2-macroglobulin, were decreased in keratoconus. Most recently, the lysosomal proteinases, cathepsin B and cathepsin G were reported to be elevated in keratoconus corneas, and it is possible that it was cathepsin activity, not MMP activity, that was measured in some early studies. Nevertheless, there are now about 20 human MMPs identified and it is possible that some of these, other than the well known collagenase (MMP-1) and gelatinases (MMP-2 and MMP-9), could be implicated in the pathology of keratoconus. Studies have begun to address more recently described MMPs and it has been reported that the membrane-bound MT1-MMP (MMP-14), which activates latent MMP-2, was found to have increased expression in keratoconus corneas, whereas the stromelysins, MMP-3 and MMP-10, were not.
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PMID:Is the corneal degradation in keratoconus caused by matrix-metalloproteinases? 1177