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

Upon stimulation of human polymorphonuclear neutrophils with platelet-activating factor (PAF), arachidonic acid (AA) is released from membrane phospholipids. The mechanism for AA liberation, a key step in the synthesis of biologically active eicosanoids, was investigated. PAF was found to elicit an increase in the cytoplasmic level of free Ca2+ as monitored by fluorescent indicator fura 2. When [3H] AA-labeled neutrophils were exposed to PAF, the enhanced release of AA was observed with a concomitant decrease of radioactivity in phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylcholine fractions. The inhibitors of phospholipase A2, mepacrine and 2-(p-amylcinnamoyl)-amino-4-chlorobenzoic acid, effectively suppressed the liberation of [3H]AA from phospholipids, indicating that liberation of AA is mainly catalyzed by the action of phospholipase A2. The extracellular Ca2+ is not required for AA release. However, intracellular Ca2+ antagonists, TMB-8 and high dose of quin 2/AM drastically reduced the liberation of AA induced by PAF, indicating that Ca2+ is an essential factor for phospholipase A2 activation. PAF raised the fluorescence of fura 2 at concentrations as low as 8 pM which reached a maximal level about 8 nM, whereas more than nM order concentrations of PAF was required for the detectable release of [3H]AA. Pretreatment of neutrophils with pertussis toxin resulted in complete abolition of AA liberation in response to PAF. However, the fura 2 response to PAF was not effectively inhibited by toxin treatment. In human neutrophil homogenate and membrane preparations, guanosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate) stimulated AA release and potentiated the action of PAF. Guanosine 5'-O-(thiodiphosphate) inhibited the effects of guanosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate). These results suggest several points: 1) PAF stimulates human polymorphonuclear neutrophils to liberate AA mainly by the action of phospholipase A2; 2) Ca2+ mobilization alone is not sufficient to stimulate AA release, although Ca2+ is the important factor for phospholipase A2 activation; and 3) a pertussis toxin-sensitive GTP-binding protein may be implicated in activation of phospholipase A2.
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PMID:Mechanism of arachidonic acid liberation in platelet-activating factor-stimulated human polymorphonuclear neutrophils. 254 86

Bordetella pertussis suppresses transcription of its virulence genes in response to specific environmental conditions, a response called modulation. The organism responds to high concentrations of SO4 and CIO4 ions, nicotinic acid, and nicotinic acid analogs in vitro; however, the in vivo modulator has not been identified. We investigated which chemical structures of the nicotinic acid molecule are important for modulation by testing various analogs for their ability to modulate. The ring nitrogen of nicotinic acid was not required, since benzoic acid was a modulator. In contrast, the carboxyl group was required, since derivatives like ethylnicotinate, 3-pyridylcarbinol, 3-acetyl pyridine, and 6-chloronicotinamide with altered carboxyl groups were not modulators. The planar ring structure or resonance in the ring was required for modulation, since nipecotic acid failed to modulate. The most potent modulators were nicotinic acid derivatives with electron-withdrawing substituents in the meta or para position relative to the carboxyl group. Relative hydrophilicity of substituents did not appear to contribute to modulation. Although these modulators elicited a clear biological response, the mechanism of modulation remains unclear, because no binding of the modulator 35SO4 or [14C]4-chlorobenzoic acid to whole B. pertussis was detected. However, modulation appears to involve a charge-charge interaction, since the response was blocked by chlorine ions.
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PMID:Characterization of environmental regulators of Bordetella pertussis. 843 1