Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0432222 (SEM)
 47,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Reperfusion injury after coronary occlusion is in part mediated by leukocyte activation and adhesion. Platelets may interact with polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PMNs), causing aggravated reperfusion injury. We studied whether c7E3Fab, a chimeric Fab fragment blocking platelet glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa, decreases PMN-platelet-dependent myocardial dysfunction after ischemia. Isolated guinea pig hearts (n=5 per group) perfused at a constant flow of 5 mL/min were subjected to ischemia (15 minutes, 37 degrees C) and reperfusion. Human PMNs (10x10(6) cells, 3 mL), platelets (400x10(6), 3 mL), and fibrinogen (1 mg/mL) were infused for 3 minutes after 2 minutes of reperfusion, with or without c7E3Fab. Flow cytometry detected GPIIb/IIIa (platelets) and MAC-1 (aMbeta2, PMNs) as well as coaggregates of both in the effluent, whereas double-fluorescence microscopy visualized intracoronary PMN-platelet coaggregates. Postischemic recovery of pressure-volume work (12-cm H(2)O preload and 60-mm Hg afterload) was defined as the ratio of postischemic to preischemic external heart work (mean+/-SEM). c7E3Fab reduced platelet GPIIb/IIIa detection to 10% of controls, blocked a transcoronary MAC-1 increase (+25% without versus -23% with c7E3Fab), and inhibited PMN-platelet coaggregation in the effluent (49+/-12% without versus 17+/-2% with c7E3Fab) as well as in the hearts themselves (5.0+/-0.7/cm(2) without versus 1.2+/-0.3/cm(2) surface area with c7E3Fab). Postischemic recovery of external heart work (83+/-5% in cell-free hearts) declined to 46+/-4% after postischemic PMN-platelet infusion, but not in the presence of c7E3Fab (74+/-11%) or LPM19c (71+/-6%). We conclude that c7E3Fab inhibits formation of PMN-platelet aggregates during myocardial reperfusion, an effect that protects against PMN-platelet-dependent stunning.
 ...
PMID:c7E3Fab reduces postischemic leukocyte-thrombocyte interaction mediated by fibrinogen. Implications for myocardial reperfusion injury. 1103 Dec 8

The process of sperm-oocyte recognition is a complex interaction between the plasma membrane of sperm and the extracellular matrix of the oocyte. The best studied mammalian system is the mouse, in which sperm plasma membrane receptors recognize specific oligosaccharides on the egg coat glycoprotein ZP3. A well-defined ZP3 receptor on mouse sperm is beta1,4-galactosyltransferase (GalT). In this study, we investigated the possibility that GalT is present on bull sperm, and that it may participate during bovine sperm-oocyte binding. Using Western immunoblotting, bull sperm were found to have a protein of molecular weight similar to mouse GalT at approximately 60 kDa. Immunogold low voltage scanning electron microscopy reveals that GalT epitopes are confined to the anterior cap of fresh or capacitated bull sperm. To investigate the function of bovine sperm GalT, fresh bull sperm were pretreated with either preimmune or anti-GalT antibody and added to in vitro-matured bovine oocytes. Sperm exposed to preimmune serum fertilized 82.7% (153 of 185) of the oocytes, whereas sperm exposed to anti-GalT antiserum fertilized only 42.3% (202 of 478) of the oocytes. We determined whether the inhibition of fertilization resulted from a direct inhibition of sperm-oocyte binding. The number of sperm bound to eggs was determined by low voltage scanning electron microscopy following pretreatment with preimmune or anti-GalT antibody. An average of 25.3+/-2.2 (mean +/- SEM) sperm bound per half-oocyte when treated with preimmune serum. In contrast, exposure of sperm to anti-GalT antiserum significantly lowered (P<0.001) the frequency of sperm binding to 9.9+/-0.8 bound per half-oocyte. These results show that GalT is present on the anterior cap of the bovine sperm head, where it participates in fertilization by facilitating sperm-oocyte binding. The function of GalT in both the murine and bovine systems suggests that it may serve as a generalized gamete receptor in mammals.
 ...
PMID:Subcellular localization of beta1,4-galactosyltransferase on bull sperm and its function during sperm-egg interactions. 1113 36

A novel probe was developed to measure drug association with the F1*S variant of the human serum protein alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AGP). The molecule 2-hydroxy-3,5-diiodo-N-[2(diethylamino)ethyl]benzamide (DEDIC) binds to AGP, quenching its native fluorescence. This quenching was fitted to a two-site model giving apparent dissociation constants of 0.049 +/- 0.005 and 12 +/- 2 microM (mean +/- SEM). Quenching of each of the separate variants of AGP by DEDIC was itself described by a two-site model, giving for the F1*S variant K(D)(1)((F1*S)) = 0.041 +/- 0.010 microM and K(D)(2)((F1*S)) = 29 +/- 7 microM; and for the A variant K(D)(1)((A)) = 0.31 +/- 0.18 microM and K(D)(2)((A)) = 8.8 +/- 0.7 microM. The utility of DEDIC in probing drug interactions with isolated variants was demonstrated in competition experiments with the model drugs amitriptyline and bupivacaine. In addition, the selectivity of DEDIC for variant F1*S rendered it capable of probing the binding of drugs (including the variant A-selective drug amitriptyline) to F1*S in a mixture of variants, such as occurs naturally in whole AGP. DEDIC is unique as an F1*S variant-selective probe of drug binding to whole AGP that is also sufficiently soluble to serve as a probe of drug binding to the lower affinity sites on isolated A and F1*S variants.
 ...
PMID:Development of a novel probe for measuring drug binding to the F1*S variant of human alpha 1-acid glycoprotein. 1174 93

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality; however, some patients with OSA do not develop cardiovascular disease even in the presence of severe nocturnal oxygen desaturations. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a hypoxia-sensitive glycoprotein stimulating neoangiogenesis. We hypothesized that VEGF production is increased in OSA because of repetitive nocturnal hypoxia. Three different groups were investigated: 10 OSA patients with severe nighttime hypoxia (Group A), 10 OSA patients with moderate hypoxia (Group B), and 10 healthy volunteers (Group C). Serum levels of VEGF were measured by ELISA from peripheral venous blood samples obtained at 7 AM. Group A had significantly (p < 0.01) increased VEGF serum levels when compared with Group B and Group C (mean +/- SEM: 410 +/- 77 pg/ml versus 224 +/- 38 pg/ml and 245 +/- 61 pg/ml). The degree of nocturnal oxygen desaturation in OSA significantly correlated with the VEGF concentrations (r = 0.67, p < 0.01). In conclusion, serum levels of VEGF are elevated in severely hypoxic patients with OSA and are related to the degree of nocturnal oxygen desaturation. This might constitute an adaptive mechanism to counterbalance the emergence of OSA-related cardiovascular disease.
 ...
PMID:Serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor are elevated in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and severe nighttime hypoxia. 1250 84

Previous study demonstrated that IL-11 receptor alpha knockout female mice (IL-11Ralpha(-/-)) were phenotypically normal but infertile due to defective decidualization. However, the role of IL-11 signaling in human reproduction remains unclear. This study examined the expression of IL-11, IL-11Ralpha, and signal transduction factor glycoprotein 130 in different phases of endometrium (six in proliferative phase and four in secretory phase), and the decidua and villi of normal pregnancy (NP; n = 25) and anembryonic pregnancy (AP; n = 25) in the first trimester (gestational week 7-9). RT-PCR showed IL-11, IL-11Ralpha, and glycoprotein 130 mRNA expression in all samples, except the absence of IL-11 signal in the unstimulated MRC-5 cell and the proliferative phase endometrium. Real-time quantitative PCR showed that the relative level of IL-11Ralpha mRNA was not significantly different among proliferative phase endometrium (relative level; mean +/- SEM, 1.4 +/- 0.5), secretory phase endometrium (1.3 +/- 0.1), or decidua from NP or AP (1.7 +/- 0.3 and 1.9 +/- 0.4, respectively), but was significantly greater in chorionic villi either from NP or AP (7.6 +/- 1.3 and 10.6 +/- 1.9, respectively; both P < 0.05, compared with decidua or endometrium). No difference of IL-11Ralpha mRNA level was found between NP and AP (1.7 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.9 +/- 0.4 in deciduas; 7.6 +/- 1.3 vs. 10.6 +/- 1.9 in villi; both P > 0.05). In situ hybridization localized IL-11Ralpha mRNA expression in proliferative phase endometrium (stroma only), secretory phase endometrium (stroma and gland), decidua (stroma and gland), and villi (trophoblast and stroma). The staining intensities were not distinctly different between different groups of samples or between different cell types in a sample. No difference in IL-11Ralpha expression was found between NP and AP when either decidua or chorionic villi was analyzed. IL-11 mRNA level was not detected in the proliferative phase (relative level, 0.0 +/- 0.0), was barely detectable in the secretory phase (0.03 +/- 0.02), and was significantly increased in decidua (1.7 +/- 0.2 and 0.1 +/- 0.1, respectively, for NP and AP) and chorionic villi (13.0 +/- 2.2 and 0.2 +/- 0.1). In addition, IL-11 mRNA level was higher in NP than in AP both in decidua (1.7 +/- 0.2 vs. 0.1 +/- 0.1; P = 0.03) and in villi (13.0 +/- 2.2 vs. 0.2 +/- 0.1; P < 0.001). Immunohistochemistry study showed that IL-11 was nearly absent in endometrium in both phases, but clearly detectable in decidua and villi. Consistent with the results of quantitative PCR, the staining intensity was stronger in villi and decidua from NP than those from AP. The spatial and temporal changes in IL-11 and its receptor observed in this study suggest that IL-11 may be produced both by the embryo (predominantly) and the decidual cells and exerts its action on chorionic villi and decidua in an autocrine or paracrine manner. In the presence of a baseline level of IL-11Ralpha, IL-11 may subsequently regulate placentation and decidualization for the maintenance of a NP. The finding of decreased IL-11 expression in the absence of any change in IL-11Ralpha in AP suggests that defective expression of IL-11 but not IL-11Ralpha may account for certain cases of AP.
 ...
PMID:Defective production of interleukin-11 by decidua and chorionic villi in human anembryonic pregnancy. 1199 83

The aim of this study was to determine whether previously observed seasonal differences in conceptus development in ewes are attributable to inherent differences in the oocyte and/or early embryo. Day 6 embryos were recovered from 50 ewes subjected to a standard oestrus synchronization, superovulation and laparoscopic artificial insemination protocol during October (peak breeding season) and April (transition to anoestrus). During the following October, 40 grade 1 and 2 embryos from each month, which had been cryopreserved at the late morula or unexpanded blastocyst stage, were thawed and transferred in singleton to synchronous recipients. Resulting pregnancies were monitored to term. For ewes receiving October- and April-produced embryos, overall mean +/- SEM liveweight at the time of embryo transfer was 72 +/- 0.7 kg, body condition score was 3.1 +/- 0.04 units, and the number of corpora lutea on the ovaries was 2.7 +/- 0.11 per ewe. Thirty-one and 27 ewes, respectively, became pregnant and their gestation lengths were 147 +/- 0.2 and 147 +/- 0.3 days. There was no effect of month of embryo production on peripheral ovine pregnancy-associated glycoprotein concentrations during pregnancy or on fetal and placental characteristics at term, but, for each month, male lambs were heavier than females and were associated with larger placentae. Lamb birthweight was positively correlated with placental weight (r2 = 0.474, P<0.001) and the total weight of cotyledonary tissue (r2 = 0.429, P<0.001), but not to the number of cotyledons. Results demonstrate close relationships between fetal and placental weights at term, and that seasonal effects on conceptus development in ewes do not arise from inherent differences in the oocyte and/or early embryo.
 ...
PMID:Seasonal differences in lamb birthweight do not arise from inherent differences in the oocyte and/or early embryo. 1221 43

Nitric oxide (NO) is known to modulate platelet adhesion and aggregation, which are both mediated by fibrinogen receptor glycoprotein (GP)IIb/IIIa. To investigate effects of NO on GPIIb/IIIa activation and inactivation, platelets were exposed to NO donor 3-morpholino-sydnonimine (SIN-1) before and after stimulation with different agonists: thromboxane analog U-46619, epinephrine, adenosine diphosphate, human a-thrombin, and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (0.02 micromol/l). (1) Flow cytometry analysis of SIN-1-pre-incubated samples using PAC-1 monoclonal antibody revealed an inhibition of receptor activation by 80.9 +/- 1.2, 71.3 +/- 1.8, 56 +/- 4.9, 87 +/- 3.4, and 56 +/- 5% (mean +/- SEM, relative to baseline). (2) Administration of SIN-1 after stimulation reversed receptor activation by 55 +/- 5.2, 56 +/- 2.0, 53 +/- 5.4, 42 +/- 4.3, and 44 +/- 5%, respectively. With 0.1 micromol/l phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate, GPIIb/IIIa activation was irreversible. (3) SIN-1 effects could completely be blocked by equimolar addition of guanylyl cyclase inhibitor 1H(1,2,4)oxadiazolo(4,3-alpha)quinoxalin-1-on. (4) Spontaneous receptor closure after activation with human alpha-thrombin and adenosine diphosphate was not due to platelet-derived NO; SIN-1, however accelerated spontaneous receptor inactivation. (5) SIN-1-inactivated receptors still responded to stimulation. In conclusion, SIN-1 or NO modulates GPIIb/IIIa conformational change in vitro via guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate-dependent pathways. Whereas spontaneous receptor inactivation may be enhanced by exogenous NO, platelet-derived NO is not involved in receptor inactivation.
 ...
PMID:Inactivation of platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor by nitric oxide donor 3-morpholino-sydnonimine. 1294 73

The acidic amino acid, such as aspartic acid (l-Asp), and glutamic acid are the primary active molecules of the glycoprotein on the organic/inorganic interface of biomineralized tissue. In this study, aspartic acid was used as the organic template in inducing the nucleation and growth of calcium carbonate. With the analysis of X-ray diffraction we investigated the relationship between the l-Asp concentration and the precipitation phase crystal structure of calcium carbonate. SEM and TEM were employed in the analysis of the morphological characteristic of the precipitation and the aggregation of the nanoscale porous phase. In order to get the direct evidence of the interaction between Ca2+ and l-Asp, the technique of QCM was used in the investigation of the coordinate interaction of Ca2+/l-Asp. As the results have shown, l-Asp alone is adequate to switch the transformation between calcite and vaterite, and neither soluble organic additions nor metal ions are needed. Meanwhile, the morphology, size and aggregative way of the deposition are also mediated with change of l-Asp concentration. To interpret the cause of the hierarchic structure range from nanoscale to micron-scale and the formation of the porous spheres of vaterite, an assumption of limited-fusion was proposed from the view of the small biomolecules polarity that can control over the growth of the crystals and the aggregation of the micro crystals. The conclusion also provide a new material synthesize strategy.
 ...
PMID:Control over the crystal phase, shape, size and aggregation of calcium carbonate via a L-aspartic acid inducing process. 1502 Jan 69

This review presents an overview of the highlights of major concepts involving the anatomical routes for the transport of macromolecules and the transmigration of cellular elements across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) during inflammation. The particular focus will include inflammatory leukocytes, neoplastic cells and pathogenic microorganisms including specific types of viruses, bacteria and yeasts. The experimental animal models presented here have been employed successfully by the authors in several independent experiments during the past twenty-five years for investigations of pathologic alterations of the BBB after a variety of experimentally induced injuries and inflammatory conditions in mammalian and non-mammalian animal species. The initial descriptions of endothelial cell (EC) vesicles or caveolae serving as mini-transporters of fluid substances essentially served as a springboard for many subsequent discoveries during the past half century related to mechanisms of uptake of materials into ECs and whether or not pinocytosis is related to the transport of these materials across EC barriers under normal physiologic conditions and after tissue injury. In the mid-1970's, the authors of this review independently applied morphologic techniques (transmission electron microscopy-TEM), in conjunction with the plant protein tracer horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to investigate macromolecular transport structures that increased after the brain and spinal cord had been subjected to a variety of injuries. Based on morphologic evidence from these studies of BBB injury, the authors elaborated a unique EC system of modified caveolae that purportedly fused together forming transendothelial cell channels, and later similar EC profiles defined as vesiculo-canalicular or vesiculo-tubular structures (VTS, Lossinsky, et al., 1999). These EC structures were observed in association with increased BBB permeability of tracers including exogenously injected HRP, normally excluded from the intercellular milieu of the CNS. Subsequent studies of non-BBB-type tumor ECs determined that the EC VTS and other vesicular structures were defined by others as vesiculo-vacuolar organelles (VVOs, Kohn et al., 1992; Dvorak et al., 1996). Collectively, these structures appear to represent a type of anatomical gateway to the CNS likely serving as conduits. However, these CNS conduits become patent only in damaged ECs for the passage of macromolecules, and purportedly for inflammatory and neoplastic cells as well (Lossinsky et al., 1999). In this review, we focus attention on the similarities and differences between caveolae, fused racemic vesicular bundles, endothelial tubules and channels (VTS and the VVOs) that are manifest in normal, non-BBB-type blood vessels, and in the BBB after injury. This review will present evidence that the previous studies by the authors and other researchers established a framework for subsequent transmission (TEM), scanning (SEM) and high-voltage electron microscopic (HVEM) investigations concerning ultrastructural, ultracytochemical and immunoultra-structural alterations of the cerebral ECs and the mechanisms of the BBB transport that occurs after CNS injury. This review is not intended to include all of the many observations that might be included in a general historical overview of the development of the EC channel hypothesis, but it will discuss several of the major contributions. We have attempted to present some of the structural evidence that supports our early contributions and those made by other investigators by highlighting major features of these EC structures that are manifest in the injured BBB. We have focused on currently established concepts and principles related to mechanisms for the transendothelial transport of macromolecules after CNS injury and also offer a critical appraisal of some of this literature. Finally, we describe more recent concepts of transBBB avenues for viruses, including HIV-1, bacterial and mycotic organisms, as well as inflammatory and neoplastic cell adhesion and migration across the injured mammalian BBB. Data from studies of EC-related adhesion molecules, both from the literature and from the author's experimental results and observations made in other laboratories, as well as from personal communications underscore the importance of the adhesion molecules in facilitating the movement of leukocytic, neoplastic cell and human pathogens across the BBB during inflammatory and neoplastic events. Exciting, ongoing clinical trials are addressing possible therapeutic intervention in neuroinflammatory diseases, including multiple sclerosis, by blocking certain glycoprotein adhesion molecules before cells have the ability to adhere to the ECs and migrate across the BBB. Approaches whereby inflammation may be reduced or arrested using anti-adhesion molecules, by restructuring EC cytoskeletal, filamentous proteins, as well as remodeling cholesterol components of the modified VTS are discussed in the context of developing future therapies for BBB injury and inflammation. Understanding new concepts about the mechanism(s) by which inflammatory cells and a variety of pathogenic microorganisms are transported across the BBB can be expected to advance our understanding of fundamental disease processes. Taken together, the literature and the author's experiences during the past quarter of a century, will hopefully provide new clues related to the mechanisms of transendothelial cell adhesion and emigration across the injured BBB, issues that have been receiving considerable attention in the clinical arena. Learning how to chemically modulate the opening and/or closure of EC VTS and VVO structural pathways, or junctional complexes prior to cellular or microorganism adhesion and breaching the BBB presents challenging new questions in modern medicine. Future studies will be critically important for the development of therapeutic intervention in several human afflictions including traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, stroke, cancer, multiple sclerosis and conditions where the immune system may be compromised including HIV infection, infantile and adult meningitis.
 ...
PMID:Structural pathways for macromolecular and cellular transport across the blood-brain barrier during inflammatory conditions. Review. 1502 15

Free holo-retinol binding protein (RBP) [i.e., unbound to transthyretin (TTR)] plays a role in transporting vitamin A across the placenta during pregnancy. In a cross-sectional study of clinically healthy urban women, we assessed the association among clinical and biochemical factors on estimated concentrations of free holo-RBP during the last trimester of pregnancy. Serum samples obtained from a subsample of women (n = 259), who had participated in the Night Vision Threshold Test study in Nepal, were analyzed for determinations of retinol by HPLC, and RBP, TTR, and alpha-1 acid glycoprotein by radial immunodiffusion. Free holo-RBP concentrations were calculated using dissociation constants for free holo- and apo-RBP. Among these women, 30% were vitamin A deficient based on either the RBP:TTR index < or = 0.36 or serum retinol < 1.05 micromol/L. Using stepwise regression analyses, the RBP:TTR index explained 75% of the variance in free holo-RBP concentrations, whereas retinol explained only 14%. Women were classified as vitamin A sufficient (n = 185) or deficient (n = 74) using the RBP:TTR index and were stratified into 3 gestational groups (I: 24-28 wk, II: 29-33 wk, III: >33 wk). Concentrations of free holo-RBP were higher in vitamin A-sufficient women than in vitamin A-deficient women (mean +/- SEM, 48.1 +/- 1.2 vs. 27.6 +/- 0.8 nmol/L; P < 0.001), and in a 3 x 2 factorial analysis, the interaction between gestational group and vitamin A status was significant. These results demonstrate that the RBP:TTR index is a useful proxy for free holo-RBP concentration and that vitamin A status affects its distribution.
 ...
PMID:The concentration of free holo-retinol binding protein is higher in vitamin A-sufficient than in deficient Nepalese women in late pregnancy. 1631 26


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>