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Biomedical subjects

J G Bieth

Publications and source records attributed to J G Bieth.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Heparin strongly decreases the rate of inhibition of neutrophil elastase by alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor.

Heparin depresses the second-order rate constant ka for the inhibition of neutrophil elastase by alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor. High molecular mass heparin decreases ka from 1.3 x 10(7) M-1 s-1 to a limit of 4.6 x 10(4) M-1 s-1. Low molecular mass heparin is about 7-fold less effective. Dermatan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate are less efficient. Heparin preparations used in clinical care also strongly depress ka when tested at concentrations corresponding to their clinical efficacy. Heparin also decreases the ka for the elastase/eglin c and the cathepsin G/alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor systems but not that for the alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor/pancreatic elastase or trypsin pairs. These results, together with Sepharose-heparin binding studies, indicate that the ka-depressing effect of the polymer is related to its ability to form a tight complex with elastase but not with alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor. One mol of high molecular mass heparin binds 3 mol of neutrophil elastase with a Kd of 3.3 nM. Low molecular mass heparin binds elastase with a 1:1 stoichiometry and a Kd of 89 nM. For both heparins ka is lowest when elastase is fully saturated with heparin. From this we conclude that heparin decreases ka, because the heparin-elastase complex is able to slowly react with alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and not because the inhibitor slowly dissociates the heparin-elastase complex. These findings may have important pathophysiological bearing.

Cathepsin G↗

Elastin decreases the efficiency of neutrophil elastase inhibitors.

Elastase inhibitors are potential drugs for the control of lung emphysema. Since neutrophils may release elastase in the lung interstitium, elastin and inhibitors may complete locally for the binding of enzyme. To better evaluate the potential activity of antielastases, we have run experiments that mimic this in vivo competition. Elastase was added to mixtures of human lung elastin and inhibitor, and the solubilization of the fibrous substrate was measured as a function of time. Controls in which a synthetic substrate was used instead of elastin were run under identical conditions. We show that the rate constants for the irreversible inhibition of elastase by methoxysuccinyl-Ala2-Pro-Val-chloromethylketone and L-657,229, a substituted beta lactam, are 28- and 63-fold lower with elastin than with a synthetic substrate, respectively. The rate constant decreases with increasing concentrations of elastin, indicating that the inhibition is competitive. Elastin also impairs the potency of the following reversible inhibitors: trifluoroacetyl-Lys-Ala-NH-C6H4-p-C6H11, trifluoroacetyl-Lys-Ala-NH-C6H4-pN(C2H5)2, methoxysuccinyl-Ala2-Pro-Boro-Val-OH, and mucus proteinase inhibitor whose Ki values are 29- to 127-fold higher with elastin than with a synthetic substrate. Again the inhibition is competitive. We conclude that association rate constants of irreversible inhibitors and Ki values of reversible ones may be measured accurately using elastin as a substrate. The kinetic constants measured with elastin and not those determined with synthetic substrates should be used to decide whether a given inhibitor is potent enough to be a physiologic antielastase or a potential antielastase drug.

Binding, Competitive↗

The elastolytic activity of cathepsin G: an ex vivo study with dermal elastin.

To determine whether human neutrophil cathepsin G can act by itself or in concert with human neutrophil elastase to destroy elastic fibers in vivo, we used cryostat sections of human skin as an ex vivo substrate for these leukoproteinases. Specifically stained dermal elastic fibers were quantitated using an accurate and almost entirely automatic morphometric procedure that included computerized threshold selection and elimination of non-elastic dark elements. AA, the area fraction occupied by the dermal elastic fibers, was found to be 0.100 +/- 0.014 (mean +/- SD) for 21 control skin sections originating from a single donor. Measurement of the fiber diameters in these control sections (2.4 +/- 0.8 microns [mean +/- SD]) allowed calculation of the Weibel factor used to convert AA into Vv, the volume fraction occupied by the elastic fibers: Vv was 0.028 +/- 0.004 (mean +/- SD). Incubation of skin sections with elastase, cathepsin G, or mixtures of the two enzymes resulted in an important decrease in AA accompanied by a slight increase in the average fiber diameter. The largest increase (14%) was noticed for cathepsin G and was due to a preferential attack of thin fibers and to fiber fragmentation. The AA of fibers remaining after elastolytic activity of cathepsin G was 20 to 30% that of elastase in this ex vivo assay. On the other hand, cathepsin G stimulated the elastolytic activity of elastase. For instance, the activity of a mixture of 1.1 microM elastase and 1.5 microM cathepsin G was 1.9-fold higher than the sum of the activities of the individual proteinases. The stimulation increased with the cathepsin G concentration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Kinetics of the inhibition of human pancreatic elastase by recombinant eglin c. Influence of elastin.

Recombinant eglin c is a potent reversible inhibitor of human pancreatic elastase. At pH 7.4 and 25 degrees C, kass. = 7.3 x 10(5) M-1.s-1, kdiss. = 2.7 x 10(-4) s-1 and Ki = 3.7 x 10(-10) M. Stopped-flow kinetic indicate that the formation of the stable enzyme-inhibitor complex is not preceded by a fast pre-equilibrium complex or that the latter has a dissociation constant greater than 0.3 microM. The elastase-eglin c complex is much less stable at pH 5.0 and 25 degrees C, where kdiss. = 1.1 x 10(-2) s-1 and Ki = 7.3 x 10(-8) M. At pH 7.4 the activation energy for kass. is 43.9 kJ.mol-1 (10.5 kcal.mol-1). The kass. increases between pH 5.0 and 8.0 and remains essentially constant up to pH 9.0. This pH-dependence could not be described by a simple ionization curve. Both alpha 2-macroglobulin and alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor are able to dissociate the elastase-eglin c complex, as evidenced by measurement of the enzymic activity of alpha 2-macroglobulin-bound elastase or by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis of mixtures of alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and elastase-eglin c complex. The rough estimate of kdiss. obtained with the alpha 2-macroglobulin dissociation experiment (1.6 x 10(-4) s-1) was of the same order of magnitude as the constant measured with the progress curve method. Eglin c strongly inhibits the solubilization of human aorta elastin by human pancreatic elastase. The extent of inhibition is the same whether elastase is added to a suspension of elastin and eglin c or whether elastase is preincubated with elastin for 3 min before addition of eglin c. However, the efficiency of the inhibitor sharply decreases if elastase is reacted with elastin for more prolonged periods.

Elastin↗

The antielastase screen of the lower respiratory tract of alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor-sufficient patients with emphysema or pneumothorax.

The present study was aimed at testing whether alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor-sufficient patients with lung emphysema or idiopathic spontaneous pneumothorax have an impaired antielastase protection at the lung alveolar level. We have collected bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) from 20 PIMM emphysematous patients (44 +/- 12 yr), 24 patients with pneumothorax but no radiologic evidence of emphysema (30 +/- 11 yr), 32 healthy subjects (27 +/- 6 yr), and 56 patients with sarcoidosis (30 +/- 11 yr). The BALF were assayed for immunoreactive albumin, alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1PI), leukocyte elastase-alpha 1PI complex (LE-alpha 1PI), and mucus proteinase inhibitor (MPI) as well as for porcine pancreatic elastase inhibitory capacity, a measure of active alpha 1PI. The healthy subjects and the patients with emphysema or pneumothorax had comparable levels of total and active alpha 1PI and total MPI. In contrast, the levels of LE-alpha 1PI complex were elevenfold higher in patients with emphysema than in normal subjects (p = 0.021) and tended to increase with the severity of the disease because they were negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC% (r = -0.55; 0.05 less than p less than 0.1). They did not vary with age in a population of patients with sarcoidosis (r = 0.03), suggesting that their eleven-fold increase in emphysematous patients is not related to the age of these subjects. Patients with pneumothorax had levels of LE-alpha 1PI complex that did not significantly differ from those of normal subjects (p = 0.24).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Kinetic evidence for a two-step mechanism for the binding of chymotrypsin to alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor.

We have used the proflavin displacement method and a stopped-flow apparatus to measure the rate constant for the binding of 2 microM-chymotrypsin to 20-125 microM-alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor. The observed pseudo-first-order constant showed a hyperbolic dependence on alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor concentration, suggesting a reaction mechanism in which a fast pre-equilibrium (K = 0.19 mM) is followed by a first-order formation of the final complex (k = 252 s-1).

Acute-Phase Proteins↗

Mucus proteinase inhibitor: a fast-acting inhibitor of leucocyte elastase.

Human mucus proteinase inhibitor is a fast-acting inhibitor of human leucocyte elastase (EC 3.4.21.37) and forms a stable, complex with this enzyme. At physiological ionic strength and temperature and in the presence of 10 mg/ml albumin, the kinetic constants characterizing the interaction between elastase and the non-degraded inhibitor are: kass = 6.4.10(6) M-1.s-1, kdiss = 2.3.10(-3) s-1, Ki = 3.10(-10) M. The partially degraded inhibitor isolated by chymotrypsin-Sepharose chromatography inhibits elastase with similar efficiency, suggesting that if partial proteolysis of the inhibitor occurs in vivo, the latter may still act as a potent antielastase. Mucus proteinase inhibitor therefore plays a physiological antielastase function in upper respiratory tract secretions, since it inhibits elastase with a delay time of 150 ms and behaves like an irreversible inhibitor.

Humans↗

Kinetics of the inhibition of free and elastin-bound human pancreatic elastase by alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha 2-macroglobulin.

At pH 8.0 and 25 degrees C alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha 2-macroglobulin bind human pancreatic elastase with rate constants of 4.7.10(5) M-1.s-1 and 6.4.10(6) M-1.s-1, respectively. The corresponding delay times of elastase inhibition in plasma are 0.4 s and 0.2 s, respectively, indicating that both inhibitors may act as physiological antielastases. Elastin impairs the elastase inhibitory capacity of alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha 2-macroglobulin. In presence of human elastin, the former behaves like a slow-binding elastase inhibitor, with a rate constant of about 260 M-1.s-1. In contrast, alpha 2-macroglobulin is a fast-binding inhibitor of elastin-bound elastase, but only one of its two sites is functioning in presence of elastin.

Animals↗

Investigation of the active center of rat pancreatic elastase.

We have isolated rat pancreatic elastase I (EC 3.4.21.36) using a fast two-step procedure and we have investigated its active center with p-nitroanilide substrates and trifluoroacetylated inhibitors. These ligands were also used to probe porcine pancreatic elastase I whose amino acid sequence is 84% homologous to rat pancreatic elastase I as reported by MacDonald, et al. (Biochemistry 21, (1982) 1453-1463). Both proteinases exhibited non-Michaelian kinetics for substrates composed of three or four residues: substrate inhibition was observed for most enzyme substrate pairs, but with Ala3-p-nitroanilide, rat elastase showed substrate inhibition, whereas porcine elastase exhibited substrate activation. With most of the longer substrates, Michaelian kinetics were observed. The kcat/Km ratio was used to compare the catalytic efficiency of the two elastases on the different substrates. For both elastases, occupancy of subsite S4 was a prerequisite for efficient catalysis, occupancy of subsite S5 further increased the catalytic efficiency, P2 proline favored catalysis and P1 valine had an unfavorable effect. Rat elastase has probably one more subsite (S6) than its porcine counterpart. The rate-limiting step for the hydrolysis of N-succinyl-Ala3-p-nitroanilide by rat elastase was essentially acylation, whereas both acylation and deacylation rate constants participated in the turnover of this substrate by porcine elastase. For both enzymes, trifluoroacetylated peptides were much better inhibitors than acetylated peptides and trifluoroacetyldipeptide anilides were more potent than trifluoroacetyltripeptide anilides. A number of quantitative differences were found, however, and with one exception, trifluoroacetylated inhibitors were less efficient with rat elastase than with the porcine enzyme.

Anilides↗

Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase does not inactivate alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor in the presence of leukocyte elastase.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase rapidly inactivates alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor by splitting its Pro-357-Met-358 peptide bond. The present study was aimed at testing whether this reaction takes place in the presence of leukocyte elastase. To this end was added alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor to a mixture of the two elastases, and we performed the following assays: (i) measurement of the residual leukocyte elastase activity, (ii) sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and (iii) immunoassay of the leukocyte elastase-alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor complex. These experiments were done with various concentrations of the three proteins. All experiments gave the same result: leukocyte elastase was fully inhibited by alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor in the presence of P. aeruginosa elastase even when the bacterial enzyme was 10-fold more concentrated than the neutrophil enzyme. We also measured the initial rate of the P. aeruginosa elastase-catalyzed inactivation of alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor as a function of the inhibitor concentration. The kcat/Km value derived from this experiment was 9 x 10(4) M-1 s-1, a value much lower than the rate constant for the leukocyte elastase-inhibitor association (kass, 1.7 x 10(7) M-1 s-1). This rationalizes the above results. In conclusion, when alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor is faced with its target enzyme, leukocyte elastase, it will perform its physiologic antielastase function even if the bacterial elastase is present in excess.

Animals↗

Inhibition of neutrophil elastase by alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor oxidized by activated neutrophils.

The present study was aimed at testing whether neutrophil-oxidized alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1PI) is a slow-binding inhibitor of neutrophil elastase like N-chlorosuccinimide-oxidized alpha 1PI or whether it does not inhibit this enzyme at all as currently thought. alpha 1PI was reacted with phorbol-myristate-acetate-activated neutrophils and isolated from the oxidation medium by fast protein liquid chromatography on an anion exchange column. When sufficient time was allowed for oxidized alpha 1PI to react with neutrophil elastase (2 h), enzyme-inhibitor complex formation could be demonstrated by three means: (1) inhibition of elastase activity, (2) detection of the complex using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay specific for the native alpha 1PI-elastase complex, and (3) SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which evidenced a complex with a molecular weight of 80,000. Porcine pancreatic elastase was not inhibited. Neutrophil-oxidized alpha 1PI behaved as an irreversible inhibitor of neutrophil elastase, as revealed by the kinetic analysis of the inhibition reaction. The rate constant for the inhibition of neutrophil elastase by neutrophil-oxidized alpha 1PI (0.76 +/- 0.22 x 10(4) M-1 s-1) was close to that for the inhibition of the enzyme by N-chlorosuccinimide-oxidized alpha 1PI (0.96 +/- 0.24 x 10(4) M-1 s-1), but it was more than three orders of magnitude lower than that for the reaction of native alpha 1PI with neutrophil elastase. Both native and oxidized alpha 1PI were temporary elastase inhibitors: the enzyme slowly and spontaneously escaped the complex with formation of an inactive alpha 1PI derivative with a molecular weight of 49,000.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Blood Proteins↗

Nonchromogenic hydrolysis of elastase and cathepsin G p-nitroanilide substrates by Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which may cause severe lung infections, secretes a metalloelastase that may interfere with the assay of neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G in lung secretions. Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we have shown that P. aeruginosa elastase (PsE) cleaves succinyl-Ala3-p-nitroanilide between the first and the second alanine residue, rendering this substrate inefficient for the assay of neutrophil elastase. The cleavage occurs with a kcat/Km of 2.4 X 10(3) M-1 s-1, a value eightfold higher than the kcat/Km for the chromogenic cleavage of succinyl-Ala3-p-nitroanilide by neutrophil elastase. P. aeruginosa elastase also cleaves the elastase substrate succinyl-Ala3-Val-p-nitroanilide between the second and the third alanine residue and the cathepsin G substrate succinyl-Ala2-Pro-Phe-p-nitroanilide at the Pro-Phe linkage. By contrast, methoxysuccinyl-Ala2-Pro-Val-p-nitroanilide, another elastase substrate, is not hydrolyzed by the bacterial enzyme. Our data indicate that synthetic substrates should be used with caution to assay elastase and cathepsin G in lung secretions or other biologic fluids in which metalloproteinases may be present.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Cell cycle-specific variation of intracellular plasminogen activator activity in cultured human alveolar epithelial carcinoma and rat hepatoma cells.

Plasminogen activator activity was demonstrated in two carcinoma cell lines: A549 cells derived from a human alveolar epithelial carcinoma; and ZHC cells derived from a rat hepatoma. Both cells had intracellular plasminogen activator activity throughout their cell cycles and in each case this activity reached a maximum. For A549 cells the maximal activity took place either during the G2 phase or in the course of the S to G2 transition, suggesting that plasminogen activator might play a role in cell division. For ZHC cells, the maximal activity occurred at the start of the S phase, suggesting that in these cells plasminogen activator might be involved in DNA replication.

Animals↗