MMP-9, TIMP-1 and inflammatory cells in sputum from COPD patients during exacerbation

Background

Irreversible airflow obstruction in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is thought to result from airway remodelling associated with aberrant inflammation. Patients who experience frequent episodes of acute deterioration in symptoms and lung function, termed exacerbations, experience a faster decline in their lung function, and thus over time greater disease severity However the mechanisms by which these episodes may contribute to decreased lung function are poorly understood.This study has prospectively examined changes in sputum levels of inflammatory cells, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 during exacerbations comparing with paired samples taken prior to exacerbation.

Methods

Nineteen COPD patients ((median, [IQR]) age 69 [63 to 74], forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 1.0 [0.9 to1.2], FEV1% predicted 37.6 [27.3 to 46.2]) provided sputa at exacerbation. Of these, 12 were paired with a samples collected when the patient was stable, a median 4 months [2 to 8 months] beforehand.

Results

MMP-9 levels increased from 10.5 μg/g [1.2 to 21.1] prior to exacerbation to 17.1 μg/g [9.3 to 48.7] during exacerbation (P < 0.01). TIMP-1 levels decreased from 3.5 μg/g [0.6 to 7.8] to 1.5 μg/g [0.3 to 4.9] (P = 0.16). MMP-9/TIMP-1 Molar ratio significantly increased from 0.6 [0.2 to 1.1] to 3.6 [2.0 to 25.3] (P < 0.05). Neutrophil, eosinophil and lymphocyte counts all showed significant increase during exacerbation compared to before (P < 0.05). Macrophage numbers remained level. MMP-9 levels during exacerbation showed highly significant correlation with both neutrophil and lymphocyte counts (Rho = 0.7, P < 0.01).

Conclusion

During exacerbation, increased inflammatory burden coincides with an imbalance of the proteinase MMP-9 and its cognate inhibitor TIMP-1. This may suggest a pathway connecting frequent exacerbations with lung function decline.     

Molecular mechanisms that distinguish TFIID housekeeping from regulatable SAGA promoters

An important distinction is frequently made between constitutively expressed housekeeping genes versus regulated genes. Although generally characterized by different DNA elements, chromatin architecture and cofactors, it is not known to what degree promoter classes strictly follow regulatability rules and which molecular mechanisms dictate such differences. We show that SAGA‐dominated/TATA‐box promoters are more responsive to changes in the amount of activator, even compared to TFIID/TATA‐like promoters that depend on the same activator Hsf1. Regulatability is therefore an inherent property of promoter class. Further analyses show that SAGA/TATA‐box promoters are more dynamic because TATA‐binding protein recruitment through SAGA is susceptible to removal by Mot1. In addition, the nucleosome configuration upon activator depletion shifts on SAGA/TATA‐box promoters and seems less amenable to preinitiation complex formation. The results explain the fundamental difference between housekeeping and regulatable genes, revealing an additional facet of combinatorial control: an activator can elicit a different response dependent on core promoter class.     

Effect of humic acids from Leonardite on the stability of soil aggregates and melon roots under greenhouse conditions

Leonardite is an oxidized form of lignite carbon, which is obtained from fossilized organic materials. Such materials are used for the extraction of humic acids (HA). The result of the addition of HA of organic origin on soil structure is known; however, the effects of adding HA of Leonardite on soil structure have been scarcely investigated. The objectives of this research were (1) to determine the influence of humic acids derived from Leonardite in increasing the aggregate stability of an Aridisol under greenhouse conditions, and (2) evaluate the morphology of the root xylem during the phenological development of melon plants (Cucumis melo L.). Three treatments of HA solution application to the soil were used: soil without solution application (HA0), and application of HA solution to the soil with pH 6 (HA6) or (HA7). Aggregate stability (As) and bulk density (Da) were evaluated as soil variables. Development and quantification of xylem area were studied on plants. There were significant differences in aggregate stability. Also, there was an increase in the root xylem area, and the best treatment was when AH7 solution was applied. Humic acids derived from Leonardite increased the stability of soil aggregates when plants grew under greenhouse conditions, and fostered the development of xylem conduits during the fruiting stage.     

A new method for surface staining large slices of fixed brain using a copper phthalocyanine dye

Here we describe a method for gross staining of gray matter in slices of formaldehyde-fixed human brain. After protection of white matter with 4% phenol at 60°C for 5 min followed by a cold water wash, the gray matter was stained for 10-15 min at 20-25°C with 1% aqueous copper(II) phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt (CPTS). The staining resisted all attempts to be washed from the gray matter. Stained slices can be stored indefinitely in slightly acidified water, or plastinated as permanent dry specimens.     

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: long stenting in a patient with polycythemia vera

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection is a rare cause of myocardial ischemia or sudden cardiac death. We describe a patient with polycythemia vera and a chronic spontaneous coronary artery dissection who was treated with successful angioplasty and long stenting.     

The crucial role of particle surface reactivity in respirable quartz-induced reactive oxygen/nitrogen species formation and APE/Ref-1 induction in rat lung

Persistent inflammation and associated excessive oxidative stress have been crucially implicated in quartz-induced pulmonary diseases, including fibrosis and cancer. We have investigated the significance of the particle surface reactivity of respirable quartz dust in relation to the in vivo generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) and the associated induction of oxidative stress responses in the lung. Therefore, rats were intratracheally instilled with 2 mg quartz (DQ12) or quartz whose surface was modified by either polyvinylpyridine-N-oxide (PVNO) or aluminium lactate (AL). Seven days after instillation, the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was analysed for markers of inflammation (total/differential cell counts), levels of pulmonary oxidants (H₂O₂, nitrite), antioxidant status (trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity), as well as for markers of lung tissue damage, e.g. total protein, lactate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase. Lung homogenates as well as sections were investigated regarding the induction of the oxidative DNA-lesion/oxidative stress marker 8-hydroxy-2''-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) using HPLC/ECD analysis and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Homogenates and sections were also investigated for the expression of the bifunctional apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease/redox factor-1 (APE/Ref-1) by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Significantly increased levels of H₂O₂ and nitrite were observed in rats treated with non-coated quartz, when compared to rats that were treated with either saline or the surface-modified quartz preparations. In the BALF, there was a strong correlation between the number of macrophages and ROS, as well as total cells and RNS. Although enhanced oxidant generation in non-coated DQ12-treated rats was paralleled with an increased total antioxidant capacity in the BALF, these animals also showed significantly enhanced lung tissue damage. Remarkably however, elevated ROS levels were not associated with an increase in 8-OHdG, whereas the lung tissue expression of APE/Ref-1 protein was clearly up-regulated. The present data provide further in vivo evidence for the crucial role of particle surface properties in quartz dust-induced ROS/RNS generation by recruited inflammatory phagocytes. Our results also demonstrate that quartz dust can fail to show steady-state enhanced oxidative DNA damage in the respiratory tract, in conditions were it elicits a marked and persistent inflammation with associated generation of ROS/RNS, and indicate that this may relate to compensatory induction of APE/Ref-1 mediated base excision repair.     

Hexazonium pararosaniline as a fixative for animal tissues

Hexazonium pararosaniline is a valuable reagent that has been used in enzyme activity histochemistry for 50 years. It is an aqueous solution containing the tris-diazonium ion derived from pararosaniline, an aminotriarylmethane dye, and it contains an excess of nitrous acid that was not consumed in the diazotization reaction. Other investigators have found that immersion for 2 min in an acidic (pH 3.5) 0.0015 M hexazonium pararosaniline solution can protect cryostat sections of unfixed animal tissues from the deleterious effects of aqueous reagents such as buffered solutions used in immunohistochemistry, while preserving specific affinities for antibodies. In the present investigation hexazonium pararosaniline protected lymphoid tissue and striated muscle against the damaging effects of water or saline. The same protection was conferred on unfixed sections treated with dilute nitrous or hydrochloric acid in concentrations similar to those in hexazonium pararosaniline solutions. Model tissues (solutions, gels or films containing gelatin and/or bovine albumin) responded predictably to well known cross-linking (formaldehyde) or coagulant (mercuric chloride) fixatives. Hexazonium pararosaniline solutions prevented the dissolution of protein gels in water only after 9 or more days of contact, during which time considerable swelling occurred. It is concluded that there is no evidence for a “fixative” action of hexazonium pararosaniline. The protective effect on frozen sections of unfixed tissue is attributable probably to the low pH of the solution.     

Effect of nitrogen source and concentration to produce proteins in mass cultures of the microalgae <i>Chaetoceros muelleri</i>

Proteins are one of the major metabolites in biomass from microalgae that constitute the diet of marine organisms grown in aquaculture, and are essential for their growth. The quantity of this component is influenced by nutrients, temperature and light intensity, among others. We examined the growth, biomass production and protein of Chaetoceros muelleri with two sources of nitrogen (nitrate and urea) at three concentrations, using the medium f/2 (0.88 mol/L) (nitrates) as control. The treatments were the medium 2f (3.53 mol/L) and 4f (7.05 mol/L) with NO_3^-, and the medium f/2 (0.88 mol/L), 2f (3.53mol/L) and 4f (7.05 mol/L) with urea. In general, the productive parameters were greater using urea than nitrate in the media. Higher cell concentrations (2.83 x 10⁶ cell/mL), average and cumulative growth rates (1.50 div/day and 6.01 divisions), dry weight (0.0044 g/L), and proportion of proteins (23.74%) were found when urea was used as the N source. However, most of the bands on the electrophoretic profile were present in the mediums with NO_3^- (~6.5 to 90 kDa).