Search results for "Cricetulu"
showing 10 items of 123 documents
Metalloproteases meprin α and meprin β are C- and N-procollagen proteinases important for collagen assembly and tensile strength.
2013
Type I fibrillar collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, crucial for the formation and strength of bones, skin, and tendon. Proteolytic enzymes are essential for initiation of the assembly of collagen fibrils by cleaving off the propeptides. We report that Mep1a −/− and Mep1b −/− mice revealed lower amounts of mature collagen I compared with WT mice and exhibited significantly reduced collagen deposition in skin, along with markedly decreased tissue tensile strength. While exploring the mechanism of this phenotype, we found that cleavage of full-length human procollagen I heterotrimers by either meprin α or meprin β led to the generation of mature collagen molecules that s…
Cholesterol-Like Effects of Selective Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors and Fibrates on Cellular Membranes and Amyloid-β Production
2007
Strong evidence suggests a mechanistic link between cholesterol metabolism and the formation of amyloid-beta peptides, the principal constituents of senile plaques found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Here, we show that several fibrates and diaryl heterocycle cyclooxygenase inhibitors, among them the commonly used drugs fenofibrate and celecoxib, exhibit effects similar to those of cholesterol on cellular membranes and amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing. These drugs have the same effects on membrane rigidity as cholesterol, monitored here by an increase in fluorescence anisotropy. The effect of the drugs on cellular membranes was also reflected in the inhibitory…
Molecular mechanism of α2β1 integrin interaction with human echovirus 1
2009
Conformational activation increases the affinity of integrins to their ligands. On ligand binding, further changes in integrin conformation elicit cellular signalling. Unlike any of the natural ligands of alpha2beta1 integrin, human echovirus 1 (EV1) seemed to bind more avidly a 'closed' than an activated 'open' form of the alpha2I domain. Furthermore, a mutation E336A in the alpha2 subunit, which inactivated alpha2beta1 as a collagen receptor, enhanced alpha2beta1 binding to EV1. Thus, EV1 seems to recognize an inactive integrin, and not even the virus binding could trigger the conformational activation of alpha2beta1. This was supported by the fact that the integrin clustering by EV1 did …
Synthesis, in vitro activity, and three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship of novel hydrazine inhibitors of human vascular adhe…
2010
Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) belongs to the semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidases (SSAOs) that convert amines into aldehydes. SSAOs are distinct from the mammalian monoamine oxidases (MAOs), but their substrate specificities are partly overlapping. VAP-1 has been proposed as a target for anti-inflammatory drug therapy because of its role in leukocyte adhesion to endothelium. Here, we describe the synthesis and in vitro activities of novel series of VAP-1 selective inhibitors. In addition, the molecular dynamics simulations performed for VAP-1 reveal that the movements of Met211, Ser496, and especially Leu469 can enlarge the ligand-binding pocket, allowing larger ligands than those s…
Novel Hydrazine Molecules as Tools To Understand the Flexibility of Vascular Adhesion Protein-1 Ligand-Binding Site: Toward More Selective Inhibitors
2011
Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) belongs to a family of amine oxidases. It plays a role in leukocyte trafficking and in amine compound metabolism. VAP-1 is linked to various diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, psoriasis, depression, diabetes, and obesity. Accordingly, selective inhibitors of VAP-1 could potentially be used to treat those diseases. In this study, eight novel VAP-1 hydrazine derivatives were synthesized and their VAP-1 and monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition ability was determined in vitro. MD simulations of VAP-1 with these new molecules reveal that the VAP-1 ligand-binding pocket is flexible and capable of fitting substantially larger ligands than was previously believ…
Nalidixic acid-resistant V79 cells with reduced DNA topoisomerase II activity and amplification prone phenotype
1992
Spontaneously nalidixic acid-resistant lines (NAr lines) were selected from a V79 Chinese hamster cell line and phenotypically characterized. NAr lines showed an increased doubling time, a higher number of spontaneous SCE, and more interestingly, decreased DNA topoisomerase II activity. These lines were also cross-resistant to the eukaryotic topoisomerase II inhibitors etoposide and adriamycin, but showed the same level of sensitivity as the parental line to the DNA topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin. NAr lines were cross-resistant to other drugs, such as PALA, MTX and MPA, resistance to which has been shown to arise by amplification of the target genes. This last feature, together with…
Reactive oxygen species induced by beauvericin, patulin and zearalenone in CHO-K1 cells
2008
The cytotoxic effects of mycotoxins, induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and generation of lipid peroxidation products in CHO-K1 cells were determined as function of increasing time of exposure and concentrations of beauvericin (BEA), patulin (PAT) and zearalenone (ZEA). The end points were evaluated after 24h of exposure, by the tetrazolium salt (MTT) and neutral red (NR) assays. The IC(50) values obtained on the MTT and NR assays ranged from 0.69 to 79.40 microM and 4.40 to 108.76 microM, respectively. To determine the intracellular production of ROS, the intensity of fluorescence emitted from the probe H(2)-DCFDA was measured. The relative intensity of fluorescence from cells incu…
Induction of micronuclei in V79 Chinese hamster cells by tetrachlorohydroquinone, a metabolite of pentachlorophenol
1992
Tetrachlorohydroquinone, a metabolite of the fungicide pentachlorophenol, induced significant dose-related increases in micronuclei in V79 Chinese hamster cells without exogenous metabolic activation. The lowest observed effective dose was 10 microM, where the relative survival was about 62%. At the highest dose tested, 20 microM, the relative survival was about 8% and the frequency of cells with micronuclei was about 6 times the solvent control frequency. The induction of micronuclei by tetrachlorohydroquinone was significantly inhibited by the hydroxyl radical scavenger dimethyl sulfoxide at 5% (v/v).
Gene amplification in fibroblasts from ataxia telangiectasia (AT) patients and in X-ray hypersensitive AT-like Chinese hamster mutants.
2001
In search of functions involved in the regulation of gene amplification, and given the relevance of chromosome breakage in initiating the process, we analyzed the gene amplification ability of cells hypersensitive to inducers of DNA double-strand breaks and defective in cell cycle control: two human fibroblast strains derived from patients affected by ataxia telangiectasia (AT) and two hamster mutant cell lines belonging to complementation group XRCC8 of the rodent X-ray-sensitive mutants. These mutants are considered hamster models of AT cells. To measure gene amplification, the frequency and the rate of occurrence of N-(phosphonacetyl)-L-aspartate resistant cells were determined. In both …
Brca2/Xrcc2 dependent HR, but not NHEJ, is required for protection against O6-methylguanine triggered apoptosis, DSBs and chromosomal aberrations by …
2008
Abstract O 6 -methylguanine (O 6 MeG) is a highly critical DNA adduct induced by methylating carcinogens and anticancer drugs such as temozolomide, streptozotocine, procarbazine and dacarbazine. Induction of cell death by O 6 MeG lesions requires mismatch repair (MMR) and cell proliferation and is thought to be dependent on the formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) or, according to an alternative hypothesis, direct signaling by the MMR complex. Given a role for DSBs in this process, either homologous recombination (HR) or non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) or both might protect against O 6 MeG. Here, we compared the response of cells mutated in HR and NHEJ proteins to temozolomide and…