BACKGROUND Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is characterized by platelet and neutrophil activation. Platelets are the major source of circulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Endostatin, an anti-angiogenic factor, is a fragment of collagen that is released from the extracellular matrix via the active cleavage of neutrophil elastase, thereby increasing the circulating l...

Prior studies from this laboratory of the elastinelastase-serum elastase inhibitor system disclosed, among other findings, a consistent 2to 3-fold increase in the inhibitor in late pregnancy (Schneider, Walford, and Dignam, 1960). Other disease states, including arteriosclerosis, lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, severe liver disease, and nephrotic syndrome, showed mild but inconstant chang...

Integrin CR3 (CD11b/CD18, Mac-1, alpha M beta 2) mediates the transient adhesion of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) to surfaces coated with fibrinogen, C3bi, ICAM-1, and other ligands. Recent studies (Cai, T.-Q., and S.D. Wright 1995. J. Biol. Chem. 270:14358) suggest that adhesion may be favored by stimulus-dependent changes in the kinetics of ligand binding by CR3. Cell detachment, on the ...

CONTEXT Fecal elastase is a noninvasive test for pancreatic insufficiency diagnosis. OBJECTIVES Evaluate the usefulness of fecal elastase 1 for the indication of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency among former alcohol addicts and patients with chronic pancreatitis. METHODS Forty-three patients with chronic pancreatitis and thirty-three asymptomatic former alcohol addicts entered the study. T...

Ecotin is a dimeric periplasmic protein from Escherichia coli that has been shown to inhibit potently many trypsin-fold serine proteases of widely varying substrate specificity. To help elucidate the physiological function of ecotin, we examined the family of ecotin orthologues, which are present in a subset of Gram-negative bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that ecotin has an exogenous...

The kinetic constants for the hydrolysis of a series of I-nitroanilide substrates by human leukocyte (HL) elastase and cathepsin G, porcine pancreatic elastase, and bovine chymotrypsin at pH 7.50 are reported. HL elastase and cathepsin G are currently thought to be the agents responsible for destruction of the lung in the disease emphysema. MeO-Sue-Ala-Ala-Pro-VaI-NA is an excellent substrate f...

Wound healing is a complex series of biochemical and cellular events. Optimally, functional material design addresses the overlapping acute and inflammatory stages of wound healing based on molecular, cellular, and bio-compatibility issues. In this paper the issues addressed are uncontrolled hemostasis and inflammation which can interfere with the orderly flow of wound healing. In this regard, ...