Gelatinase A transcriptional regulation is the consequence of combinatorial interactions with key promoter and enhancer elements identified within this gene. A potent 40 bp enhancer response element, RE-1, located in the near 5' flanking regions of the rat and human gelatinase A genes drives high-level expression in glomerular mesangial cells (MCs). Southwestern-blot analysis of MC nuclear extr...

The enzyme collagenase participates in remodeling the extracellular matrix of corneal stroma during normal wound healing and mediates the degradation of extracellular matrix that occurs in many corneal pathologic states. Because this enzyme is synthesized and secreted by corneal cells, therapy of degradative disorders might be geared toward control of enzyme expression. The effects of two cytok...

OBJECTIVE Gelatinases are a large group of proteolytic enzymes that belong to the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). MMPs are a broad family of peptidases, which proteolyse the extracellular matrix and have an important role in inflammation. Verapamil is a calcium channel blocker extensively used in the treatment of numerous cardiovascular diseases such as arrhythmia and hypertension. The anti-t...

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in tumor metastasis and invasion, inflammatory tissue destruction and remodeling, wound healing, and angiogenesis. The 72-kDa gelatinase A is the most widely distributed of all the MMPs, and along with the 92-kDa gelatinase B, both play an important role in the turnover of basement membrane. The role of MMPs in chronic airway inflammation ...

Metalloproteinases have been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. We report longitudinal serum levels of gelatinase B and of the tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP), TIMP-1 and TIMP-2, in 21 patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis. Patients had monthly clinical and gadolinium-enhanced MRI follow-up for 10 months. Longitudinal samples in nine healthy control...

A et al. Identification of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a novel early urinary biomarker for ischemic renal injury. Dent CL, Ma Q et al. Urine NGAL predicts severity of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery: a prospective study. Dent C, Tarabishi R et al. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as a biomarker for acute renal injury after cardiac surgery. Plasma and...

The demolition of large buildings can be accomplished by a single explosive agent destroying a single class of structural components, namely weightbearing beams. Although the breakdown of tissues in disease has often been conceived to occur in an analogous manner, with a single proteinase degrading a single structural ECM protein, it has become clear that effective tissue destruction requires s...

Curcumin has been found to possess anti-inflammatory activities and neutrophils, key players in inflammation, were previously found to be important targets to curcumin in a few studies. For example, curcumin was found to induce apoptosis in neutrophils by a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent mechanism. However, the role of curcumin on the biology of neutrophils is still poorl...

BACKGROUND Urinary calprotectin has been identified as a promising biomarker for acute kidney injury. To date, however, the time-dependent changes of this parameter during acute kidney injury remain elusive. The aim of the present work was to define the time-course of urinary calprotectin secretion after ischaemia/reperfusion-induced kidney injury in comparison to neutrophil gelatinase-associat...

Collagenase production by rodent osteoblasts in response to calciotropic hormones has led to the hypothesis that bone cells play a major role in bone resorption by degrading the surface osteoid layer, thereby exposing the underlying mineralized matrix to osteoclastic action. Many studies suggest, however, that this model might not apply to bone resorption in the human. Human osteoblasts have be...