Our previous work demonstrated that collagenase mRNA levels are increased in fibroblasts derived from patients with cutis laxa (CL). To pursue the mechanism of the upregulation of collagenase expression, we investigated transcriptional levels of the collagenase gene in CL fibroblasts. Fibroblasts cultured from the skin of three congenital CL patients were studied. Northern blot hybridization re...

Zoanthamine-type alkaloids display a wide spectrum of biological effects. This study aimed to examine the inhibitory effects of norzoanthamine and its ten homologues of zoanthamine class on human fibroblast collagenase by modeling a three-dimensional structure of the ligands at collagenase using energy minimization, docking, molecular dynamics simulation and MM-PB/GBSA binding free energy calcu...

In order to investigate the role of collagenase in cancer invasion and metastasis, two collagenase activities of interstitial collagenase and type IV collagen degrading enzyme (type IV collagenase) were determined in 40 cases of human stomach cancer tissue. Elevated cancers which are known to have a propensity to cause blood-borne metastases showed higher activities of both interstitial collage...

Collagenase enzyme activity of 38 Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and 38 strains of Escherichia coli from various pathological sources was measured by a simple method. This method uses plates with collagen gel. The rate of gel lysis is proportional to the collagenase concentration. The method is simple and requires no special materials or equipment. From the 38 P. aeruginosa strains, 34 were col...

Isolated human dermis has been shown to produce a specific collagenase in vitro. Enzyme activity becomes detectable after two days of culture, reaches a peak on the fourth day, and then begins to decline. Like collagenase obtained from cultures of whole human skin, dermal collagenase is inhibited by human serum and EDTA. The possible sources of this enzyme are discussed. Collagenolytic activity...

1. Rabbit bones in tissue culture synthesize an inhibitor of collagenase during the first 4 days of culture. 2. The inhibitor was purified by a combination of gel filtration, concanavalin A--Sepharose chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and zinc-chelate affinity chromatography. 3. The purified inhibitor migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophore...

Human neutrophil procollagenase was activated by incubation with recombinant active stromelysin. Activation was achieved by cleavage of the Gly78-Phe79 peptide bond at the end of the propeptide domain in a single-step activation mechanism. In addition, accelerated activation was achieved when N-terminally truncated, latent collagenase (with Phe49 as its N-terminal residue) was incubated with re...

We have examined the expression of murine tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) in nonmetastatic and metastatic cell lines derived from SP1 murine mammary adenocarcinoma cells. We observed decreased levels of TIMP mRNA and activity in metastatic cells as compared to their nonmetastatic equivalents in the absence of fetal bovine serum. Lower levels of TIMP mRNA correlated to decreased le...

Vibrio vulnificus (lactose-positive vibrio) produced collagenase when grown in 2% synthetic sea salts supplemented with hydrolyzed casein. The addition of collagen or peptone to the medium increased the level of collagenase production. Collagenase activity was inhibited by EDTA but not by fetal calf serum.

In the transition from proliferation to hypertrophic cell zones in the growth plate, there is an increase in chondrocyte volume and a corresponding decrease in collagen content to accommodate the enlarging cells. It is postulated that collagenase accounts for this collagen loss. To test this hypothesis, tibial growth plates were obtained from normal rats, rachitic rats deficient in vitamin D an...