Intracellular distribution of neutral proteinases and inhibitors in pig leucocytes. Isolation of two inhibitors of neutral proteinases.

Granule and post-granular-supernatant fractions were obtained from pig leucocyte cells by differential centrifugation in 0.34 M sucrose. Granule extract possesses proteinase activity at acid and at neutral pH. Three groups of neutral and a group of acid proteinases were isolated from granule extracts by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. In the first group are present elastase-like and plasminogen-activator proteinases, that are inhibited by diisopropylphosphorofluoridate, alpha1-antitrypsin, intracellular leucocyte inhibitor and partly with p-aminomethylbenzoic acid and Trasylol. The second group of neutral proteinases is unstable under the conditions of isolation used the third group of neutral proteinases comprises collagenases that are inhibited by ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt, alpha1-antitrypsin and leucocyte inhibitor. The acid proteinases are inhibited only with pepstatin, up to 90%. In the post-granular supernatant was found the acid proteinase activity towards hemoglobin and casein, and non-stable neutral proteolytic activity towards bovine serum albumin and serum gamma globulin. In the post-granular supernatant also the inhibitors of neutral proteinases were found. By gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 and ion-exchange chromatography on CM-cellulose two inhibitors of neutral proteinases were isolated. The majority of the inhibitor capacity (about 80%) of post-granular supernatant was eluted together with ovalbumin (Mr 43000) and the remainder with cytochrome c (12300). These inhibitors inhibit the granule neutral proteinases, acting on all substrates used, but do not inhibit granule acid proteinase. Inhibition effects of post-granular-supernatant inhibitors on trypsin and chymotrypsin were obtained only when bovine serum albumin was used as substrate. Inhibitors of post-granular supernatant are stable at pH 6-8, but unstable in the pH rnage 2-5 and are thermolabile.     

Lysosomal enzymes and microbicidal capacity of activated macrophage.

A relation was sought between acid phosphatase contents and the presence of tubercle bacilli inside the peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) of normal guinea pigs and those immunized with BCG. This was done to investigate the role lysosomal enzymes play in the microbicidal capacity of the cell. In both normal and immune animals tubercle bacilli were present only in those PEC that contained acid phosphatase. Cells without acid phosphatase did not contain bacilli. Thus, only activated cells ingested bacilli. Under the conditions of these experiments, macrophage activation, as indicated by the presence of acid phosphatase, was not related to the immune status of the animal. Similarly, stimulation by ingestion of tubercle bacilli was not significant. Also, the number of acid phosphatase grains/cell did not influence the number of bacilli/cell. Thus, the acid phosphatase content of the cell did not correlate with the number of bacilli inside the cell. It was concluded that acid phosphatase may not be one of the factors that contribute to the microbicidal capacity of the cell.     

Separation of acid and neutral proteinases of brain.

1. Cerebral proteinases were separated on Sephadex G-100 columns into acid and neutral fractions free from cross-contamination. Acid proteinases were more stable and were purified by additional steps with salt and pH5.0 precipitations, column chromatography on DEAE- or CM-cellulose and free-flow electrophoresis. 2. The separation made it possible to study the properties of the partially purified enzyme fractions. Some of these properties, such as K(m) with selected protein substrates, pH optima and temperature-dependence in the presence and absence of substrates, are described. 3. No requirement for metal ions or added cofactors was demonstrated. Neutral-proteinase activity was more sensitive to inhibition by heavy-metal ions; its activity could be increased by thioglycollate and glutathione, and inhibited by thiol reagents. Neutral and acid proteinases were inhibited by the chymotrypsin inhibitor chloromethyl l-2-phenyl-1-toluene-p-sulphonamidoethyl ketone. 4. In the presence of the appropriate synthetic substrates no cathepsin A activity was found, and only trace quantities of cathepsin B or C activities, which were more than 50-fold less than cathepsin D-like activity.     

The inactivation of native enzymes by a neutral proteinase from rat intestinal muscle.

1. The solubilization and partial purification of a proteinase from the intestinal smooth muscle of rats fed on protein-free diets are described. 2. It has a mol.wt. of about 33000 and it is stable over a narrow pH range. 3. From its susceptibility to known modifers of proteolytic enzymes, it appears to be a serine proteinase of a trypsin-like nature. Active-site titration with soya-bean trypsin inhibitor shows that the concentration of proteinase was about 3 microgram/g wet wt. of intestinal smooth muscle. However, the muscle proteinase demonstrates a marked ability for inactivating enzymes in their native conformation at neutral pH. It is about 100 times more efficient than pancreatic trypsin when the inactivating activities are compared on an approximately equimolar basis. 4. Inactivation of the substrate enzymes is accompanied by limited proteolysis, as demonstrated by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis. 5. An endogenous inhibitor was separated from the proteinase by fractionation with (NH4)2SO4. 6. Contamination of the muscle tissue by lumen, mucosal or blood proteinases and inhibitors is shown to be unlikely. 7. A role for the neutral trypsin-like proteinase in initiating the degradation of intracellular enzymes is considered.     

Leukocytic oxygen activation and microbicidal oxidative toxins

Following a brief introduction of cellular response to stimulation comprising leukocyte activation, three major areas are discussed: (1) the neutrophil oxidase; (2) myeloperoxidase (MPO)-dependent oxidative microbicidal reactions; and (3) MPO-independent oxidative reactions. Topics included in section (A) are current views on the activation mechanism, redox composition, structural and topographic organization of the oxidase, and its respiratory products. In section (B), emphasis is placed on recent research on cidal mechanisms of HOCl, including the oxidative biochemistry of active chlorine compounds, identification of sites of lesions in bacteria, and attendant metabolic consequences. In section (C), we review the (bio)chemistry of H2O2 and .OH microbicidal reactions, with particular attention being given to addressing the controversial issue of probe methods to identify .OH radical and critical assessment of the recent proposal that MPO-independent killing arises from site-specific metal-catalyzed Fenton-type chemistry.     

Potent and selective inactivation of cysteine proteinases with N-peptidyl-O-acyl hydroxylamines.

In all of eight tested human cells and cell lines with inducible indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (EC 1.13.11.17) tetrahydrobiopterin biosynthesis was activated by interferon-gamma. This was demonstrated by GTP cyclohydrolase I (EC 3.5.4.16) activities and intracellular neopterin and biopterin concentrations. Pteridine synthesis was influenced by extracellular tryptophan. In T 24-cell extracts, submillimolar concentrations of tetrahydrobiopterin stimulated the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase reaction.     

Activation of human neutrophil gelatinase by endogenous serine proteinases.

The role of serine proteinases and oxidants in the activation of gelatinase released from human neutrophils was investigated. Gelatinase was measured by its ability to degrade both gelatin and native glomerular basement-membrane type IV collagen. When fMet-Leu-Phe or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate was used to stimulate the neutrophils, no gelatinase activity was measured in the absence of a mercurial activator, indicating that the enzyme was released entirely in latent form. However, when fMet-Leu-Phe-stimulated cells were treated with cytochalasin B, 50-70% of the maximal gelatinase activity was released. Activation was blocked by the serine-proteinase inhibitor phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride and a specific inhibitor of neutrophil elastase, but was not affected by an inhibitor of cathepsin G. Addition of catalase or azide to prevent oxidative reactions did not affect activation of gelatinase under any conditions of stimulation, indicating that oxidants were not involved in activation. Our results imply that oxidative activation of gelatinase does not occur readily. However, neutrophil serine proteinases, particularly elastase, provide an alternative and apparently more efficient mechanism of activation.     

Potent and selective inactivation of proteinases with N-peptidyl-O-acylhydroxylamines

The reaction of seven N-peptidyl-O-acyl hydroxylamines with serine proteinases exhibiting different substrate specificity has been investigated. Depending on the structure of the peptidyl residue of the inhibitors, rapid and complete irreversible inactivation of the enzymes may be achieved. Enzyme-catalyzed turnover of inhibitor to products was detected during reaction of proline-specific endopeptidase with N-Boc-Ala-Pro-O-(4-nitrobenzoyl)hydroxylamine.     

Tissue distribution of calcium-activated neutral proteinases in rat

A simple separation method involving a minimum number of essential steps was established to separate the two kinds of calcium-activated neutral proteinase (CANP) activity from each other and from endogenous CANP inhibitor activity. Determination of CANP activity in rat tissues using this method revealed a ubiquitous distribution of two CANPs. The level of CANP activity, however, differs between tissues. Low-calcium-requiring CANP (microCANP) is plentiful in spleen and kidney, while high-calcium-requiring CANP (mCANP) is plentiful in lung and brain. In all of the tissues examined, mCANP activity predominates over microCANP activity.     

Glucocorticoid receptors and glucocorticoid-sensitive secretion of neutral proteinases in a macrophage line.

A continuous line of mouse macrophages (P388D1) has been shown to secrete elastase, collagenase, and plasminogen activator at activities comparable to those of macrophages elicited by an inflammatory stimulus in vivo. At physiologic concentrations anti-inflammatory glucocorticoids selectively and reversibly inhibited secretion of the three proteinases but did not inhibit secretion of lysozyme, a constitutive enzyme produced by the P388D1 cells. The secretion of the neutral proteinases was inhibited 50% by 2 to 10 nM dexamethasone. Proliferation of the macrophages was also glucocorticoid sensitive. The P388D1 macrophages contained about 4000 saturable glucocorticoid-binding sites per cell. Concentrations of hormone saturating the high affinity receptor site (for dexamethasone the dissociation constant for steroid-receptor binding, Kd, was 4 nM) correlated well with concentrations inhibiting secretion of the proteinases. Only glucocorticoids and progesterone competed for binding to the specific receptors. Temperature-sensitive translocation of hormone-receptor complexes from "cytoplasm" to nucleus similar to that found with rat thymocytes was demonstrated. Thus, the interaction between glucocorticoids and the P388D1 cell line provides a model for the regulation of macrophage secretion of neutral proteinases under normal and stress conditions.     

Characterization of neutral proteinases from human spleen]

Several proteinases hydrolyzing histone and caseine in neutral media were obtained by Sephadex G-100 fractionation of water and salt (1 M KCl) extracts of human spleen. The level of the activity of proteinases in the extracts was very low as a result of the presence of an inhibitor. Neutral proteinases were found in two protein fractions. The "high-molecular-weight-" proteinases were inhibited by DFP and therefore they were attributed to a group of serine proteinases. The "low-molecular-weight" fraction contained neutral SH-dependent proteinase(s) and DFP-inhibited enzymes. In this fraction, the kininogenase activity and the hydrolysis of Boc-1-ananine p-nitrophenyl ester, N-benzoyl-L-tryosine ethyl ester and N-benzoyl-DL-arginine p-nitroanilide were observed.     

Acid inactivation of short-lived rat liver enzymes.

The stabilities of nine rat liver cytosol enzymes were compared at a variety of pH values. The cytosol enzymes studied were (a) those with half-lives in vivo of 3 days or longer: lactate dehydrogenase, arginase, glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase and alanine aminotransferase, (b) those with half-lives in vivo shorter than 2 days; glucokinase, dihydroorotase, serine dehydratase and tyrosine aminotransferase and (c) catalase, which has an intermediate half-life of 2.5 days for the protein protion. All the enzymes were stable in vitro at neurtal and alkaline pH values. However, at acidic pH values (pH 4): the long-lived enzymes (a) were stable; the short-lived enzymes (b) were completely inactivated with one exception; and catalase was partially inactivated. Tyrosine aminotransferase was the exception in that it is a short-lived enzyme in vivo but stable under all conditions tested in vitro. The finding that long-lived enzymes are stable in an acid milieu and short-lived enzymes are generally unstable was only observed if certain ligands (NAD+, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, Mn2+, amino acids) were added to the invitro system. Lysosomal extracts did not accelerate the rate of inactivation of any cytosol enzyme in acidic solutions. These results indicate that if degradation of intracellular enzymes occurs in lysosomes, acid inactivation and denaturation of enzymes may be the initial event in determining the functional half-lives of the enzymes in vivo.     

Isolation and characterization of inhibitors of neutral proteinases from spleen

Two different types of neutral proteinase inhibitors were isolated from postmicrosomal supernatant of bovine spleen. Inhibitor A with molecular weight 40,000 inhibits elastases and chymotrypsin-like neutral proteinases from bovine spleen, whereas inhibitor B with estimated molecular weight 20 000 inhibits only chymotrypsin-like neutral proteinase.     

Activity of neutral peptide hydrolases and oxidative enzymes in the myocardium and blood during hypoxic hypoxia

The citric cycle dehydrogenases and neutral peptide hydrolases (NPH) activity was determined in the myocardium and blood serum of Wistar rats under acute and prolonged hypoxic hypoxia. It was shown that the NPH activity and the activity of the most oxidative enzymes change in the same direction during adaptation to the high-altitude conditions. The role of the NPH in the oxidative metabolism reconstruction under acute and chronic hypoxia was discussed.     

The degradation of human lung elastin by neutrophil proteinases

Human lung elastin has been isolated by both a degradative and nondegradative procedure and the products obtained found to have amino acid compositions comparable to published results. These elastin preparations, when utilized as substrates for various mammalian proteinases, were solubilized by porcine elastase at a rate six times faster than human leukocyte elastase. Leukocyte cathepsin G also solubilized lung elastin but only at 12% of the rate of the leukocyte elastase. In all cases the elastin prepared by nondegradative techniques proved to be the best substrate in these studies. The differences in the rate of digestion of elastin of the two elastolytic proteinases was readily attributed to the specificity differences of each enzyme as judged by carboxyterminal analysis of solubilized elastin peptides. The plasma proteinase inhibitors, alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor and alpha-2-macroglobulin abolished the elastolytic activity of both leukocyte enzymes, while alpha-1-antichymotrypsin specifically inactivated cathespsin G. Two synthetic inhibitors, Me-O-Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Val-CH2Cl (for elastase and Z-Gly-Leu-Phe-CH2Cl (for cathepsin G) were equally effective in abolishing the elastolytic activity of the two neutrophil enzymes. However, inhibition of leukocyte elastase by alpha-1-proteinase inhibitor was significantly suppressed if the enzyme was preincubated with elastin prior to addition of the inhibitor.