Mouse macrophage elastase, a metalloproteinase secreted by inflammatory macrophages, catalyzed the limited proteolysis of selected subclasses of mouse immunoglobulins, including monomeric IgG2a, IgG3, and some forms of IgG2b. Mouse IgG1 was resistant to elastase degradation; however, human IgG1 was degraded. IgG3 in immune complexes was cleaved in a manner similar to that of monomeric IgG3. Deg...

We wanted to identify the inhibitors of neutrophil elastase, quantify their activities in the upper airways of neonates, and relate these to the presence of active elastase and the likelihood of elastolytic injury occurring due to inhibitory capacity being overwhelmed. Activities of neutrophil elastase and its inhibitors were measured in tracheal aspirates from 17 infants, 10 of whom subsequent...

CD43 (sialophorin, leukosialin), an O-glycosylated and sialylated membrane protein (surface sialomucin) with antiadhesive properties, is thought to protect circulating leukocytes by preventing cell surface interactions. Although it is resistant to several proteases, the granule enzyme elastase was recently implicated in loss of extracellular CD43 regions from incubated neutrophils. Flow cytomet...

A proteinase inhibitor active against neutrophil and pancreatic elastase was detected in extracts of cultured human monocytes and the human monocyte-like cell line U937. This component forms a covalent complex with the active site of elastase; the complex is stable in boiling sodium dodecyl sulfate solution, and is susceptible to nucleophilic cleavage. The activity of the elastase inhibitor is ...

Shim YM, Paige M, Hanna H, Kim SH, Burdick MD, Strieter RM. Role of LTB4 in the pathogenesis of elastase-induced murine pulmonary emphysema. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 299: L749–L759, 2010. First published September 3, 2010; doi:10.1152/ajplung.00116.2010.— Exaggerated levels of the leukotriene B4 (LTB4) frequently coexist at sites of inflammation and tissue remodeling. Therefore, we hy...

Purified Pseudomonas elastase injected subcutaneously into the skin of an Evans blue dye-injected (intravenously) guinea pig caused dye leakage similar to that observed when histamine or bradykinin was injected in the same animal. The histamine-induced dye leakage was ablated in antihistamine-treated guinea pigs, but elastase- and bradykinin-induced dye leakages were not. Local injections of sp...

Streptococcus pneumoniae contains an inhibitor of human neutrophil elastase. The agent does not inhibit other proteases, including neutrophil cathepsin G and pancreatic elastase. It is active in the presence of insoluble elastin as well as synthetic elastase substrates. The inhibitor is present in the pneumococcal cell membrane. [125I]elastase binding studies and inhibition experiments with int...

Increased proteolytic activity may be a factor in intimal hyperplasia after balloon angioplasty (BA). The objectives of this study were to assess elastase activity after BA in a rabbit arterial double-injury model and the effects of elastase inhibition. Elastase activity increased immediately after BA, reached an 8-fold peak at 1 week, and declined to baseline levels by 4 weeks. Elastin zymogra...

The detection of pancreatic elastase 1 in stool samples has become the noninvasive gold standard for the diagnosis of pancreatic insufficiency in humans. Accordingly, the development of a sandwich-ELISA specific for canine pancreatic elastase 1, based on monoclonal antibodies, is presented here. The test has a detection range of 4-240 microg canine pancreatic elastase l/g feces. The intraassay ...

We infused microgram quantities of active or inactive PMN elastase and cathepsin G into the renal arteries of rats. Both active and inactive elastase localized to the glomerular capillary wall equally, and in amounts that could be achieved physiologically in GN. However, elastase-perfused rats developed marked proteinuria (196 +/- 32 mg/24 h) compared with control rats receiving inactive elasta...