Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0034067 (emphysema)
 11,506 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Elastic fibers are components of the extracellular matrix and confer resilience. Once laid down, they are thought to remain stable, except in the uterine tract where cycles of active remodeling occur. Loss of elastic fibers underlies connective tissue aging and important diseases including emphysema. Failure to maintain elastic fibers is explained by a theory of antielastase-elastase imbalance, but little is known about the role of renewal. Here we show that mice lacking the protein lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) do not deposit normal elastic fibers in the uterine tract post partum and develop pelvic organ prolapse, enlarged airspaces of the lung, loose skin and vascular abnormalities with concomitant tropoelastin accumulation. Distinct from the prototypic lysyl oxidase (LOX), LOXL1 localizes specifically to sites of elastogenesis and interacts with fibulin-5. Thus elastin polymer deposition is a crucial aspect of elastic fiber maintenance and is dependent on LOXL1, which serves both as a cross-linking enzyme and an element of the scaffold to ensure spatially defined deposition of elastin.
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PMID:Elastic fiber homeostasis requires lysyl oxidase-like 1 protein. 1474 49

Current pharmacotherapy of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) aims at reducing respiratory symptoms and exacerbation frequency. Effective therapies to reduce disease progression, however, are still lacking. Furthermore, COPD medications showed less favorable effects in emphysema than in other COPD phenotypes. Elastin fibers are reduced and disrupted, whereas collagen levels are increased in emphysematous lungs. Protease/antiprotease imbalance has historically been regarded as the sole cause of emphysema. However, it is nowadays appreciated that emphysema may also be provoked by perturbations in the sequential repair steps following elastolysis. Essentiality of fibulin-5 and lysyl oxidase-like 1 in the elastin restoration process is discussed, and it is argued that copper deficiency is a plausible reason for failing elastin repair in emphysema patients. Since copper-dependent lysyl oxidases crosslink elastin as well as collagen fibers, copper supplementation stimulates accumulation of both proteins in the extracellular matrix. Restoration of abnormal elastin fibers in emphysematous lungs is favorable, whereas stimulating pulmonary fibrosis formation by further increasing collagen concentrations and organization is detrimental. Heparin inhibits collagen crosslinking while stimulating elastin repair and might therefore be the ideal companion of copper for emphysema patients. Efficacy and safety considerations may lead to a preference of pulmonary administration of copper-heparin over systemic administration.
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PMID:Copper-Heparin Inhalation Therapy To Repair Emphysema: A Scientific Rationale. 3206 1