Search results for "collagenases"

Chromosome-Encoded Hemolysin, Phospholipase, and Collagenase in Plasmidless Isolates of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae Contribute to Virulen…

2017

ABSTRACT Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae is a pathogen of marine animals, including fish of importance in aquaculture. The virulence plasmid pPHDD1, characteristic of highly hemolytic isolates, encodes the hemolysins damselysin (Dly) and phobalysin (PhlyP). Strains lacking pPHDD1 constitute the vast majority of the isolates from fish outbreaks, but genetic studies to identify virulence factors in plasmidless strains are scarce. Here, we show that the chromosome I-encoded hemolysin PhlyC plays roles in virulence and cell toxicity in pPHDD1-negative isolates of this pathogen. By combining the analyses of whole genomes and of gene deletion mutants, we identified two hitherto uncharacte…

High Nutrient Concentration Can Induce Virulence Factor Expression and Cause Higher Virulence in an Environmentally Transmitted Pathogen

2016

Environmentally transmitted opportunistic pathogens shuttle between two substantially different environments: outside-host and within-host habitats. These environments differ from each other especially with respect to nutrient availability. Consequently, the pathogens are required to regulate their behavior in response to environmental cues in order to survive, but how nutrients control the virulence in opportunistic pathogens is still poorly understood. In this study, we examined how nutrient level in the outside-host environment affects the gene expression of putative virulence factors of the opportunistic fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare. The impact of environmental nutrient concen…

Characterization of collagenase 3 (matrix metalloproteinase 13) messenger RNA expression in the synovial membrane and synovial fibroblasts of patient…

1999

Objective To study the localization and cell type–specific expression of collagenase 3 messenger RNA (mRNA) in the synovial membrane, its regulation in primary synovial fibroblasts, and the correlation with systemic markers of inflammation and radiographic damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods The expression of collagenase 3 mRNA was characterized by Northern blot analysis, reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction, and in situ hybridization. Immunohistochemical detection of cell type–specific antigens was used in combination with in situ hybridization of collagenase 3 mRNA to characterize the cellular origin of collagenase 3 mRNA expression. Results Collagenase 3 mRNA was dete…

Sputum metalloproteinase-9/tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 ratio correlates with airflow obstruction in asthma and chronic bronchitis

1998

Asthma and chronic bronchitis are inflammatory diseases with extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and collagen deposition. Collagen homeostasis is controlled by metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). We evaluated MMP and TIMP balance in induced sputum of 10 control, 31 untreated asthmatic, and 16 chronic bronchitic subjects. We first performed zymographic analysis to identify the profile of MMPs. Zymography revealed a similar MMPs profile in all populations studied and that MMP-9 was the major enzyme released. We then measured, using enzyme immunoassay, the concentrations of MMP-9 and of its inhibitor TIMP-1 and evaluated whether airflow limitation m…

Activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 by UV irradiation is inhibited by wortmannin without affecting c-iun expression.

1999

Activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs)/stress-activated protein kinases is an early response of cells upon exposure to DNA-damaging agents. JNK-mediated phosphorylation of c-Jun is currently understood to stimulate the transactivating potency of AP-1 (e.g., c-Jun/c-Fos; c-Jun/ATF-2), thereby increasing the expression of AP-1 target genes. Here we show that stimulation of JNK1 activity is not a general early response of cells exposed to genotoxic agents. Treatment of NIH 3T3 cells with UV light (UV-C) as well as with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) caused activation of JNK1 and an increase in c-Jun protein and AP-1 binding activity, whereas antineoplastic drugs such as mafosfamide, mito…

Neural Crest-Derived Chondrocytes Isolation for Tissue Engineering in Regenerative Medicine

2020

Chondrocyte transplantation has been successfully tested and proposed as a clinical procedure aiming to repair articular cartilage defects. However, the isolation of chondrocytes and the optimization of the enzymatic digestion process, as well as their successful in vitro expansion, remain the main challenges in cartilage tissue engineering. In order to address these issues, we investigated the performance of recombinant collagenases in tissue dissociation assays with the aim of isolating chondrocytes from bovine nasal cartilage in order to establish the optimal enzyme blend to ensure the best outcomes of the overall procedure. We show, for the first time, that collagenase H activity alone …

Partial restoration of pre-transformation levels of lysyl oxidase and transin mRNAs in phenotypic ras revertants.

1995

Neoplastic transformation mediated by ras oncogenes is associated with deregulated expression of genes encoding, for example, various proteases, lysyl oxidase, and smooth-muscle α-actin. To define the role of these genes in the initiation or maintenance of the ras-transformed state, we compared their steady-state mRNA levels in two different sets of preneoplastic fibroblast lines, ras-transformed clones, and phenotypic revertants derived from them. Compared with the preneoplastic fibroblasts, the ras-transformed derivatives exhibited elevated levels of cathepsin L (major excreted protein), transin (stromelysin I, matrix metalloproteinase–3), and collagenase I (matrix metalloproteinase–1) mR…

Use of recombinant collagenases class I and II in optimization of cell purification for tissue engineering applications

2014

Improved yield and functionality of parathyroid cells separated by using collagenase-digestion with cold pre-incubation.

2001

Preparation of cells from solid organs often induces a functional impairment due to the proteolytic cell damage by the applied digestive enzyme like collagenase, trypsin or dispase. To preserve the tissue and to enhance the yield of cells, Laue et al. reported an islet cell isolation with pre-incubation at 4 C permitting the enzyme to diffuse into the tissue and explicite activity equally throughout the whole particle. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this procedure can be applied to parathyroid glands. Therefore porcine parathyroid glands were dissected into 1 mm3 pieces. Subsequently one group of these pieces was incubated 22 h at 4 C in 2 mg/ml collagenase before activati…

Urokinase Plasminogen Activator and Gelatinases Are Associated with Membrane Vesicles Shed by Human HT1080 Fibrosarcoma Cells

1997

Membrane vesicles are shed by tumor cells both in vivo and in vitro. Although their functions are not well understood, it has been proposed that they may play multiple roles in tumor progression. We characterized membrane vesicles from human HT1080 fibrosarcoma cell cultures for the presence of proteinases involved in tumor invasion. By gelatin zymography and Western blotting, these vesicles showed major bands corresponding to the zymogen and active forms of gelatinase B (MMP-9) and gelatinase A (MMP-2) and to the MMP-9. tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 complex. Both gelatinases appeared to be associated with the vesicle membrane. HT1080 cell vesicles also showed a strong, plasminoge…