Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase and the LasA protease are synthesized as preproenzymes with long amino-terminal propeptides. The elastase propeptide is cleaved autocatalytically in the periplasm to form a transient, inactive elastase-propeptide complex. In contrast, the processing of proLasA does not involve autoproteolysis. In this study, we analyzed short-term P. aeruginosa cultures under con...

BACKGROUND We investigated exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in severely traumatised patients with enteral nutrition using the fecal elastase-1 concentration. METHODS The fecal elastase-1 levels of critically ill patients after major trauma (n=18) were determined in a prospective study. Early enteral nutrition was started with a high molecular diet via a naso-duodenal tube, starting 24-36 hou...

We investigated the effect of Punica granatum peel aqueous extract (PGE), on pulmonary inflammation and alveolar degradation induced by intratracheal administration Elastase in Sprague Dawley rats. Lung was rats instillation Elastase. On day 1 2, animals received an intraperitoneal injection PGE (200 mg/mL), three hours later, they were intratracheally instilled with 25U/kg pancreatic porcine A...

1. The elastase of human spleen was shown to exhibit endopeptidase activity against azocasein and elastin. 2. Activity against several synthetic substrates was detected, and benzyloxycarbonyl-L-alanine 2-naphthyl ester was found to be a good substrate for routine use. 3. The enzyme showed a broad pH optimum in the range of 8.2-9.2 against azo-casein and the synthetic substrate. 4. The effect of...

Accepted for publication 8 November 1994 Abstract Aims-To determine whether neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G are expressed, at transcriptional or translational levels, in the bone marrow from a patient with Chediak-Higashi syndrome. Methods-Blood neutrophils were isolated from three patients with Chediak-Higashi disease and bone marrow was collected from one. Cell lysates were analysed for n...

Neutrophils, eosinophils, and their proinflammatory constituents are important mediators of airway disease, and high levels of neutrophil proteases and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) are found in sputum from patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). To investigate whether neutrophil proteases or CF sputum causes eosinophil degranulation, purified eosinophils from atopic asthmatic subjects were inc...

This paper presents the evaluation of an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) for extracting elastase produced by Bacillus sp. EL31410. The elastase and cell partition behavior in polyethylene glycol (PEG)/salt systems was investigated. The suitable system for elastase extraction was PEG/KH(2)PO(4)-K(2)HPO(4), in which elastase is mainly partitioned into the PEG-rich phase, while the cells remained ...

Elastase released from neutrophils as part of the innate immune system has been implicated in chronic diseases such as emphysema and cardiovascular disease. We have previously shown that neutrophil elastase targets vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF) for partial degradation to generate a fragment of VEGF (VEGFf) that has distinct activities. Namely, VEGFf binds to VEGF receptor 1 but no...

The sequence of the structural gene encoding the Legionella pneumophila extracellular zinc metalloprotease has been determined and was found to possess a single large open reading frame (ORF) of 1,629 nucleotides (nt). This ORF was preceded by consensus promoter (TTAACT . . . 17 nt . . . TATAAC) and ribosome-binding (TAAGGAG) sequences. The deduced polypeptide contained a putative signal sequen...

Mouse alveolar macrophages (AM) cultured in the absence of serum secrete an elastolytic enzyme. The elastase from AM resembles the previously described elastase from peritoneal macrophages (PM) in pH optimum and inhibition profile. The macrophage enzymes do not appear to be stored, and with periodic changes in the culture medium, accumulate extracellularly for up to 10 days. Resident PM produce...