Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:6.2.1.7 (BAL)
 1,977 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Tissue fibrin deposition may be an important component of inflammatory reactions. Current evidence suggests that intraalveolar procoagulant (PC) and plasminogen activator (PA) activities may be important determinants of local fibrin turnover in lung injury. In this study, we measured the PC and PA activities in cell-free bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) obtained from 17 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis and 12 normal volunteers. Procoagulant activity was assayed by timing clot formation in a one-stage coagulation assay, and plasminogen activator activity was determined by measuring plasminogen-dependent lysis of [125I]fibrin. Mean PC activity in the sarcoidosis group was significantly elevated (102 +/- 25 versus 31.5 +/- 8.1 tissue thromboplastin units/ml; p less than 0.002), with 6 of 17 patient values beyond the 95% confidence limits of normals. These differences were not seen when PC activity was corrected for total protein in BAL. In contrast, PA activity tended to be lower in the sarcoidosis group (0.54 +/- 0.094 versus 0.643 +/- 0.106 Plough units/ml, p less than 0.3), and this difference became significant when PA was normalized to total protein (p less than 0.001). The ratio of procoagulant activity compared to plasminogen activator (PC/PA) was greater in the patients with sarcoidosis than normals (258 +/- 54 versus 40.3 +/- 6.4; p less than 0.001). The PC/PA ratios in 14 of 17 patients exceeded the 95% confidence limits of normals. In the sarcoidosis group, the PC/PA ratio correlated weakly with the number and percentage of lymphocytes retrieved by BAL. The plasminogen activator was a urokinase by molecular weight (53 kDa) and by comparing neutralization of PA activity by antibodies against urokinase and tissue plasminogen activator. The procoagulant was particulate and functioned as a factor X activator comprised of tissue thromboplastin and factor VII. We conclude that in pulmonary sarcoidosis, abnormal expression of procoagulant and plasminogen activator activities in alveolar fluid may favor accumulation of fibrin matrix at inflammatory foci.
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PMID:Procoagulant and plasminogen activator activities of bronchoalveolar fluid in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. 337 Dec 78

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (UPA-R-CD87) is a GPI-anchored membrane protein which promotes the generation of plasmin on the surface of many cell types, probably facilitating cellular extravasation and tissue invasion. A flow cytometric quantitative analysis of expression levels for UPA-R was performed on fresh blast cells from patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML, n = 74), acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL, n = 24), and biphenotypic leukaemia (BAL, n = 3) using two CD87 monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) (3B10 and VIM5). Peripheral blood and bone marrow (BM) cells from 15 healthy adults served as controls. Using 3B10 McAb, UPA-R was expressed (>99%) by blood monocytes, neutrophils, and BM myelomonocytic precursors in controls, whereas resting T and B lymphocytes, and CD34+ cells were UPA-R negative. We also attempted to clarify whether UPA-R has a role in mediating neutrophil functions. Oriented locomotion induced by different chemotaxins and lysozyme release by granules stimulated with fMLP or PMA were significantly decreased when UPA-R was neutralized by CD87 McAb. In contrast, the anti-UPA-R McAb had no effect on superoxide anion generation of normal neutrophils. Blasts from AML showed a heterogenous pattern of expression for the UPA-R McAbs, with reactivity strictly dependent on FAB subtype. The highest UPA-R expression was seen in the M5 group: all patients tested (n = 20) showed strong positivity for the UPA-R McAb whereas only 12% (3/24) of ALL patients were CD87 positive, and 2/3 of BAL patients showed a dim expression for CD87. The number of receptors expressed by blast cells in 6/74 (8.1%) AML patients was higher than those of normal samples: in addition, since co-expression of UPA-R and CD34 was not found in normal haemopoietic cells, it may be postulated that CD87 can be used alone (when overexpressed) or in combination with CD34 for the detection of minimal residual disease. Results also indicated that patients with UPA-receptors >12 x 10(3) ABC/cell, irrespective of FAB subtype, had a greater tendency for cutaneous and tissue infiltration and a higher frequency of chromosome abnormalities, thus suggesting the concept that cellular UPA-R content positively correlates with the invasive potential of AML cells. The combination of higher UPA-R positivity, abnormalities of chromosome 11, and M5 FAB morphology may identify a peculiar subset of AML, characterized by a more aggressive clinical course.
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PMID:Expression and functional role of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor in normal and acute leukaemic cells. 979 97

Intraalveolar fibrinolysis, is regulated by the concerted actions of plasmin, plasminogen activators (PAs), and their specific inhibitors (PAIs). This event is considered as a critical step in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether local PA activity can be held as a marker of fibrosis in chronic interstitial lung disorders (ILD). Changes in both PA activity and PA-related proteins (urokinase-type PA (uPA), tissue-type PA (tPA), PAI-1 and PAI-2) were assessed in bronchoalveolar fluid (BALF) of 60 subjects: 18 healthy controls, 18 non-fibrotic sarcoidosis patients, 16 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and eight silicotic patients with established fibrosis. We observed a significant decrease of BALF PA activity in the three groups of patients as compared with controls. Reduction in BALF PA activity was compatible with lower uPA protein levels associated, especially in IPF patients, with an increased occurrence of PAI-1 and PAI-2 antigens. Soluble tPA antigen was never detected either in control subjects or in patients. Most importantly, the reduction in BALF PA activity and uPA protein levels was found to be most severe in patients with advanced fibrotic disease, namely IPF, while moderate and only weak alterations were found in silicosis and non-fibrotic sarcoidosis, respectively. In addition, significant positive correlations were found between BALF PA activity and functional impairment as assessed by TLC % and DLCO%. Finally, the reduction in uPA and PA activity levels observed in BALF from sarcoidosis patients was found to be proportional to the degree of BAL lymphocytosis. These findings indicate that an intense reduction in BALF PA activity is associated with severe stages of the parenchymal disease, possibly reflecting the degree of the fibrotic process.
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PMID:Depressed urokinase activity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with sarcoidosis, silicosis or idiopathic pulmonary Rbrosis: relationship to disease severity. 2390 56