Campylobacter pylori (C. pyloridis) is a fastidious organism found in the gastric mucosa associated with histological gastritis and peptic ulceration. A rapid identification scheme that detects the presence of preformed enzymes (Rosco Diagnostica, Taastrup, Denmark) was applied to clinical isolates of C. pylori. The isolates tested were a very homogeneous group. They all produced oxidase, catal...

A procedure is described for the purification of a neutral protease from fermentation broths of Vibrio proteolyticus. The key feature of the purification scheme is the selective, irreversible inactivation of a contaminating exoenzyme, aminopeptidase, by alkali treatment, rather than removal of this enzyme by conventional chromatographic methods. Fermentation broths or concentrates were brought ...

Bradykinin is a nonapeptide that contributes to the cardioprotective effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. During ACE inhibition, an increased proportion of bradykinin is degraded through non-ACE pathways. Studies in animals suggest that aminopeptidase P (EC 3.4.11.9) may contribute to the metabolism of bradykinin. The purpose of the present study was to determine the contr...

Aminopeptidase N from Escherichia coli is a major metalloprotease that participates in the controlled hydrolysis of peptides in the proteolytic pathway. Determination of the 870-aa structure reveals that it has four domains similar to the tricorn-interacting factor F3. The thermolysin-like active site is enclosed within a large cavity with a volume of 2,200 A(3), which is inaccessible to substr...

The activities of uteroferrin, measured as acid phosphatase (AP), and an aminoacylpeptidase (AA) were measured in uterine flushings collected from gilts on Days 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 18 of the oestrous cycle and pregnancy (N = 37). Changes in AP (P less than 0.05) were associated with day for both specific and total AP in non-pregnant and pregnant gilts. For pregnant and non-pregnant gil...

The enzymatic response of a natural deep-sea microbial community to input of organic matter was investigated by substrate enrichment experiments. Sediments from the BIOTRANS area at 47"N 20°W in the NE Atlantic (4500 m depth) were supplied with particulate and dissolved organic matter from stenhzed net plankton and incubated under in situ pressure and temperature. Changes in the potential hydro...

The B(1) receptor for kinins is selectively stimulated by bradykinin-related fragments lacking the C-terminal arginine, des-arginine(9)-bradykinin (des-Arg(9)-BK), and Lys-des-Arg(9)-BK. The latter peptide is the optimal agonist at the human and rabbit receptor. The B(1) receptor is inducible as a function of inflammatory conditions in the vasculature. We studied the effect of endogenously expr...

Intraglomerular renin-angiotensin system enzyme activities have been examined previously using glomerular lysates and immune-based assays. However, preparation of glomerular extracts compromises the integrity of their anatomic architecture. In addition, antibody-based assays focus on angiotensin (Ang) II detection, ignoring the generation of other Ang I-derived metabolites, some of which may cr...