Mast cell (MC) granules contain large amounts of proteases of the chymase, tryptase and carboxypeptidase A (MC-CPA) type that are stored in complex with serglycin,a proteoglycan with heparin side chains. Hence, serglycinprotease complexes are released upon MC degranulation and may influence local inflammation. Here we explored the possibility that a serglycin-protease axis may regulate levels o...

the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of silver nanoparticle on general performance and digestive proteases in zebra fish. four experimental diets were designed with a concentration of 5, 20 and 40 parts per billion (ppb) nanoparticles in the diet (named s5, s20, and s40, respectively) and control group without any nanoparticles (s0). there was no significa...

Extracellular serine protease cascades have evolved in vertebrates and invertebrates to mediate rapid, local reactions to physiological or pathological cues. The serine protease cascade that triggers the Toll signaling pathway in Drosophila embryogenesis shares several organizational characteristics with those involved in mammalian complement and blood clotting. One of the hallmarks of such cas...

Proteases mediate important crucial functions in parasitic diseases, and their characterization contributes to the understanding of host-parasite interaction. A serine protease was purified about 43-fold with a total recovery of 60% from a detergent-soluble extract of promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis. The purification procedures included aprotinin-agarose affinity chromatography and gel ...

Changes in barrier function of the gastrointestinal tract are thought to contribute to the inflammatory bowel diseases Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Previous work in our lab demonstrated that apical exposure of intestinal epithelial cell lines to serine proteases results in an increase in transepithelial electrical resistance (TER). However, the underlying mechanisms governing this re...

Sugarcane's (Saccharum spp.) response to Diatraea saccharalis (F.) (Lepidoptera: (Crambidae) herbivory was investigated using a macroarray spotted with 248 sugarcane Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) encoding serine peptidase inhibitors, serine peptidases. and Clp protease system subunits. Our results showed that after nine hours of herbivory, 13 sugarcane genes were upregulated and nine were down...

Haptoglobin forms a stable, irreversible complex with hemoglobin. The H chain of haptoglobin, which is the subunit that binds hemoglobin, shows strong sequence homology with the serine protease family. This raises the question of whether hemoglobin binds to the protease-like active site pocket of H chain as the protease inhibitors do with serine proteases. This question can be tested by binding...

In visceral leishmaniasis (VL), development of alternative safe therapeutic strategy is gaining paramount wherein natural components of plant origin have prominence. We explored Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt, a medicinal plant known in traditional folk medicine, for its antileishmanial efficacy. SDS-PAGE analysis of the C. grandis leaf extract (Cg-Ex) showed few protein bands about 14-66 kDa amon...

Microorganisms were screened for their ability to release cadmium from scallop hepatopancreas, which is the main residue after removing of the edible parts of scallop. The isolated strain, 23-0-11, identified as Arthrobacter nicotinovorans, secreted a protease which released cadmium from scallop hepatopancreas into the liquid medium. The molecular mass of the enzyme was estimated to be 27 kDa. ...