In the nanomolar enzyme and inhibitor concentration range, 1 mol of mucus proteinase inhibitor (MPI) inhibits 1 mol of neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G, trypsin, and chymotrypsin. In the micromolar concentration range, the enzyme:inhibitor binding stoichiometry is still 1:1 for elastase but shifts to 2:1 for the three other proteinases. These data could be confirmed by three nonenzymatic method...

Recent evidence shows that human neutrophil elastase inhibitors can be synthesized locally at mucosal sites. In addition to efficiently targeting bacterial and host enzymes, they can be released in the interstitium and in the lumen of mucosa, where they have been shown to have antimicrobial activities, and to activate innate immune responses. This review will address more particularly the pleio...

Clitocybin D, a novel human neutrophil elastase inhibitor, was isolated from the culture broth of Clitocybe aurantiaca. This compound was purified by solvent extraction, silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and preparative HPLC. The compound was determined to be 4-(4,6-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-3H-isoindol-1-yl)-benzoic acid on the basis of 1D and 2D NMRs and MS spe...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is generally associated with progressive destruction of airways and lung parenchyma. Various factors play an important role in the development and progression of COPD, like imbalance of proteases, environmental and genetic factors and oxidative stress. This review is specifically focused on the role of proteases and their imbalance in COPD. There are...

Pre-elafin is a tight-binding inhibitor of neutrophil elastase and myeloblastin; two enzymes thought to contribute to tissue damage in lung emphysema. Previous studies have established that pre-elafin is also an effective anti-inflammatory molecule. However, it is not clear whether both functions are linked to the antipeptidase activity of pre-elafin. As a first step toward elucidating the stru...

High activities of the neutrophil proteases, elastase and cathepsin G, are found in the sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Because both proteases have been shown to be potent secretagogues for airway submucosal glands, and because hypersecretion is a characteristic feature of CF, the objective of the present study was to examine whether there is secretagogue activity in CF sputum, an...

BACKGROUND Inhaled antibiotics are commonly used in the treatment of cystic fibrosis lung disease. A previous study suggested neutrophil elastase activation by colistin in vitro. Here, we investigated direct effects of the commonly used antibiotics colistin and tobramycin on neutrophil elastase activity. METHODS Neutrophil elastase was measured spectrophotometrically. The antibiotics colistin...

Activation of inflammatory pathways is known to accompany development of obesity-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In addition to caspase-1, the neutrophil serine proteases proteinase 3, neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G are able to process the inactive pro-inflammatory mediators IL-1β and IL-18 to their bioactive forms, thereby regulat...

Inflammation is an essential process in many pulmonary diseases in which kinins are generated by protease action on kininogen, a phenomenon that is blocked by protease inhibitors. We evaluated kinin release in an in vivo lung inflammation model in rats, in the presence or absence of CeKI (C. echinata kallikrein inhibitor), a plasma kallikrein, cathepsin G, and proteinase-3 inhibitor, and rCeEI ...

Human neutrophil proteases cathepsin G and elastase can directly alter platelet function and/or participate in coagulation cascade reactions on the platelet or neutrophil surface to enhance fibrin formation. The clotting of recalcified platelet-free plasma (PFP) or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) supplemented with corn trypsin inhibitor (to shut down contact activation) was studied in well-plates or...