The levels and activity of tissue transglutaminase were studied in human peripheral blood monocytes during differentiation into macrophages in vitro. The enzyme was present at low levels in freshly isolated monocytes (less than 20 ng/mg cell protein) but increased 50-fold during 10 d of adherent culture in autologous serum, reaching levels of 0.1% of total cellular protein. The rate of appearan...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Celiac disease is an immune-mediated enteropathy caused by a permanent sensitivity to gluten in genetically susceptible individuals. Iron-deficiency anemia is the most commonly encountered anemia in humans. Iron-deficiency anemia also is a common extraintestinal manifestation of celiac disease. To determine the celiac disease prevalence in children with iron-deficiency anemia an...

The protein cross-linking enzyme tissue transglutaminase binds in vitro with high affinity to fibronectin via its 42-kD gelatin-binding domain. Here we report that cell surface transglutaminase mediates adhesion and spreading of cells on the 42-kD fibronectin fragment, which lacks integrin-binding motifs. Overexpression of tissue transglutaminase increases its amount on the cell surface, enhanc...

CONTEXT Celiac disease, one of the best-known autoimmune human leukocyte antigen-dependent disorders, has a relatively increased prevalence in first-degree relatives. OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of celiac disease in siblings of patients with confirmed celiac disease. METHODS Siblings of confirmed celiac disease patients in our center were identified and enrolled in this study. The...

Transglutaminases catalyze the cross-linking and amine incorporation of proteins, and are implicated in various biological phenomena. Previously, we found a high molecular mass transglutaminase-inhibitory substance produced by Streptomyces lavendulae Y-200 that appeared to be a melanin substance. Here, we report that synthetic tyrosine melanin inhibited various types of transglutaminases. Tyros...

Transglutaminases are a class of enzymes capable of covalently cross-linking both intracellular and extracellular proteins. The activity of tissue transglutaminase is known to decrease precipitously following neoplastic transformation, and it has been hypothesized that transglutaminase may be involved in growth regulation. We have found that the differentiation promoter sodium butyrate is able ...

BACKGROUND Wheat, rye, and barley proteins induce celiac disease, an autoimmune type of gastrointestinal disorder, in genetically susceptible persons. Because the disease may be underdiagnosed, we estimated the prevalence of the disease and tested the hypothesis that assays for serum autoantibodies can be used to detect untreated celiac disease and that positive findings correlate with specific...

We have investigated the role of DNA methylation in the regulation of the expression of the human tissue transglutaminase gene. Studies on the methylation of the transglutaminase promoter in normal and neoplastic human cells demonstrated that the promoter is methylated in vivo and hypomethylation of the promoter is correlated with constitutive gene expression. Demethylation of the promoter in v...

Objectives: Immune regulation seems to be altered in cystic fibrosis (CF), thus potentially predisposing patients developing autoimmune diseases (AID). In this meta-analysis, we aimed evaluate the prevalence of celiac disease (CeD) among CF as by far most commonly reported population and, secondly, review observations on other, less frequently studied diseases. Methods: We conducted a systemati...

Retinoic acid has been shown to induce large accumulations of tissue transglutaminase in cultured myeloid cells. Addition of retinoic acid to mouse resident peritoneal macrophages increased the level of tissue transglutaminase mRNA within 30-60 min. Retinoic acid also increased tissue transglutaminase mRNA levels in human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells. These studies show that retinoic ac...