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

A total of 160 1-2 day old chickens were fed a 2% cholesterol diet for a period of 8 to 42 days and compared with an equal number of controls. Aortas were analyzed for various indexes of reactivity of connective tissue, cholesterol content and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characteristics of the endothelial lining. Cholesterol feeding for a period up to 6 weeks resulted in doubling the level of serum cholesterol. It was, however, without effect on the activity of prolyl hydroxylase, lysyl oxidase, collagenase and collagen content in the aortic wall. As early as 3 weeks of feeding significant changes occurred in total and esterified cholesterol content. At the same time endothelial cells were characteristically contracted with several long cytoplasmic elongations and protrusions. A significant decrease of activity of the above enzymes was found in aortic tissue with increased age of the chicken. Collagen content in aortas increased with age of chickens. It is concluded that cholesterol as an atherogenic agent induces marked changes in endothelial cells and lipids of chicken aorta at earlier periods, prior to the activation of connective tissue.
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PMID:Early changes in the arterial wall of chickens fed a cholesterol diet. 0 48

The paper represents a summary of our studies in which in vitro perfusion of human and animal coronary vessels was carried out. Formation and uptake of lipids in perfused human coronary arteries were studied under a vairety of experimental conditions, including exposure to carbon monoxide. The effect of collagenase on lipid synthesis and transport in carotid arteries of dogs was also studied. Human plasma with hydrogen-3-labeled cholesterol and carbon-14-acetate was used to perfuse human blood vessels. Autologous plasma was employed. Inhibition of cholesterol uptake was accomplished by the addition of 7-ketocholesterol (concentrations of 0.005 to 1 mum/ml) to the perfusate. Both atherosclerotic and normal human coronary arteries incorporated 14C-acetate into lipids but failed to synthesize either cholesterol of cholesterol esters. Similar results were obtained in human saphenous veins perfused at arterial pressure. Cholesterol uptake from the perfusion fluid was demonstrated in atherosclerotic and normal human coronary arteries as well as in human saphenous veins. Carbon monoxide increased permeability of the arterial wall to cholesterol uptake. In dog arteries exposed to collagenase marked increases in cholesterol uptake were found, but total lipid synthesis was reduced; the relative synthesis individual lipids remained unchanged. The addition of 7-ketocholesterol to the perfusate reduced cholesterol uptake by the vessel by 90 percent. Inhibition of cholesterol uptake was present in all species and was not due to oxidation of cholesterol to 7-detocholesterol in the perfusate. The results illustrate that human coronary arteries as well as human saphenous veins synthesize lipids but not cholesterol. Cholesterol flux into the artery is augmented by carbon monoxide and collagenase. The data also show that active inhibition of cholesterol uptake in the arterial wall can be accomplished by competitive inhibition with 7-ketocholesterol.
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PMID:Lipid metabolism in perfused human and dog coronary arteries. 16 13

Hepatic zonation of cholesterol and glycerolipid synthesis was investigated in regenerating rat livers 24 hr after partial hepatectomy. Tritiated acetate and [U-14C]glycerol were injected into rats' peritoneal cavities for a short-term labeling study. Periportal and perivenous hepatocytes were isolated by digitonin collagenase perfusion. Cholesterol synthesis was significantly higher in periportal hepatocytes of the sham-operated livers (periportal/perivenous = 1.67; p < 0.05). Twenty-four hours after partial hepatectomy, cholesterol synthesis was selectively decreased by 40% (p < 0.01) in periportal hepatocytes. Consequently, hepatic zonation of cholesterol synthesis was abolished in regenerating livers. To study the cholesterol homeostasis on a long-term basis, we substituted deuterated water (25% enriched) for drinking water for 5 days to label newly synthesized cholesterol in a steady state. This procedure clearly demonstrated the net negative cholesterol balance 24 hr after partial hepatectomy. However, the newly synthesized cholesterol contributed equally to the cellular cholesterol pool in both zones. The synthesis of glycerolipids, whether measured from tritiated acetate or [U-14C]glycerol, was significantly increased without apparent zonation in the regenerating livers (twofold increase in phospholipid, and threefold to sevenfold increase in triacylglycerol). We concluded that hepatic zonation of cholesterol synthesis is caused by higher de novo synthesis in periportal hepatocytes, which is abolished in regenerating livers. No zonation of glycerolipid synthesis exists in normal and regenerating livers.
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PMID:Zonation of cholesterol and glycerolipid synthesis in regenerating rat livers. 842 26

The cause and effect relationship between membrane cholesterol and gallbladder muscle contractility was examined by altering membrane cholesterol to phospholipid mole ratio using cholesterol-rich or cholesterol-free liposomes. Gallbladder single muscle cells, from prairie dogs that were fed either a regular or high-cholesterol (1.2%) diet, were isolated enzymatically with collagenase. Plasma membranes of gallbladder muscle were purified in sucrose gradient. Cholesterol was measured using the cholesterol oxidase method. Phospholipids were measured with the method of G.R. Bartlett (J. Biol. Chem. 234: 466-468, 1959). The results of this experiment are 1) after high-cholesterol feeding, cholesterol contents and cholesterol/ phospholipid mole ratio in plasma membranes of gallbladder muscle increased 90%, and muscle cell contraction in response to cholecystokinin octapeptide decreased 58%; 2) similar changes were observed when normal gallbladder muscle cells were incubated with cholesterol-rich liposomes for 2 h; and 3) the changes induced either in vivo or in vitro were reversed when muscle cells were subsequently incubated with cholesterol-free liposomes for 2-6 h. We conclude that gallbladder muscle may incorporate excess cholesterol into its plasma membrane when exposed to a cholesterol-rich environment, that excess membrane cholesterol impairs muscle contractility, and that these changes appear to be reversible.
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PMID:Membrane cholesterol alters gallbladder muscle contractility in prairie dogs. 876 Jan 7

Heparin has been shown to stimulate angiogenesis in the border zones surrounding infarcted myocardium. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), which are involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) organization, have also been shown to be activated. Cholesterol is required for receptor signaling in the plasma membrane, but a role of MMPs for cholesterol in ECM remodeling has not yet been shown. To examine whether heparin and cholesterol induce MMP and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) in human heart fibroblast (HHF) cells, confluent HHF cells were treated with cholesterol (100 microM) or heparin (20 microM). MMP activity was measured using zymography and TIMP was measured by Western blot analysis. The number of HHF cells, measured by a hemocytometer, increased after heparin or cholesterol treatment. Gelatinase A (MMP-2) activity increased in heparin treated cells, and the TIMP-1 level increased in cholesterol-treated cells. Based on Northern blot analysis, we observed that both MMP-1 and MMP-2 were induced at the gene transcription level by heparin and that TIMP-1 was induced by cholesterol. To examine whether the effects of heparin and cholesterol were due to Ca2+ mobilization, we carried out Ca2+ transient assays using FURA-2/AM as a fluorescence probe in HHF cells. Heparin induced a slow rise in the Ca2+ transient with a slow decay, and cholesterol induced a rapid rise with a slow reversal to the baseline calcium level. This suggested that the effect of heparin on Ca2+ release from HHF may be secondary to the receptor binding on the cell membrane but that cholesterol may have a direct effect. Protein kinase inhibitor and Ca2+-channel blocker have been shown to inhibit MMP expression. To examine whether the effect of heparin on MMP expression is mediated through the collagenase promoter activity, we carried out gel-shift assays using a 21-oligonucleotide analogue to the MMP-1 promoter sequence. Results suggested that the increase in MMP promoter activity by heparin is due to a specific transcription factor binding to MMP-1 promoter sequence. The effect of cholesterol on fibroblast cell proliferation is due in part to the tissue inhibitor. This study demonstrated the role of heparin and cholesterol in ECM remodeling and has implications for angiogenesis and athersclerosis, respectively.
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PMID:Differential regulation of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase and tissue inhibitor by heparin and cholesterol in fibroblast cells. 904 53

The balance between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs) plays an important role in extracellular matrix turnover and thereby modulates atherosclerotic plaque development. MMP-1, -2, -3, and -9 activity is increased by atherosclerosis, but the status of TIMPs is less clear. We therefore compared secretion of TIMPs-1 and -2 from cultured aortic explants derived from arch, middle, and distal portions of thoracic aortas of normal rabbits and rabbits fed a 1% cholesterol diet for 8 weeks, using reverse zymography of conditioned media. Cholesterol feeding significantly increased secretion of TIMP-1 from arch and middle portions (both 2.6-fold), accompanied by 2.0- and 2.7-fold increases in TIMP-2, respectively. Atherosclerotic aortas exhibited increased immunoreactive TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and macrophages. Staining of extracellular matrix was also prominent within the noncellular boundary region between fibrous cap and the lipid core, and within the lipid core. Increased TIMP-2 staining was also found in the media subjacent to the lipid core. In situ gelatin zymography demonstrated excess MMP activity within the plaque with partial inhibition in the lipid core base and subjacent media, consistent with the distribution of TIMPs. Casein zymography and in situ zymography demonstrated that increased caseinolytic activity was confined to the pericellular zones of macrophages within the lipid core, again consistent with its restriction by TIMPs. In summary, atherosclerosis increases TIMP expression, which counterbalances, in part, increased MMP activity.
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PMID:Increased secretion of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases 1 and 2 from the aortas of cholesterol fed rabbits partially counterbalances increased metalloproteinase activity. 1039 88

Degradation of extracellular matrix, particularly interstitial collagen, promotes plaque instability and contributes to restenosis after vascular injury. We have explored the effects of vitamins C and E on the collagen content and metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) expression after angioplasty in hypercholesterolemic pigs. Iliac angioplasty was performed on 18 minipigs divided into three diet groups: a normal-cholesterol (NC), a high-cholesterol (HC) and a high-cholesterol plus vitamins C+E (HCV). Four weeks later, after sacrifice, the vascular collagen content and MMP-1 protein expression, along with the plasma caseinolytic activity and lipid peroxidation, were measured. MMP-1 was also determined in arterial rings stimulated with native low-density lipoproteins (LDL) isolated from experimental groups. Cholesterol-rich diet augmented plasma lipid peroxidation (P<0.05), reduced the collagen content and increased vascular MMP-1 expression after injury (P<0.05). Enhanced caseinolytic activity (identified as MMP-1) was also observed in HC plasma samples and in supernatants from arterial rings incubated with HC-LDL. Vitamins C and E markedly increased neointimal collagen content (P<0.01), reduced the hypercholesterolemia-induced changes in vascular MMP-1 (P<0.05) and diminished plasma and ex vivo caseinolytic activity. Vitamins C and E may help stabilize atherosclerotic plaque after angioplasty and favor vascular remodeling by increasing collagen content and reducing vascular MMP-1 expression in porcine hypercholesterolemia.
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PMID:Antioxidant vitamins increase the collagen content and reduce MMP-1 in a porcine model of atherosclerosis: implications for plaque stabilization. 1261 67