BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although serine proteases and agonists of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) cause inflammation and pain, the spectrum of proteases that are activated by proinflammatory and algesic stimuli and their contribution to inflammatory pain are uncertain.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Enzymic assays and selective inhibitors were used to characterize protease activity in mice after intra

Although principally produced by the pancreas to degrade dietary proteins in the intestine, trypsins are also expressed in the nervous system and in epithelial tissues, where they have diverse actions that could be mediated by protease-activated receptors (PARs). We examined the biological actions of human trypsin IV (or mesotrypsin) and rat p23, inhibitor-resistant forms of trypsin. The zymogens

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We studied the role of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR(2)) and its activating enzymes, trypsins and tryptase, in Clostridium difficile toxin A (TxA)-induced enteritis.METHODS: We injected TxA into ileal loops in PAR(2) or dipeptidyl peptidase I (DPPI) knockout mice or in wild-type mice pretreated with tryptase inhibitors (FUT-175 or MPI-0442352) or soybean trypsin inhibit

Human site-1-protease (S1P, MEROPS S08.8063), also widely known as subtilisin/kexin isozyme 1 (SKI-1), is a membrane bound subtilisin-related serine protease, that belongs to a group of nine mammalian proprotein convertases. Among these proteases, S1P displays unique substrate specificity, by showing preferred cleavage after non-basic amino acids. S1P plays a key role in a proteolytic pathway that

Procarboxypeptidase U [proCPU, thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), EC 3.4.17.20] belongs to the metallocarboxypeptidase family and is a zymogen found in human plasma. ProCPU has been proposed to be a molecular link between coagulation and fibrinolysis. Upon activation of proCPU, the active enzyme (CPU) rapidly becomes inactive due to its intrinsic instability. The inherent instabil

To follow the expression of the fourth enzyme of pyrimidine de novo synthesis dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) in cells and tissues, we studied the DHODH mRNA expression by means of RT-PCR in rat tissues. Rabbit polyclonal anti-DHODH immunoglobulins were applied for immunochemical quantification of the enzyme protein by Western blotting. In mouse B-lymphocytes, which were adapted to tolerate u

Deoxyribonucleoside kinases are feedback inhibited by the final products of the salvage pathway, the deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. In the present study, the mechanism of feedback inhibition is presented based on the crystal structure of a complex between the fruit fly deoxyribonucleoside kinase and its feedback inhibitor deoxythymidine triphosphate. The inhibitor was found to be bound as a bi

In mammals four deoxyribonucleoside kinases, with a relatively restricted specificity, catalyze the phosphorylation of the four natural deoxyribonucleosides. When cultured mosquito cells, originating from the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, were examined for deoxyribonucleoside kinase activities, only a single enzyme was isolated. Subsequently, the corresponding gene was cloned and over-expresse

The mitochondrial membrane bound dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH; EC 1.3.99.11) catalyzes the fourth step of pyrimidine biosynthesis. By the present correction of a known cDNA sequence for Arabidopsis thaliana DHODH we revealed the importance of the very C-terminal part for its catalytic activity and the reason why--in contrast to mammalian and insect species--the recombinant plant flavoenzyme

Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH, EC 1.3.99.11), the fourth enzyme of pyrimidine de novo synthesis, is an integral flavoprotein of the inner mitchondrial membrane and is functionally connected to the respiratory chain. Here, experiments have been directed toward determining the roles of the N-terminal sequence motifs both in enzymatic properties of insect DHODH produced in vitro and the in vivo

In mammals, the four native deoxyribonucleosides are phosphorylated to the corresponding monophosphates by four deoxyribonucleoside kinases, which have specialized substrate specificities. These four enzymes are likely to originate from a common progenitor kinase. Insects appear to have only one multisubstrate deoxyribonucleoside kinase (dNK, EC 2.7.1.145), which prefers pyrimidine nucleosides, bu

In eukaryotic cells deoxyribonucleoside kinases belonging to three phylogenetic sub-families have been found: (i) thymidine kinase 1 (TK1)-like enzymes, which are strictly pyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside-specific kinases; (ii) TK2-like enzymes, which include pyrimidine deoxyribonucleoside kinases and a single multisubstrate kinase from Drosophila melanogaster (Dm-dNK); and (iii) deoxycytidine/deoxy

Deoxyribonucleoside kinases phosphorylate deoxyribonucleosides and activate a number of medically important nucleoside analogs. Here we report the structure of the Drosophila deoxyribonucleoside kinase with deoxycytidine bound at the nucleoside binding site and that of the human deoxyguanosine kinase with ATP at the nucleoside substrate binding site. Compared to the human kinase, the Drosophila ki

Mammalian dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, the fourth enzyme of pyrimidine de novo synthesis is an integral protein of the inner mitochondrial membrane that faces the intermembrane space and is functionally connected to the respiratory chain via ubiquinone. Here, we describe the first cloning and analyzing of the complete cDNA of mouse dihydroorotate dehydrogenase. Based on our recent functional expr

In contrast to all known deoxyribonucleoside kinases, a single highly efficient deoxyribonucleoside kinase from Drosophila melanogaster (Dm-dNK) is able to phosphorylate all precursor nucleosides for DNA synthesis. Dm-dNK was mutated in vitro by high-frequency random mutagenesis, expressed in the thymidine kinase-deficient Escherichia coli strain KY895 and clones were selected for sensitivity to t

In animals, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) is a mitochondrial protein that carries out the fourth step in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. Because this is the only enzyme of this pathway that is localized to mitochondria and because the enzyme is cytosolic in some bacteria and fungi, we carried out studies to understand the mode of targeting of animal DHODH and its submitochondrial localizat

The occurrence of a deoxyribonucleoside kinase in Drosophila melanogaster (Dm-dNK) with remarkably broad substrate specificity has recently been indicated (Munch-Petersen, B., Piskur, J., and Søndergaard, L. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 3926-3931). To prove that the capacity to phosphorylate all four deoxyribonucleosides is in fact associated to one polypeptide chain, partially sequenced cDNA clones

Mitochondrial dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHOdehase; EC 1.3.99.11) is a target of anti-proliferative, immunosuppressive and anti-parasitic agents. Here, redoxal, (2,2'-[3,3'-dimethoxy[1, 1'-biphenyl]-4,4'-diyl)diimino]bis-benzoic acid, was studied with isolated mitochondria and the purified recombinant human and rat enzyme to find out the mode of kinetic interaction with this target. Its pattern

Mitochondrially-bound dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.99.11) catalyzes the fourth sequential step in the de novo synthesis of uridine monophosphate. The enzyme has been identified as or surmised to be the pharmacological target for isoxazol, triazine, cinchoninic acid and (naphtho)quinone derivatives, which exerted antiproliferative, immunosuppressive, and antiparasitic effects. Despite this

The isoxazol leflunomide (N-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-5-methylisoxazol-4-carboxamide) and its active metabolite A77-1726 (N-(4-trifluoromethyl)-phenyl-2-cyano-3-hydroxy-crotonic acidamide) are promising disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs now in clinical trials. The malononitrilamides MNA279 (2-cyano-3-cyclopropyl-3-oxo-(4-cyanophenyl)propionamide) MNA715(N-(4-trifluoromethyl)-phenyl-2-cyano-3-h