An early event in the pathogenesis of emphysema is the development of inflammation associated with accumulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) in small airways, and inflammatory cell recruitment from the circulation involves migration across endothelial and epithelial cell barriers. Platelet-activating factor (PAF) promotes transendothelial migration in several vascular beds, and we post...

PURPOSE To study the binding characteristics and the expression of platelet-activating factor receptors (PAF-R) in corneal epithelium to elucidate the site of action of PAF. METHODS Binding of [3H]PAF was investigated in subcellular fractions of the epithelia of bovine corneas and in membranes from cultured rabbit corneal epithelial cells. Dose-response inhibition curves of [3H]PAF-specific b...

The remodeling pathway for the biosynthesis of platelet-activating factor (PAF) consists of the following reaction sequence: alkylacylglycerophosphocholine----lyso-PAF----PAF. Results presented in this article describe a novel transacylase activity that generates the lyso-PAF intermediate, which can then be acetylated to form PAF. Ethanolamine-containing lysoplasmalogens, 1-acyl-2-lyso-sn-glyce...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a phospholipid inter- and intracellular mediator implicated in intestinal injury primarily via induction of an inflammatory cascade. We find that PAF also has direct pathological effects on intestinal epithelial cells (IEC). PAF induces Cl(-) channel activation, which is associated with intracellular acidosis and apoptosis. Using the rat small IEC line IEC-6,...

Cigarette smoking is associated with an increased incidence of a number of diseases. Minimal information is available at the molecular level concerning the mechanism of action of cigarette smoke. Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is one of the most potent proinflammatory agents described. PAF concentration may be regulated by the degradation of PAF as catalyzed by the plasma enzyme, PAF acetylhy...

In vivo pulmonary arterial catheterization was used to determine the mechanism by which platelet-activating factor (PAF) produces pulmonary edema in rats. PAF induces pulmonary edema by increasing pulmonary microvascular permeability (PMP) without changing the pulmonary pressure gradient. Rats were cannulated for measurement of pulmonary arterial pressure (Ppa) and mean arterial pressure. PMP w...

Human plasma PAF-AH (platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase) is a Ca(2)+-independent phospholipase A2 of hematopoietic origin associated with LDL and HDL; it degrades PAF and oxidizes phospholipids. We show that human macrophages synthesize PAF-AH as a premedial Golgi precursor containing high mannose N-linked glycans. Secreted PAF-AH possesses a molecular mass of approximately 55 kDa and c...

Type II platelet-activating factor-acetylhydrolase [PAF-AH (II)] is an N-myristoylated enzyme that contains a lipase/esterase catalytic motif and selectively hydrolyzes the sn-2 acetyl ester of PAF and other short-chain acyl groups attached to phosphoglycerides. However, the physiological role of this enzyme remains to be elucidated. PAF-AH (II) is conserved in a variety of species ranging from...

Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is a potent, bioactive phospholipid that acts on multiple cells and tissues through its G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). PAF is not stored but is rapidly generated via enzymatic acetylation of the precursor 1-O-hexadecyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (lysoPAF). The bioactivity of PAF is effectively and tightly regulated by PAF acetylhydrolases, which c...

PAF, a small antifungal protein from Penicillium chrysogenum, inhibits the growth of several pathogenic filamentous fungi, including members of the Aspergillus genus. PAF has been proven to have no toxic effects in vivo in mice by intranasal application. To test its efficacy against invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA), experiments were carried out in mice suffering from IPA. Adult mice were ...