Publications by authors named "Fliszar C"

Osteoclasts form an acidic compartment at their attachment site in which bone demineralization and matrix degradation occur. Although both the cysteine proteinases and neutral collagenases participate in bone resorption, their roles have remained unclear. Here we show that interstitial collagenase has an essential role in initiating bone resorption, distinct from that of the cysteine proteinases.

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Insoluble elastin was used as a substrate to characterize the peptide bond specificities of human (HME) and mouse macrophage elastase (MME) and to compare these enzymes with other mammalian metalloproteinases and serine elastases. New amino termini detected by protein sequence analysis in insoluble elastin following proteolytic digestion reveal the P'1 residues in the carboxyl-terminal direction from the scissile bond. The relative proportion of each amino acid in this position reflects the proteolytic preference of the elastolytic enzyme.

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Surfactant protein D (SP-D) molecules are preferentially assembled as dodecamers consisting of trimeric subunits associated at their amino termini. The NH2-terminal sequence of each monomer contains two conserved cysteine residues, which participate in interchain disulfide bonds. In order to study the roles of these residues in SP-D assembly and function, we employed site-directed mutagenesis to substitute serine for cysteine 15 and 20 in recombinant rat SP-D (RrSP-D), and have expressed the mutant (RrSP-Dser15/20) in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells.

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Several matrix metalloproteinases, including the 92-kDa and 72-kDa gelatinases, macrophage metalloelastase (MME), and matrilysin degrade insoluble elastin. Because elastolytically active MME and matrilysin consist only of a catalytic domain (CD), we speculated that the homologous CDs of the 92-kDa and 72-kDa gelatinases would confer their elastolytic activities. In contrast to the MME CD, the 92 and 72 CDs expressed in Escherichia coli (lacking the internal fibronectin type II-like repeats) had no elastase activity, although both were gelatinolytic and cleaved a thiopeptolide substrate at rates comparable to the full-length gelatinases.

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We have studied the degradation of type X collagen by metalloproteinases, cathepsin B, and osteoclast-derived lysates. We had previously shown (Welgus, H. G.

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The matrix metalloproteinase 92-kDa gelatinase is a major product of inflammatory cells. Macrophages synthesize and secrete this proteinase as a proenzyme in association with tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) (92TIMP), whereas neutrophils store and release it from secondary granules as a TIMP-free proenzyme (92TIMP-free). Metalloproteinase proenzymes can be activated in vitro by a variety of agents, including organomercurials and proteinases, resulting in loss of an 8-10-kDa NH2-terminal domain which disrupts the interaction of a conserved cysteine residue with the catalytic zinc molecule.

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alpha 1-antitrypsin, the primary physiologic inhibitor of human leukocyte elastase, is proteolytically inactivated by several matrix metalloproteinases including interstitial collagenase, stromelysin and 92 kDa gelatinase. In this report, we describe the catalytic effects of matrilysin, a recently identified metalloproteinase, upon alpha 1-antitrypsin. Matrilysin was found to be approximately 30-fold more effective than 92kDa gelatinase, 70-fold more effective than collagenase, and 180-fold more effective than stromelysin.

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In this study, we have used high resolution gel-filtration chromatography and measurements of Ki to compare the capacity of full-length native stromelysin, C-terminal truncated stromelysin (Phe100-Pro273), and matrilysin (the only metalloproteinase spontaneously lacking a C-terminal hemopexin-like domain) to bind to the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP). While prostromelysin failed to bind TIMP, active stromelysin bound to the inhibitor avidly, exhibiting an affinity for TIMP (Ki = 8.3 x 10(-10) M) essentially identical to that of active interstitial collagenase as determined by competition experiments.

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Elastin is critical to the structural integrity of a variety of connective tissues. Only a select group of enzymes has thus far been identified capable of cleaving insoluble elastin. Recently, we observed that human alveolar macrophages secrete elastase activity that is largely inhibited by the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP).

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We have studied the degradation of type X collagen by human skin fibroblast and rat uterus interstitial collagenases and human 72-kDa type IV collagenase. The interstitial collagenases attacked the native type X helix at two loci, cleaving residues Gly92-Leu93 and Gly420-Ile421, both scissions involving Gly-X bonds of Gly-X-Y-Z-A sequences. However, the human and rat interstitial enzymes displayed an opposite and substantial selectivity for each of these potential sites, with the uterine enzyme catalyzing the Gly420-Ile421 cleavage almost 20-fold faster than the Gly92-Leu93 locus.

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Collagenases that specifically cleave native collagen at neutral pH have been implicated in the maintenance and turnover of connective tissue. In bone, the origin of neutral collagenase has remained equivocal, although recent studies have indicated that it is synthesized by the osteoblast. In the present work, regulation of secretion of neutral collagenase and a collagenase inhibitory activity was investigated using the osteoblastic tumor cell line UMR 106-01 and a variety of bone-resorbing agents.

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Human skin collagenase activity was examined against type III collagens, in both soluble and fibrillar form, from different animal species. In either form, human, dog, and cat type III were degraded 10- to 30-fold faster than was that from guinea pig and nearly 100-fold more readily than chick type III. These differences in susceptibility were mirrored by essentially identical differences in the rate of trypsin cleavage of the same substrates.

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