Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0043167 (pertussis)
 19,595 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The objective of this study was to characterize the plasmin-induced stimulation of leukotriene (LT) B4 biosynthesis in human peripheral monocytes (PM). Plasmin up to 175 x 10(-3) CTA U/ml triggers a concentration-dependent release of 5-lipoxygenase-derived LTB4 while release of the cyclooxygenase products thromboxane (TX) B2 and prostaglandin (PG) E2 remained unaffected. The stimulatory effect appeared to be specific in as much as 1) it was found in PM, but not in polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), 2) it requires the lysine binding sites of plasmin molecule since it was inhibited by the lysine analogues 6-aminohexanoic acid (6-AHA) and trans-4(aminomethyl)cyclohexane-1-carboxylic acid (t-AMCA), 3) the intact catalytic center of plasmin is required since neither plasminogen nor catalytic center-blocked plasmin share the stimulatory effect of active plasmin, 4) other serine proteases such as alpha-chymotrypsin, human neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G did not stimulate release of detectable amounts of LTB4 from PM. In addition, catalytic center-blocked plasmin antagonized the stimulatory effect of active plasmin. Plasmin-mediated monocyte activation apparently proceeds via a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein. Plasmin did not increase inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate levels, but a time- and concentration-dependent stimulation of cyclic GMP formation was observed. The data show that plasmin is a specific stimulus for human peripheral monocytes. Plasmin may be an important link between the coagulation cascade and inflammatory reactions.
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PMID:Plasmin is a specific stimulus of the 5-lipoxygenase pathway of human peripheral monocytes. 890 97

Two chimeric peptides, consisting of the linear vasopressin receptor V1 antagonist PhAc-D-Tyr(Me)-Phe-Gln-Asn-Arg-Pro-Arg-Tyr, in the N-terminus and mastoparan in the C-terminus connected directly (M375) or via 6-aminohexanoic acid (M391), have been synthesised. At 10 microM concentration, these novel peptides increased insulin secretion from isolated rat pancreatic islet cells 18-26-fold at 3.3 mM glucose and 3.5-5-fold at 16.7 mM glucose. PTX pretreatment of the islets decreased the peptide-induced insulin release. M375 and M391 bind to V1a vasopressin receptors with affinities lower than the unmodified vasopressin antagonist, but with K(D) values of 3.76 nM and 9.02 nM, respectively, both chimeras are high affinity ligands. The GTPase activity and GTPgammaS binding in the presence of these peptides has been characterised in Rin m5F cells. Comparison of the influence of the peptides M375 and M391 on GTPase activity in native and pertussis toxin-treated cells suggests a selective activation of G alpha(i)/G alpha(o) subunits, combined with a suppression of other GTPases, primarily G alpha(s). However, the GTPgammaS binding data show that the peptides retain some of the activating property even in PTX-treated cell membranes. In conclusion, the conjugation of mastoparan with the V1a receptor antagonists produce peptides with properties different from the parent peptides that could be used to elucidate the role of different G proteins in insulin release.
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PMID:Effects of vasopressin-mastoparan chimeric peptides on insulin release and G-protein activity. 1045 45