Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.25.1 (proteasome)
 28,817 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Most Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains produce exotoxin A and two extracellular proteases (elastase and alkaline protease). Exotoxin A is a lethal toxin that inhibits protein synthesis in mammalian cells by the same mechanism as diphtheria toxin. It is generated in clinical and experimental animal infections. Passive or active immunization against this toxin gives significant protection against experimental infections with exotoxin-producing strains. The proteases have tissue-damaging activity and are capable of degrading various plasma proteins such as complement and coagulation factors. Proteases probably play a part in localized pseudomonas infections such as keratitis, pneumonia and burn infection. When invasion and colonization have occurred and septicemia is established, these enzymes probably are less important.
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PMID:The role of proteases and exotoxin A in the pathogenicity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. 679 58

The lasR gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is required for transcription of the genes for elastase (lasB) and LasA protease (lasA), two proteases associated with virulence. We report here that the alkaline protease gene (apr) also requires the lasR gene for transcription. Alkaline protease mRNA was absent in the lasR mutant PAO-R1 and present when an intact lasR gene was supplied in trans as determined by Northern (RNA) analysis. The lasR gene also enhances exotoxin A production. Exotoxin A activity in supernatants of PAO-R1 were 30% less than in supernatants of the parental strain, PAO-SR. Multiple copies of lasR in trans in PAO-R1 in increased toxin A activity to twice the parental levels. Analysis of PAO-R1 containing the toxA promoter fused to beta-galactosidase suggests that LasR acts at the toxA promoter or at upstream toxA mRNA sequences. beta-Galactosidase activity was approximately 40% lower in PAO-R1 than in the parental strain, PAO-SR. Furthermore, the effect of LasR on the toxA promoter is not due to the stimulation of transcription of regA, a transcriptional activator of toxA. No difference in chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) activity was noted between PAO-SR and PAO-R1 containing transcriptional regA promoter-CAT gene fusions. These results broaden the regulatory dominion of lasR and suggest that the lasR gene plays a global role in P. aeruginosa pathogenesis.
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PMID:LasR of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a transcriptional activator of the alkaline protease gene (apr) and an enhancer of exotoxin A expression. 845 22

Exotoxin A production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a complicated and highly regulated process that involves several genes. In this report, we describe the isolation of a new toxA regulatory gene (ptxR) which affects exotoxin A production in P. aeruginosa. In an iron-deficient medium, the presence of a plasmid carrying ptxR in P. aeruginosa PAO1 resulted in a four-to fivefold increase in exotoxin A synthesis. No effect was observed on the levels of elastase, phospholipase C, exoenzyme S, and alkaline protease. Using subcloning and complementation experiments, ptxR was localized to a 2.1 kb Kpnl-Bg/II fragment. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed the presence of an open reading frame which encodes a 34.97 kDa protein (PtxR). The size of the predicted PtxR compares closely with the 34 kDa PtxR that was synthesized in Escherichia coli using the T7 expression system. The deduced amino acid sequence of PtxR is homologous to that of several members of the LysR family of transcriptional activators. The amino-terminus region of PtxR contains a putative helix-turn-helix DNA-binding motif. Specific ptxR-deletion mutants in P. aeruginosa strains PAO1 and PA103 were constructed. In comparison with their parent strains, both mutants showed a significant reduction in the level of exotoxin A activity. However, upon extensive subculturing, the level of exotoxin A produced by the PAO1::ptxR mutant was similar to that of PAO1. Transcriptional studies, using both toxA-lacZ fusion and RNA analysis, confirmed that ptxR increases toxA and regA transcription. These results suggest that ptxR regulates (through regA) exotoxin A production at the transcriptional level.
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PMID:Isolation and characterization of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa gene, ptxR, which positively regulates exotoxin A production. 884 37

The pathogenesis of pseudomonal keratitis was investigated by focusing on induction and activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) by pseudomonal virulence factors and proinflammatory cytokines. Corneal lesions and MMP induction in vivo were evaluated in rabbit corneas infected with a clinical isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Effects of pseudomonal virulence factors [elastase, alkaline protease, exotoxin A and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)], tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-1beta on MMP induction and activation were further examined in vitro in rabbit corneal fibroblasts (RCF) and human fibrosarcoma (HT1080) cells using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), zymography and immunoblotting. Corneal ulcers with typical ring abscesses were observed 12-24 h after infection, and MMPs, particularly MMP-9, were upregulated in infected corneas. Pseudomonal elastase caused the most extensive damage to both cell types. RCF treated with pseudomonal exoproteases or LPS expressed and secreted MMP-9. Exotoxin A had no effect on MMP expression. Both IL-1beta and TNF-alpha augmented MMP-9 expression in HT1080 cells. Pseudomonal elastase proteolytically activated MMP-2 and MMP-9 released from the cells. In conclusion, corneal destruction seen with P. aeruginosa infections may result from enhanced expression of MMPs by corneal stromal cells stimulated with pseudomonal exoproteases and proinflammatory cytokines and the proteolytic activation of MMPs by pseudomonal elastase.
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PMID:Matrix metalloproteinases induction by pseudomonal virulence factors and inflammatory cytokines in vitro. 1174 75

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) colonized with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) have worse prognosis compared with patients who are not. BPI-ANCA is an anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody against BPI (bactericidal/permeability increasing protein) correlating with P. aeruginosa colonization and adverse long time prognosis. Whether it provides additional information as compared to standard anti-P. aeruginosa serology tests is not known. 117 nontransplanted CF patients at the CF centre in Lund, Sweden, were followed prospectively for ten years. Bacterial colonisation was classified according to the Leeds criteria. IgA BPI-ANCA was compared with assays for antibodies against alkaline protease (AP), Elastase (ELA), and Exotoxin A (ExoA). Lung function and patient outcome, alive, lung transplanted, or dead, were registered. BPI-ANCA showed the highest correlation with lung function impairment with an r-value of 0.44. Forty-eight of the 117 patients were chronically colonized with P. aeruginosa. Twenty of these patients experienced an adverse outcome. Receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis revealed that this could be predicted by BPI-ANCA (AUC = 0.77), (p = 0.002) to a better degree compared with serology tests. BPI-ANCA correlates better with lung function impairment and long time prognosis than anti-P. aeruginosa serology and has similar ability to identify patients with chronic P. aeruginosa.
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PMID:BPI-ANCA Provides Additional Clinical Information to Anti-Pseudomonas Serology: Results from a Cohort of 117 Swedish Cystic Fibrosis Patients. 2627 83