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Biomedical subjects

M Abrahamson

Publications and source records attributed to M Abrahamson.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Human sputum cathepsin B degrades proteoglycan, is inhibited by alpha 2-macroglobulin and is modulated by neutrophil elastase cleavage of cathepsin B precursor and cystatin C.

The high-Mr alkali-stable form of cathepsin B was purified from purulent human sputum. It was shown to solubilize proteoglycan monomer entrapped in polyacrylamide at a rate comparable with that of human lysosomal cathepsin B. Like the enzyme from lysosomes, sputum cathepsin B was bound by human alpha 2-macroglobulin, which inhibited its action on proteoglycan. Cystatin C in purulent sputum was shown to be the N-terminally truncated form generated by neutrophil elastase cleavage, and sputum cathepsin B was only weakly inhibited by recombinant cystatin C that had been cleaved by neutrophil elastase in vitro. Addition of neutrophil elastase to mucoid sputum led to a 5-fold increase in cathepsin B activity concomitant with a lowering in Mr of the cysteine proteinase from 40,000 to 37,000, i.e. the size of the active enzyme purified from purulent sputum. It is concluded that the high-Mr form of cathepsin B present in purulent sputum is a functional proteinase, unlike similar forms of the enzyme secreted by mammary gland in organ culture. The activity of cathepsin B in sputum is modulated by neutrophil elastase, by a combination of inhibitor inactivation and zymogen activation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Human cystatin C. role of the N-terminal segment in the inhibition of human cysteine proteinases and in its inactivation by leucocyte elastase.

Leucocyte elastase in catalytic amounts was observed to rapidly cleave the Val-10-Gly-11 bond of the human cysteine-proteinase inhibitor cystatin C at neutral pH. The resulting modified inhibitor had size and amino acid composition consistent with a cystatin C molecule devoid of the N-terminal Ser-1-Val-10 decapeptide. Leucocyte-elastase-modified cystatin C had more than 240-fold lower affinity than native cystatin C for papain. Removal of the N-terminal decapeptide of human cystatin C also decreased inhibition of human cathepsins B and L by three orders of magnitude, but decreased inhibition of cathepsin H by only 5-fold. A tripeptidyldiazomethane analogue of of the N-terminal portion of cystatin C was a good inhibitor of cathepsins B and L but a poor inhibitor of cathepsin H. It therefore appears that amino acid side chains of the N-terminal segment of cystatin C bind in the substrate-binding pockets of cathepsins B and L but not in those of cathepsin H. It is argued that the N-terminal cystatin C interaction with cathepsin B is physiologically important and hence that leucocyte elastase could have a function as a regulator of extracellular cysteine-proteinase inhibitory activity at sites of inflammation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

SstII polymorphic sites in the promoter region of the human cystatin C gene.

By direct sequencing of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified DNA from different individuals, three points mutations have been found in a 220-bp fragment from the promoter region of the human cystatin C gene. The three mutations are all localized within a short segment of 85bp on the same allele. One of the base substitutions results in the generation of a novel SstII restriction site and another in the loss of the commonly occurring SstII restriction site. A PCR-based assay for analysis of the two SstII sites was designed and used to demonstrate Mendelian inheritance of the polymorphism. This SstII restriction fragment lenght polymorphism offers a new probe-independent marker for chromosome 20 linkage studies.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Determination of allotypes G1m(f) and G1m(z) at the genomic level by subclass-specific amplification of DNA and use of allele-specific probes.

Two oligonucleotide primers were used for selective enzymatic amplification of a DNA segment encoding a major portion of the first constant region domain (CH1) of the human IgG1 heavy chain. The selective amplification was confirmed by use of subclass-specific oligonucleotide probes. Two 15-mer oligonucleotides, hybridizing with the alleles for the allotypes G1m(f) and (z), respectively, could then be used for determination at the genomic level of these two truly allelic allotypes. Serum and DNA samples from 12 individuals, one of them with a considerable amount of anti-Gm(f) antibodies, were used for allotype assignment by classical serological methods and by the new method operating at the genomic level. The resulting classifications agreed completely, demonstrating the reliability of the new method.

Alleles↗
PubMed1991

Regulation of cystatin C activity by serine proteinases.

The effect of four human serine proteinases on the human cysteine proteinase inhibitor, cystatin C, has been studied in vitro. Neutrophil elastase in catalytic amounts was observed to rapidly cleave cystatin C at neutral pH, thereby giving rise to a modified form of the inhibitor lacking the N-terminal Ser1-Val10 decapeptide. The two other leukocyte serine proteinases, cathepsin G and neutrophil proteinase 4, did not catalytically hydrolyse cystatin C bonds. Neither had the seminal plasma serine proteinase, prostate-specific antigen, any effect on cystatin C. The physiological implications of neutrophil elastase catalysed modification of cystatin C are discussed, and recent findings indicating that this reaction also occurs in vivo are reviewed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1991

Human monoclonal antibodies with different fine specificity for digoxin derivatives: cloning of heavy and light chain variable region sequences.

Human-mouse hybridoma cell lines producing human monoclonal antibodies against the cardiac glycoside digoxin were established after in vitro immunization or direct immortalization of human peripheral blood lymphocytes with digoxin. Three antibodies, designated MO6, LH92 and LH1114, displayed different patterns of fine specificity against digoxin and several digoxin analogues, as elucidated by inhibition ELISA. All three monoclonal antibodies had mu heavy chains, two of them (MO6 and LH114) had kappa light chains and one (LH92) lambda light chains. DNA encoding the variable regions of both heavy and light chains of the three antibodies were amplified from cDNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The nucleotide sequences of the amplified DNA were determined after subcloning of PCR fragments in M13 vectors. The deduced amino acid sequences revealed considerable sequence differences in the complementarity determining regions between the three antibodies.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Structure and expression of the human cystatin C gene.

The structural organization of the gene for the human cysteine-proteinase inhibitor cystatin C was studied. Restriction-endonuclease digests of human genomic DNA hybridized with human cystatin C cDNA and genomic probes produced patterns consistent with a single cystatin C gene and, also, the presence of six closely related sequences in the human genome. A 30 kb restriction map covering the genomic region of the cystatin C gene was constructed. The positions of three polymorphic restriction sites, found at examination of digests of genomic DNA from 79 subjects, were localized in the flanking regions of the gene. The gene was cloned and the nucleotide sequence of a 7.3 kb genomic segment was determined, containing the three exons of the cystatin C structural gene as well as 1.0 kb of 5'-flanking and 2.0 kb of 3'-flanking sequences. Northern-blot experiments revealed that the cystatin C gene is expressed in every human tissue examined, including kidney, liver, pancreas, intestine, stomach, antrum, lung and placenta. The highest cystatin C expression was seen in seminal vesicles. The apparently non-tissue-specific expression of this cysteine-proteinase inhibitor gene is discussed with respect to the structure of its 5'-flanking region, which shares several features with those of housekeeping genes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Interactions of papaya proteinase IV with inhibitors.

Papaya proteinase IV (PPIV) is not inhibited by chicken cystatin, or human cystatins A or C, unlike most other proteinases of the papain superfamily. The enzyme inactivates chicken cystatin and human cystatin C by limited proteolysis of the glycyl bond previously shown to be involved in the inhibitory inactivity of the cystatins, but has no action on cystatin A. Contamination of commercial crystalline papain with PPIV accounts for the limited proteolysis of cystatins by 'papain' reported previously. PPIV is slowly bound by human alpha 2-macroglobulin. The enzyme is irreversibly inactivated by E-64, and by peptidyl diazomethanes containing glycine in P1 and a hydrophobic side-chain in P2. The reaction of PPIV with iodoacetate is extremely slow. PPIV is inhibited by peptide aldehydes despite the presence of bulky sidechains in P1, suggesting that these reversible inhibitors do not bind as substrate analogues.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1990

Levels of neutrophil elastase and cathepsin B activities, and cystatins in human sputum: relationship to inflammation.

Sputum samples from 25 patients with bronchiectasis were assayed enzymatically for myeloperoxidase, neutrophil elastase and cathepsin B, and immunologically for cystatin A, cystatin B, cystatin C, cystatin S and kininogen. High myeloperoxidase and neutrophil elastase levels were found in those sputum samples that were assessed visually to be purulent. These samples were also found to contain high levels of cathepsin B activity and cystatin A, but low levels of cystatin S and of the most effective cathepsin B inhibitor, cystatin C. In contrast, sputum samples that were low in myeloperoxidase and neutrophil elastase activities had low levels of cathepsin B and cystatin A, but high cystatin C and S levels. It is concluded that cathepsin B activity in sputum is positively correlated with the degree of inflammation and neutrophil recruitment. Although this may be due in part to reduced amounts of cathepsin B inhibitors, particularly cystatin C, theoretical considerations suggest that factors other than the gross level of inhibitors must be involved in the control of cathepsin B activity.

Bronchiectasis↗
PubMed1990

The amino terminal portion of cerebrospinal fluid cystatin C in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy is not truncated: direct sequence analysis from agarose gel electropherograms.

The isolated amyloid substance in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA) is mainly composed of a cystatin C variant devoid of the 10 amino terminal amino acid residues of extracellular cystatin C from healthy individuals. We have developed a procedure for protein sequencing directly from agarose gel electropherograms and used this in conjunction with isoelectric focusing to investigate the amino terminal sequence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cystatin C in HCCAA patients. The amino-terminal sequence determined for cystatin C from a HCCAA patient CSF sample, Xaa-Ser-Pro-Gly-Lys-Pro-Pro-Xaa-Leu-Val-Gly-Gly-Pro-Met-Xaa-Ala-Xaa-Val, showed that the protein was not amino-terminally truncated. CSF cystatin C from all nine HCCAA patients investigated was found to have an isoelectric point identical to that of native cystatin C, and the truncated form of cystatin C isolated from amyloid deposits was shown to contribute to less than 1% of the total amount of cystatin C in CSF. The total cysteine proteinase inhibitory capacity of CSF from HCCAA patients was lower than that of CSF from other patients. This decreased CSF inhibitory capacity in HCCAA patients was caused by decreased levels of cystatin C, since the levels of the other two cysteine proteinase inhibitors found in CSF, alpha 2-macroglobulin and kininogen, were significantly higher than in CSF from non-HCCAA patients.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Assignment of allotypes G1m(a+) and G1m(a-) at the genomic level by polymerase chain reaction analysis.

A method of assignment of the human immunoglobulin allotypes G1m(a+) and G1m(a-) without the use of serological reagents is described. It is based upon oligonucleotide-directed enzymatic amplification of genomic segments encoding CH3 of gamma chains, followed by dot-blot hybridization of radioactively labelled oligonucleotides to the amplified DNA. The method was used to classify the immunoglobulin allotypes of 11 persons, six G1m(a+) and five G1m(a-), and the resultant classification agreed completely with that of classical serological typing.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1990

Synthesis of cysteine proteinase inhibitors structurally based on the proteinase interacting N-terminal region of human cystatin C.

Peptides spanning the entire, or part of, the Gly4-Glu21 segment of the human cysteine proteinase inhibitor cystatin C have been synthesized. Peptides containing residues on the N-terminal side of Gly11 were rapidly cleaved by papain at the bond Gly11-Gly12 whereas a peptide starting at residue Gly11 was not, thus demonstrating 1. that the N-terminal segment of cystatin C has an amino acid sequence that would allow rapid interaction between this segment and the substrate pocket of papain and, if this interaction takes place, that 2. the cystatin C residue Gly11 would be in the P1 position, and 3. the major interaction would be between residues Arg8-Val10 and the papain substrate pocket subsites S4, S3 and S2, respectively. Several modified peptide derivatives containing either diazomethane groups or peptide bond isosters were synthesized based on the structure of the Leu9-Gly11 segment of cystatin C and tested for their cysteine proteinase inhibiting capacity. The peptidyl derivatives, t-butyloxycarbonyl-valyl-glycyl-diazomethane and benzyloxycarbonyl-leucyl-valyl-glycyl-diazomethane irreversible inhibited the cysteine proteinases papain, bovine cathepsin B and streptococcal proteinase, but did not influence the activity of serine, aspartic or metallo-proteinases.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

High-level expression of active human cystatin C in Escherichia coli.

Expression of the human cysteine proteinase inhibitor, cystatin C (CysC) in the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli was studied using a cDNA fragment encoding the cysteine proteinase inhibitor controlled by the phage lambda pR/cI857 system. The yield of CysC was low, probably due to proteolytic degradation. By fusing the cysC cDNA to a DNA fragment encoding the signal peptide of the E. coli outer membrane protein A, it was possible to produce a substantial amount of CysC in the periplasm. The processing of the signal peptide was shown to be quantitative and to result in CysC with the correct N-terminal amino acid. Yields higher than 1000 micrograms CysC/ml can be obtained by initiating the product formation at a moderate temperature (40 degrees C) late in an optimized fermentation process. A method that gives selective extraction of the periplasmic proteins and at the same time stabilizes CysC has been used.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1989

Rapid cloning of rearranged immunoglobulin genes from human hybridoma cells using mixed primers and the polymerase chain reaction.

A general method to directly obtain the DNA sequence of the variable regions of any immunoglobulin chain using a mixture of oligomer primers and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is described. Mixed oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the 5' signal peptide and a conserved 3' constant region primer were used for enzymatic amplification of each of the heavy and light chain variable regions of a human hybridoma producing a monoclonal antibody recognizing an epitope of gp120 of the human immunodeficiency virus 1. The amplified DNA segments were cloned and the sequence was determined for the heavy chain variable region. This method will greatly facilitate structural and functional studies of immunoglobulins by reducing the effort to clone and sequence the members of the immunoglobulin as well as other multigene families.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Bacterial growth blocked by a synthetic peptide based on the structure of a human proteinase inhibitor.

Cysteine proteinases are important not only in the intracellular catabolism of peptides and proteins and in the processing of prohormones and proenzymes, but also in the penetration of normal human tissue by malignant cells and possibly microorganisms, including viruses. Cystatin C is a human cysteine proteinase inhibitor present in extracellular fluids. We have synthesized peptide derivatives mimicking the proposed proteinase-binding centre of cystatin C and find that they irreversibly inhibit cysteine proteinases. Several bacteria produce proteinases, so we tested a tripeptide derivative (Z-LVG-CHN2) for in vitro anti-bacterial activity against a large number of bacterial strains belonging to thirteen different species. It was found to inhibit specifically the growth of all strains of group A streptococci. The susceptibility of these human pathogens to the peptide was compared with that to well-established anti-streptococcal antibiotics such as tetracycline and bacitracin. Moreover, the peptide was active in vivo against group A streptococci: mice injected with lethal doses of these bacteria were cured by a single injection of Z-LVG-CHN2. The cysteine proteinase produced by group A streptococci was isolated and found to be inhibited by Z-LVG-CHN2; moreover, excess proteinase relieved the growth inhibition caused by the peptide derivative, suggesting that the antibacterial activity of Z-LVG-CHN2 is due to inhibition of this cysteine proteinase. This strategy of blocking proteinases with peptide derivatives that mimic naturally occurring inhibitors could be useful in the construction of new agents against other microorganisms, including viruses.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1989

The human cystatin C gene (CST3), mutated in hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy, is located on chromosome 20.

Hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy has recently been shown to be caused by a point mutation in the cystatin C gene. To determine the chromosomal localization of the gene, 20 human-rodent somatic cell hybrids and a full-length cystatin C cDNA probe were used. Southern blot analysis of BamHI digested cell hybrid DNA revealed that the probe recognizes a 10.6 kb human specific fragment and that this fragment cosegregates with human chromosome 20. Therefore, the human cystatin C gene (CST3) was assigned to chromosome 20.

Amyloidosis↗