Chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis-caused bone destruction, results from an increase of bone-resorbing osteoclasts (OCs) induced by inflammation. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying this disorder remain unclear. We herein investigated that the effect of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) on inflammatory osteoclastogenesis induced by lip...

Understanding the regulation of genes controlling fibrinolysis and matrix homeostasis is essential for elucidating the basis of tissue repair. A recently described novel Krüppel-like factor, Zf9, is up-regulated in acute liver injury in activated hepatic stellate cells. Because Zf9 can be induced widely, its activity was examined in vascular endothelium, a key cell in vascular injury. Zf9 is in...

Meningioma is a well-known tumor of the central nervous system, and is treated by surgical resection and/or radiation. Recently, ionizing radiation has been shown to enhance invasiveness of surviving tumor cells, and several proteolytic enzyme molecules, including urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), seem to be upregulated after radiation. uPA and its receptor (uPAR) have been strongly implic...

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) participates in cancer-related biologic processes, such as wound healing and inflammation. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of uPA deficiency on the long-term outcome of early life episodes of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Wild-type (WT) and uPA-deficient (uPA(-/-)) BALB/c mice were treated with DSS or remained ...

Chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis-caused bone destruction, results from an increase of bone-resorbing osteoclasts (OCs) induced by inflammation. However, the detailed mechanisms underlying this disorder remain unclear. We herein investigated that the effect of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) on inflammatory osteoclastogenesis induced by lip...

Induction of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) by retinoic acid (RA) is the initial event preceding certain subsequent biological changes in vascular endothelial cells. We investigated the molecular mechanism by which RA stimulates the expression of uPA, which lacks a canonical RA receptor (RAR)-responsive element, in bovine and human aortic endothelial cells. Upon stimulation with RA, mRNA...

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) is a serine protease that catalyzes the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin. Although increased circulating levels of uPA are present in endotoxemia and sepsis, conditions in which activated neutrophils contribute to the development of acute organ dysfunction, the ability of uPA to participate directly in LPS-induced neutrophil activation has not been exam...

Tight regulation of serine proteases is essential for their physiological function, and unbalanced states of protease activity have been implicated in a variety of human diseases. One key example is the presence of uPA (urokinase-type plasminogen activator) in different human cancer types, with high levels correlating with a poor prognosis. This observation has stimulated efforts into finding n...

Current evidence regarding the regulation of urokinase-dependent ex tracellular proteolysis indicates that plasminogen activation is a surface associated process. We have compared the histological localization of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) and urokinase plasminogen acti vator receptor (uPAR) in breast cancer sections using a panel of mono clonal antibodies. First, the ability of six ...

In nephrotic syndrome, aberrant glomerular filtration of plasminogen and conversion to active plasmin in preurine are thought to activate proteolytically epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) and contribute to sodium retention and edema. The ENaC blocker amiloride is an off-target inhibitor of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) in vitro. It was hypothesized that uPA is abnormally filtered to...