Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004153 (atherosclerosis)
 77,401 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The pathogenesis of arterial calcification and chondrocalcinosis has become concurrently illuminated in recent years. For example, both processes occur in chronic inflammation-mediated degenerative diseases associated with aging (including atherosclerosis and osteoarthritis). Both processes are also modulated by altered gene expression by resident cells and by the release of mineralization-competent cell fragments (matrix vesicles and apoptotic bodies). Among the variety of genetic diseases associated with artery calcification are disorders that also promote cartilage calcification and/or dysregulated bone formation. Our discussion highlights that pathologic arterial and articular cartilage calcification both can be owing to genetic deficiencies of calcification inhibitors such as the inorganic pyrophosphate-generating ectoenzyme PC-1/nucleotide pyrophosphatase phosphodiesterase 1. Conversely, pathologic arterial and articular cartilage calcification also can primarily arise as a consequence of active processes driven by inflammatory cytokines and by disordered calcium and inorganic phosphate homeostasis. As discussed in this review, recent developments in the pathogenesis of arterial calcification provide valuable information pertinent to potential future advances in controlling chondrocalcinosis.
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PMID:Parallels between arterial and cartilage calcification: what understanding artery calcification can teach us about chondrocalcinosis. 1270 85

Alkaline sphingomyelinase (alk-SMase) is present in the intestinal tract and additionally human bile. It hydrolyses sphingomyelin in both intestinal lumen and the mucosal membrane in a specific bile salt dependent manner. The enzyme was discovered 36 years ago but got real attention only in the last decade, when sphingomyelin metabolism was realized to be a source of multiple lipid messengers, and when dietary sphingomyelin was found to inhibit colonic tumorigenesis in animals. The enzyme shares no structural similarity with other SMases and belongs to the nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase family. The enzyme is of specific properties, such as bile salt dependency, trypsin resistance, high stability, and tissue specific expression. In the colon, the enzyme may play antiproliferative and antiinflammatory roles through generating ceramide, reducing the formation of lysophosphatidic acid, and inactivating platelet-activating factor. The enzyme is down regulated in human long-standing ulcerative colitis and colonic adenocarcinoma, and mutation of the enzyme has been found in colon cancer cells. In the small intestine, alk-SMase is the key enzyme for sphingomyelin digestion. The hydrolysis of sphingomyelin may affect the cholesterol uptake and have impact on sphingomyelin levels in plasma lipoproteins. The review summarizes the new information of alk-SMase from biochemical, cell and molecular biological studies in the last decade and evaluates its potential implications in development of colon cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases, and atherosclerosis.
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PMID:Alkaline sphingomyelinase: an old enzyme with novel implications. 1663 5

Intimal calcification is a feature of advanced atherosclerotic disease that predicts a two- to eightfold increase in the risk of coronary events. Type I collagen promotes vascular smooth muscle cell-mediated calcification, although the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. The discoidin domain receptor 1 (DDR1) is a collagen receptor that is emerging as a critical mediator of atherosclerosis. To determine whether DDR1 is involved in intimal calcification, we fed male Ddr1(-/-);Ldlr(-/-) and Ddr1(+/+);Ldlr(-/-) mice an atherogenic diet for 6, 12, or 24 weeks. DDR1 deficiency significantly reduced the calcium content of the aortic arch, and microcomputed tomography demonstrated a significant decrease in hydroxyapatite deposition after 24 weeks of atherogenic diet. Reduced calcification was correlated with decreases in macrophage accumulation and tumor necrosis factor alpha staining, suggesting that the reduction in calcification was in part due to decreased inflammation. The chondrogenic markers type II collagen, type X collagen, and Sox-9 were expressed within the mineralized foci. An in vitro assay performed with vascular smooth muscle cells revealed that DDR1 was required for cell-mediated calcification of the matrix, and Ddr1(+/+) smooth muscle cells expressed more alkaline phosphatase activity, whereas Ddr1(-/-) smooth muscle cells expressed elevated levels of mRNA for nucleotide pyrophosphatase phosphodiesterase 1, an inhibitor of tissue mineralization. Taken together, our results demonstrate that DDR1 mediates an important mechanism for atherosclerotic calcification.
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PMID:Discoidin domain receptor-1 deficiency attenuates atherosclerotic calcification and smooth muscle cell-mediated mineralization. 1989 47

Mutations of the ENPP1 gene encoding ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (NPP1) are associated with medial calcification in infancy. While the inhibitory role of matrix proteins such as osteopontin (OPN) with respect to atherosclerotic plaque calcification has been established, the role of NPP1 in plaque calcification is not known. We assessed the degree of plaque calcification (computed tomography), NPP1 and OPN localization (immunohistochemistry) and expression (RT-PCR) in a cohort of 45 patients undergoing carotid endatherectomy for significant stenosis of the internal carotid artery and in normal arteries (N= 50). We correlated NPP1 and OPN expression levels to the degree of plaque calcification, to pro-atherogenic factors and statin therapy. NPP1 was demonstrated in the base and in the shoulder of atherosclerotic plaques. Compared to normal arteries and non-calcified plaques, in calcified plaques NPP1 mRNA was decreased (P < 0.0001). OPN mRNA levels were up-regulated in carotid atheroma. NPP1 and OPN expression levels positively correlated with the degree of plaque calcification (R= 0.54, P= 0.00019 and R= 0.46, P= 0.017, respectively) and with risk factors of atherosclerosis. Expression of the calcification inhibitor NPP1 is down-regulated in calcified atherosclerotic plaques. Our correlation data point to a counter-active mechanism, which in the end turns out to be insufficient to prevent further progression of calcification.
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PMID:Expression of NPP1 is regulated during atheromatous plaque calcification. 2001 1

Ecto-nucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (NPP1) generates inorganic pyrophosphate (PP(i)), a physiologic inhibitor of hydroxyapatite deposition. In a previous study, we found NPP1 expression to be inversely correlated with the degree of atherosclerotic plaque calcification. Moreover, function-impairing mutations of ENPP1, the gene encoding for NPP1, are associated with severe, artery tunica media calcification and myointimal hyperplasia with infantile onset in human beings. NPP1 and PP(i) have the potential to modulate atherogenesis by regulating arterial smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation and function, including increase of pro-atherogenic osteopontin (OPN) expression. Hence, this study tested the hypothesis that NPP1 deficiency modulates both atherogenesis and atherosclerotic intimal plaque calcification. Npp1/ApoE double deficient mice were generated by crossing mice bearing the ttw allele of Enpp1 (that encodes a truncation mutation) with ApoE null mice and fed with high-fat/high-cholesterol atherogenic diet. Atherosclerotic lesion area and calcification were examined at 13, 18, 23 and 28 weeks of age. The aortic SMCs isolated from both ttw/ttw ApoE(-/-) and ttw/+ ApoE(-/-) mice demonstrated decreased Opn expression. The 28-week-old ttw/ttw ApoE(-/-) and ttw/+ ApoE(-/-) had significantly smaller atherosclerotic lesions compared with wild-type congenic ApoE(-/-) mice. Only ttw/ttw but not ttw/+ mice developed artery media calcification. Furthermore in ttw/+ mice, there was a tendency towards increased plaque calcification compared to ApoE(-/-) mice without Npp1 deficiency. We conclude that Npp1 promotes atherosclerosis, potentially mediated by Opn expression in ApoE knockout mice.
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PMID:Npp1 promotes atherosclerosis in ApoE knockout mice. 2147 21