Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0014070 (encephalomyelitis)
 13,017 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In inflammatory demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, myelin destruction occurs in the vicinity of infiltrating mononuclear cells. The observations that myelin can be altered prior to phagocytosis and in areas not contiguous with inflammatory cells suggests a common mechanism for the initial stages of demyelination. Because stimulated macrophages secrete several neutral proteases, including plasminogen activator, we have investigated the possibility that myelinolysis could be mediated directly or indirectly by these enzymes. Isolated myelin was incubated with conditioned media from cultures of thioglycollate-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages in the presence and absence of plasminogen. Myelin appeared to be vulnerable to attack by at least two proteolytic activities secreted by the macrophages, a plasminogen-dependent and a plasminogen-independent activity; of the major proteins in myelin, the basic protein was most susceptible. The direct myelinolytic activity of macrophage-conditioned media was abolished by EDTA, and the plasminogen-dependent hydrolysis was abolished by p-nitrophenylguanidinobenzoate, an inhibitor of plasminogen activator and plasmin. These results suggest that the plasminogen activator released by the stimulated macrophages generated plasmin which hydrolyzed basic protein in intact myelin. This interpretation was confirmed by the observation that urokinase, a plasminogen activator, in the presence of plasminogen brought about marked degradation of basic protein in myelin. We propose that the release of neutral proteases by stimulated macrophages involved in cell-mediated reactions, and its amplification by the plasminogen-plasmin system, may play a significant role in the demyelination observed in several inflammatory demyelinating diseases.
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PMID:Degradation of basic protein in myelin by neutral proteases secreted by stimulated macrophages: a possible mechanism of inflammatory demyelination. 14 51

Epsilon aminocaproic acid, an inhibitor of plasminogen and trypsinogen activators, can decrease the severity of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in rats. The drug was tried because of a number of observations suggesting that neutral proteases, such as plasmin, might be chemical mediators of demyelination. The highest concentrations of plasminogen activator are found in the walls of veins and venules, around which demyelination is common in many demyelinating diseases, including MS. Indeed, the earliest lesion in MS is often demyelination with little cellular infiltration. In vitro studies have shown that neutral proteases secreted by activated macrophages selectively lyse myelin basic protein.
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PMID:The modification of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis with epsilon aminocaproic acid. 56 43

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system commonly used as a model for multiple sclerosis. In both of these diseases demyelination occurs association with perivascular infiltrates of T-cells and macrophages. The similarities in immunopathology suggest that these two diseases share common mechanisms of tissue destruction. We have proposed a general mechanism to explain the clinical and histopathological features of EAE. T-cells sensitized to the inducing antigen, myelin basic protein (MBP), react with antigen-presenting cells (possibly endothelial cells, microglia or astrocytes) in the central nervous system. As a consequence of this reaction, T-cells release lymphokines which activate macrophages, stimulate an augmenting inflammatory response, and, through the action of vasoactive amines, induce vasospasm and breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. The activated macrophages secrete inflammatory mediators, including plasminogen activator and other proteinases, which, in concert with serum plasminogen and complement, initiate myelin destruction. The macrophage products also serve to enhance the inflammatory response and vascular permeability. In support of this hypothesis we find that: (1) macrophage-secreted proteinases can degrade MBP in lyophilized myelin and that proteolysis is amplified in the presence of plasminogen; (2) proteolysis of proteins in fresh myelin by macrophage proteinases and plasminogen or by plasmin is potentiated by complement; (3) removal of macrophages from the circulation suppresses EAE; (4) proteinase inhibitors suppress EAE; and (5) prazosin, an alpha 1-adrenergic receptor antagonist, suppresses the clinical signs of EAE and the increased vascular permeability but only delays the inflammatory response. We believe that prazosin acts on the vascular alpha 1-adrenergic receptor to inhibit vasospasm and prevent opening of the blood-brain barrier. Thus it is possible to suppress both clinical signs and pathology by interceding at several steps of the cell-mediated immune reaction.
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PMID:Mechanisms and suppression of inflammatory demyelination. 213 Jun 45

Fibrinolytic activity in the form of plasminogen activator (PA) was assessed using a histochemical fibrin slide technique in spinal cords of normal Lewis rats and rats with the cell-transferred form of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). PA was localized exclusively to blood vessels. Vessels in the leptomeninges had maximum activity. A precipitous decrease in PA activity occurred in recipient rats which coincided with onset of clinical neurologic signs. A subsequent return in activity occurred in association with clinical remission of disease but remained well below the activity level of normal rats for as long as the recipient animals were followed. Vessels containing perivascular cellular infiltrates of EAE had little or no detectable PA activity. Furthermore, PA could not be demonstrated to be associated with infiltrating inflammatory cells, including macrophages. These findings provide further support for involvement of the coagulation and fibrinolytic systems in the early clinical manifestations of EAE in Lewis rats.
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PMID:Neurovascular fibrinolytic activity in normal Lewis rats and rats with cell-transferred experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. 237 60

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a prototypic neuroautoimmune disease involving sensitization to central nervous system myelin basic protein (MBP). Our studies of the clotting system and ensuing fibrinolysis implicate coagulation and cleavage of fibrin within or on the luminal surface of the cerebrovasculature as events initiating the inflammation characterizing EAE. Among recipient rats injected with MPB-primed, cultured-activated lymph node cells, opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and deposition of perivascular fibrin within the spinal cord occur in parallel 1 day before onset of clinical signs of EAE. Daily treatment of recipient rats with trans-4-(aminomethyl)cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, a synthetic product that specifically inhibits plasminogen activator derived from endothelial cells, results in marked reduction of increased permeability of the BBB and suppression of clinical signs of EAE. We postulate that the critical event precipitating EAE is binding of circulating MBP-reactive immune effector cells to MBP immunodeterminants on the surface of cerebrovascular endothelial cells. Coagulation and ensuing fibrinolysis occur at sites of binding of effector cells to cerebrovascular endothelium. Release of biologically active peptides cleaved from fibrin open the BBB, thereby setting the stage for the cascade of inflammatory events culminating in clinical manifestations of EAE.
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PMID:Role of the clotting system in the pathogenesis of neuroimmunologic disease. 243 64

The purpose of this study was to determine whether fibrinolysis resulting from activation of the clotting cascade in juxtaposition to endothelial cells of the central nervous system (CNS) microvasculature is important for development of clinical signs of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in recipient Lewis rats. Rats were injected with previously primed syngeneic lymph node cells, activated in vitro with guinea pig myelin basic protein, and subsequently treated daily with trans-4-(aminomethyl)cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (AMCA), a synthetic inhibitor of plasminogen activator. Clinical signs of EAE were significantly suppressed in AMCA-treated rats compared to saline-treated control recipient animals. Furthermore, suppression of clinical signs in AMCA-treated rats was accompanied by a significant curtailment in EAE-associated increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). These findings provide evidence that CNS-associated deposition of fibrin and ensuing fibrinolysis, together with increased permeability of the BBB, are related prerequisite events for expression of clinical manifestations of EAE.
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PMID:Suppression of clinical signs of cell-transferred experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and altered cerebrovascular permeability in Lewis rats treated with a plasminogen activator inhibitor. 243 54

We have previously shown that astrocytes produce and secrete plasminogen activator (PA) and that this function is responsive to various modulating agents. When astrocyte conditioned medium (CM) is subjected to SDS-PAGE and PA activity localized by fibrin-agar gel overlay, the activity in the CM is found to comigrate with control t-PA. On affinity chromatography CM PA specifically binds to t-PA antibody. The latter also inhibits fibrinolytic activity of CM PA. When incubated with a fibrin clot, CM PA activity can be shown to bind to fibrin. These observations help identify the enzyme in astrocyte CM as t-PA. A possible role of astrocyte PA in myelin injury could provide an explanation for the previously observed correlation between fibrin deposition and demyelination as well as inhibition of demyelination by ancrod and heparin in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis.
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PMID:Characterization of astrocyte plasminogen activator. 311 79

Recent work has implicated plasminogen activator released from macrophages as a possible mediator of the demyelinating process in experimental allergic encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis (MS). We have studied the capacity of white matter and plaques from MS patients to break down fibrin clots, using a histochemical technique. Fibrinolytic activity was localized exclusively to areas around blood vessels and capillaries in both patients and controls. While there was marked variation between individuals, the unaffected white matter from MS patients was, on the average, not more active than that of controls, but plaques tended to show more numerous foci of lysis, often also more intense, than adjacent white matter; there was no correlation with disease activity or age of the plaques as determined by histological criteria. The localization and degree of fibrinolysis observed were not related to the presence of lymphocytic infiltrates, gliosis, or macrophages. However, the findings do not exclude an involvement of fibrinolytic enzymes (although originating from vascular endothelium rather than macrophages) in the genesis of the MS plaque, which commonly starts around a small vein.
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PMID:Fibrinolytic activity of plaques and white matter in multiple sclerosis. 721 4

In order to examine the plasminogen activator (PA) induction involved in the pathogenesis of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and multiple sclerosis (MS), PA activity in peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from 5 ADEM and 3 MS patients was investigated. There was no PA induction in any ADEM, MS or control lymphocytes treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) alone. PA activity, however, in lymphocytes exposed to human interferon-gamma (HuIFN-gamma) prior to MNNG treatment was elevated during the active phase of ADEM and MS, whereas the PA induction disappeared in association with improvement of the neurologic symptoms. The PA activity was abolished by mixed treatment with HuIFN-gamma and anti-HuIFN-gamma antibody. No such PA induction by any HuIFN was observed in any normal controls or cases of other neurologic diseases. Among the cytokines tested other than HuIFN, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, in combination with MNNG, also induced PA activity in lymphocytes from ADEM and MS patients during the active phase. Thus, the PA induction observed in lymphocytes on combined treatment with MNNG and cytokines may be involved in the progression of neurologic disorders in these demyelinating diseases, and indicates the possibility of therapeutic strategies involving anticytokine usage.
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PMID:Involvement of cytokines in N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced plasminogen activator activity in acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis lymphocytes. 824 10

Heparin-binding growth factors have been implicated in central nervous system development, regeneration and pathology. To assess the expression pattern and possible function in multiple sclerosis, the heparin-binding growth factors pleiotrophin (PTN), midkine (MK), basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) and one of its receptors (FGFR1/flg) mRNA and protein levels were examined in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model in the Lewis rat. We assessed the time course of expression of PTN, MK and FGF-2 during EAE and determined the cellular origin of FGF-2 and FGFR1 in normal spinal cord and during inflammatory demyelination. Basal expression of PTN and MK mRNAs in normal spinal cords was significantly upregulated after induction of EAE. MK expression was upregulated two to threefold correlating with disease progression, whereas PTN expression reached peak levels threefold above basal levels during the clinical recovery period. FGF-2 mRNA expression was low in normal spinal cord and dramatically increased in correlation with progressive demyelination. FGF-2 was confined to neurons in normal tissue and shifted dramatically to microglia, paralleling their activation during EAE. Double immunohistochemistry revealed colocalization of FGF-2 to activated microglia/macrophages with strongest expression in the macrophage-rich perivascular core area and microglial expression at the edges of white and gray matter perivascular regions. FGFR1, like its ligand, was induced in activated macrophages/microglia. Growth factor expression in demyelinating diseases could serve several functions, e.g., to modulate the activity of microglia/macrophage in an autocrine fashion, to induce the expression of other factors like insulin-like growth factor 1 or plasminogen activator, which can effect regeneration or degeneration, respectively, and finally to stimulate directly localized proliferation and/or regeneration of oligodendrocytes within the lesion area.
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PMID:Basic FGF and FGF receptor 1 are expressed in microglia during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis: temporally distinct expression of midkine and pleiotrophin. 981 19


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