Disclosing the involvement of proteases in an eczema murine animal model: Perspectives for protease inhibitor-based therapies.

Eczema is a skin condition characterized by itchy and inflammatory patches. The accumulation of neutrophils and the imbalance between enzymes and their inhibitors appears to be related to this condition. We proposed a neutrophil elastase (NE)-based eczema model in mice in order to verify histopathological features as well as the expression and activity of proteases and inhibitors.

Bioengineering of an elastase inhibitor from Caesalpinia echinata (Brazil wood) seeds.

Protease inhibitors have been widely used in several therapeutic applications such as in the treatment of bleeding disorders, hypertension, cancer and pulmonary diseases. In a previous work, we demonstrated that a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor isolated from the seeds of Caesalpinia echinata (CeEI) exhibits pharmacological potential in lung inflammatory diseases in which neutrophil elastase plays a crucial role. However, an important challenge in the use of natural products is to ensure a commercially viable production.

Protease Inhibitors Extracted from Lam. Affect Kinin Release during Lung Inflammation.

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 lung inflammation model in rats, in the presence or absence of CeKI ( kallikrein inhibitor), a plasma kallikrein, cathepsin G, and proteinase-3 inhibitor, and rCeEI (recombinant elastase inhibitor), which inhibits these proteases and also neutrophil elastase. Wistar rats were intravenously treated with buffer (negative control) or inhibitors and, subsequently, lipopolysaccharide was injected into their lungs.

Using a Caesalpinia echinata Lam. protease inhibitor as a tool for studying the roles of neutrophil elastase, cathepsin G and proteinase 3 in pulmonary edema.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by neutrophil infiltration and the release of proteases, mainly elastase (NE), cathepsin G (Cat G) and proteinase 3 (PR3), which can be controlled by specific endogenous inhibitors. However, inhibitors of these proteases have been isolated from different sources, including plants. For this study, CeEI, or Caesalpinia echinata elastase inhibitor, was purified from C.

Biochemical aspects of a serine protease from Caesalpinia echinata Lam. (Brazilwood) seeds: a potential tool to access the mobilization of seed storage proteins.

Several proteins have been isolated from seeds of leguminous, but this is the first report that a protease was obtained from seeds of Caesalpinia echinata Lam., a tree belonging to the Fabaceae family. This enzyme was purified to homogeneity by hydrophobic interaction and anion exchange chromatographies and gel filtration.

Heparin affects the interaction of kininogen on endothelial cells.

In the plasma kallikrein-kinin system, it has been shown that when plasma prekallikrein (PK) and high molecular weight kininogen (HK) assemble on endothelial cells, plasma kallikrein (huPK) becomes available to cleave HK, releasing bradykinin, a potent mediator of the inflammatory response. Because the formation of soluble glycosaminoglycans occurs concomitantly during the inflammatory processes, the effect of these polysaccharides on the interaction of HK on the cell surface or extracellular matrix (ECM) of two endothelial cell lines (ECV304 and RAEC) was investigated. In the presence of Zn(+2), HK binding to the surface or ECM of RAEC was abolished by heparin; reduced by heparan sulfate, keratan sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate or dermatan sulfate; and not affected by chondroitin 6-sulfate.

Bradykinin release and inactivation in brain of rats submitted to an experimental model of Alzheimer's disease.

The kallikrein-kinin system is involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. Components of this system, identified in rat and human brains, can be altered in neurodegenerative processes such as Alzheimer's disease. Here, we studied kinin release and its inactivation in rats submitted to chronic cerebroventricular infusion of beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptide.

Heparin modulation of human plasma kallikrein on different substrates and inhibitors.

The interplay of different proteases and glycosaminoglycans is able to modulate the activity of the enzymes and to affect their structures. Human plasma kallikrein (huPK) is a proteolytic enzyme involved in intrinsic blood clotting, the kallikrein-kinin system and fibrinolysis. We investigated the effect of heparin on the action, inhibition and secondary structure of huPK.

Vitamin E prevents cell death induced by mild oxidative stress in chicken skeletal muscle cells.

Apoptosis and necrosis are two forms of cell death that can occur in response to various agents and oxidative damage. In addition to necrosis, apoptosis contributes to muscle fiber loss in various muscular dystrophies as well participates in the exudative diathesis in chicken, pathology caused by dietary deficiency of vitamin E and selenium, which affects muscle tissue. We have used chicken skeletal muscle cells and bovine fibroblasts to study molecular events involved in the cell death induced by oxidative stress and apoptotic agents.

A proteinase inhibitor from Caesalpinia echinata (pau-brasil) seeds for plasma kallikrein, plasmin and factor XIIa.

Caesalpinia echinata is a tree belonging to the Leguminosae family. The red color of the trunk, looking like burning wood ('brasa' in Portuguese), is the origin of the name Brazil. Seeds of leguminous plants contain high amounts of serine proteinase inhibitors that can affect different biological processes.