Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.24.3 (collagenase)
 18,340 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

With an increasing interest in the role of the monocyte-macrophage in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and as a progenitor of plaque intimal foam cells, a model for the study of foam-cell differentiation in an extravascular environment has been developed. Granulomas were induced in 25 normocholesterolemic (NC) and 28 hypercholesterolemic (HC) rabbits by the subcutaneous injection of 15 ml of 1% carrageenan. Granuloma tissue was harvested at 4, 7, 14, and 28 days and studied by light and transmission electron microscopy. Macrophages and foam cells were isolated by enzymic dispersion with collagenase and cultured for further characterization by scanning electron microscopy, nonspecific esterase (NSE), and oil red O (ORO) staining. Granuloma macrophages from NC rabbits were consistently ORO-negative, contrasting with those from HC rabbits which were strongly ORO-positive, even at 4 and 7 days. With an increasing duration of exposure to hypercholesterolemia, macrophages accumulated increasing amounts of stainable lipid, and in the 28-day HC granulomas, large foam cells distended by lipid inclusions accounted for 70% of the cells present. This model has established that NSE-positive macrophages in HC granulomas accumulate lipid and assume the morphologic characteristics of atheromatous intimal foam cells.
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PMID:Evolution of foam cells in subcutaneous rabbit carrageenan granulomas: I. Light-microscopic and ultrastructural study. 396 33

Granuloma annular (GA) and necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum (NLD) are disorders characterized by granulomatous inflammation and degenerative changes in collagen and elastic fibers. Because these disorders have often been described as being associated with altered extracellular matrix deposition, we studied the in situ expression of interstitial collagenase, 92-kDa gelatinase, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1. Twelve lesions each of GA and NLD of different histopathologic types and durations were examined. Interstitial collagenase mRNA was seen in histiocyte-like cells in one-third of the cases of both diseases, typically in younger lesions. In GA, collagenase mRNA was only detected in lesions of the palisading type. Signal for 92-kDa gelatinase mRNA was observed in eosinophils, which were present in low numbers in five of 12 GA and three of 12 NLD samples. The signal for this enzyme and the presence of eosinophils did not correlate with the age of lesion. TIMP-1 mRNA was consistently expressed by histiocyte-like cells in both disorders. In GA, TIMP-1 mRNA was detected at the outer edge of the palisading granulomas, but in NLD, inhibitor expression was seen in the perivascular and periadnexal accumulation of inflammatory cells. Our data indicate that collagenase and TIMP are expressed early in these disorders and that these proteins may contribute to stromal remodeling associated with necrobiotic lesions. Our results further indicate that the localization of TIMP-1 production may provide a distinction between the two disorders, whereas metalloproteinase expression is not sufficiently specific to aid in the differential diagnosis of GA and NLD.
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PMID:Expression of interstitial collagenase, 92-kDa gelatinase, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 in granuloma annulare and necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum. 838 17

In schistosomiasis mansoni, granulomatous inflammation and fibrotic resolution are the major pathogenetic factors. The outcome of fibrosis is influenced by the deposition of collagen and degradation mediated by matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). There is a dearth of data on the expression of MMP and the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP) during the fibrosis associated with schistosomiasis. In this study, the dynamics of collagen, MMP and TIMP gene expression were analysed during murine Schistosoma mansoni infection. Expression within the granulomatous liver tissue of the genes coding for collagen of types I, III and IV was up-regulated at the onset of granuloma development, and the dominant type-I expression peaked at the chronic, fibrotic stage. The amount of deposited hepatic collagen increased with the chronicity of the infection, indicating cumulative fibrosis. Collagenase, gelatinase, stromelysin, matrilysin-specific gene activities were similarly up-regulated, but only MMP-8 (collagenase-2) expression peaked at the height of fibrosis. TIMP-1 gene expression gradually increased during the course of the disease and, along with TIMP-2, peaked at the chronic, fibrotic stage. Granuloma myofibroblasts expressed both MMP and TIMP-1 genes. In ELISA of the splenic cytokines, high levels of fibrogenic interleukin-13 and moderate production of transforming growth factor-beta were found to be concurrent with fibrosis. These data indicate that an imbalance in MMP:TIMP expression and fibrogenic cytokine production are associated with cumulative fibrosis.
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PMID:Dynamics of collagen, MMP and TIMP gene expression during the granulomatous, fibrotic process induced by Schistosoma mansoni eggs. 1532 65