It has been proposed that in cultured fibroblasts the final packaging of enzymes in lysosomes requires excretion followed by pinocytosis by neighboring cells via a carbohydrate-specific receptor mechanism. It has also been proposed that the abnormally high activity of lysosomal enzymes in the medium of cultured fibroblasts from patients with I-cell disease (mucolipidosis II) results from an alt...

The immediate-type allergic reaction is involved in many allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and sinusitis. In this study, we investigated the effect of acteoside extracted from CISTANCHE TUBULOSA (Schrenk) R. Wight on the basophilic cell-mediated allergic reaction. The effect of acteoside on β-hexosaminidase release and intracellular [Ca (2+)] I level from rat basophilic leuke...

This study aimed to evaluate the anti-allergic potential of Echium plantagineum L. bee pollen and to characterize its primary metabolites. The activity of E. plantagineum hydromethanolic extract, devoid of alkaloids, was tested against β-hexosaminidase release in rat basophilic leukemic cells (RBL-2H3). Two different stimuli were used: calcium ionophore A23187 and IgE/antigen. Lipoxygenase inhi...

To evaluate the antithrombotic activities of puerarin and daidzin from the rhizome of Pueraria lobata, in vitro and ex vivo inhibitory activities of these compounds and their metabolite, daidzein, were measured. These compounds inhibited ADP- and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Daidzein was the most potent. However, when puerarin and daidzin were intraperitoneally administered, their ant...

BACKGROUND Mast cells are primary mediators of allergic inflammation. Antigen-mediated crosslinking of their cell surface immunoglobulin E (IgE) receptors results in degranulation and the release of proinflammatory mediators including histamine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and leukotrienes. METHODS Mast cells were stimulated to degranulate by using either IgE crosslinking or ionophore treatm...

The study aimed to investigate whether sevoflurane preconditioning can protect against small intestinal ischemia reperfusion (IIR) injury and to explore whether mast cell (MC) is involved in the protections provided by sevoflurane preconditioning. Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to sevoflurane or treated with MC stabilizer cromolyn sodium (CS) were subjected to 75-minute superior mesenteric artery ...

Tay-Sachs disease is a lethal neurodegenerative disorder caused by deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme beta-hexosaminidase A and inherited in an autosomal recessive fashion; carriers of the disease are 10 times more frequent in the Ashkenazi Jewish community than in the general population. Over 90% of North American Ashkenazi carriers tested have been shown to have either a splice site mutation ...

PURPOSE High-affinity receptor I (FcεRI) on mast cells and basophils plays a key role in the immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated type I hypersensitivity mediated by allergen cross-linking of the specific IgE-FcεRI complex. Thus, prevention of IgE binding to FcεRI on these cells is an effective therapy for allergic disease. We have developed a strategy to disrupt IgE binding to FcεRI using an antibo...

Enzyme enhancement therapy, utilizing small molecules as pharmacological chaperones, is an attractive approach for the treatment of lysosomal storage diseases that are associated with protein misfolding. However, pharmacological chaperones are also inhibitors of their target enzyme. Thus, a major concern with this approach is that, despite enhancing protein folding within, and intracellular tra...