Human granulocytic ehrlichiosis agent and Ehrlichia chaffeensis reside in different cytoplasmic compartments in HL-60 cells. (1/3678)

The human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) agent resides and multiplies exclusively in cytoplasmic vacuoles of granulocytes. Double immunofluorescence labeling was used to characterize the nature of the HGE agent replicative inclusions and to compare them with inclusions containing the human monocytic ehrlichia, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, in HL-60 cells. Although both Ehrlichia spp. can coinfect HL-60 cells, they resided in separate inclusions. Inclusions of both Ehrlichia spp. were not labeled with either anti-lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 or anti-CD63. Accumulation of myeloperoxidase-positive granules were seen around HGE agent inclusions but not around E. chaffeensis inclusions. 3-(2, 4-Dinitroanilino)-3'-amino-N-methyldipropylamine and acridine orange were not localized to either inclusion type. Vacuolar-type H+-ATPase was not colocalized with HGE agent inclusions but was weakly colocalized with E. chaffeensis inclusions. E. chaffeensis inclusions were labeled with the transferrin receptor, early endosomal antigen 1, and rab5, but HGE agent inclusions were not. Some HGE agent and E. chaffeensis inclusions colocalized with major histocompatibility complex class I and II antigens. These two inclusions were not labeled for annexins I, II, IV, and VI; alpha-adaptin; clathrin heavy chain; or beta-coatomer protein. Vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 colocalized to both inclusions. The cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor was not colocalized with either inclusion type. Endogenously synthesized sphingomyelin, from C6-NBD-ceramide, was not incorporated into either inclusion type. Brefeldin A did not affect the growth of either Ehrlichia sp. in HL-60 cells. These results suggest that the HGE agent resides in inclusions which are neither early nor late endosomes and does not fuse with lysosomes or Golgi-derived vesicles, while E. chaffeensis resides in an early endosomal compartment which accumulates the transferrin receptor.  (+info)

Alternating antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody specificity: drug-induced vasculitis in a patient with Wegener's granulomatosis. (2/3678)

We describe a patient who presented with Wegener's granulomatosis associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) directed against proteinase 3 (PR3) with a cytoplasmic immunofluorescence pattern (cANCA), whose ANCA type changed to antimyeloperoxidase antibodies with a perinuclear immunofluorescence pattern (pANCA) when treated with propylthiouracil, and changed back to anti-PR3 antibodies with cANCA after the medication was discontinued. The patient developed flares of vasculitis symptoms associated with rises in either type of ANCA. Tests for antimyeloperoxidase ANCA were repeatedly negative before the drug was started, strongly implicating the drug as the cause of the episode. This case demonstrates that patients with idiopathic ANCA-positive vasculitis may quickly develop a superimposed drug-associated ANCA-positive vasculitis. Iatrogenic vasculitis should be suspected when a patient with idiopathic vasculitis with one type of ANCA develops the other type of ANCA.  (+info)

Kinetics of oxidation of aliphatic and aromatic thiols by myeloperoxidase compounds I and II. (3/3678)

Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is the most abundant protein in neutrophils and plays a central role in microbial killing and inflammatory tissue damage. Because most of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other drugs contain a thiol group, it is necessary to understand how these substrates are oxidized by MPO. We have performed transient kinetic measurements to study the oxidation of 14 aliphatic and aromatic mono- and dithiols by the MPO intermediates, Compound I (k3) and Compound II (k4), using sequential mixing stopped-flow techniques. The one-electron reduction of Compound I by aromatic thiols (e.g. methimidazole, 2-mercaptopurine and 6-mercaptopurine) varied by less than a factor of seven (between 1.39 +/- 0.12 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) and 9.16 +/- 1.63 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1)), whereas reduction by aliphatic thiols was demonstrated to depend on their overall net charge and hydrophobic character and not on the percentage of thiol deprotonation or redox potential. Cysteamine, cysteine methyl ester, cysteine ethyl ester and alpha-lipoic acid showed k3 values comparable to aromatic thiols, whereas a free carboxy group (e.g. cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, glutathione) diminished k3 dramatically. The one-electron reduction of Compound II was far more constrained by the nature of the substrate. Reduction by methimidazole, 2-mercaptopurine and 6-mercaptopurine showed second-order rate constants (k4) of 1.33 +/- 0.08 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1), 5.25 +/- 0.07 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1) and 3.03 +/- 0.07 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1). Even at high concentrations cysteine, penicillamine and glutathione could not reduce Compound II, whereas cysteamine (4.27 +/- 0.05 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)), cysteine methyl ester (8.14 +/- 0.08 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)), cysteine ethyl ester (3.76 +/- 0.17 x 10(3) M(-1) s(-1)) and alpha-lipoic acid (4.78 +/- 0.07 x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1)) were demonstrated to reduce Compound II and thus could be expected to be oxidized by MPO without co-substrates.  (+info)

The inhibition of myeloperoxidase by ceruloplasmin can be reversed by anti-myeloperoxidase antibodies. (4/3678)

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to characterize the recently reported inhibition of myeloperoxidase (MPO) by ceruloplasmin and to determine whether this may be disturbed in the presence of anti-MPO antibodies. METHODS: Specificity of the binding between ceruloplasmin and MPO was confirmed by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the enzymatic activity of MPO was measured in the presence of ceruloplasmin, affinity-purified anti-MPO antibodies, or both. The affinity of the binding between MPO and ceruloplasmin and MPO and the anti-MPO antibodies was measured using a biosensor, with the results confirmed by chaotrope ELISA. RESULTS: Affinity-purified anti-MPO antibodies from patients with microscopic polyangiitis and florid renal vasculitis inhibited the binding between ceruloplasmin and MPO to a maximum of 72.9 +/- 12.8%, whereas those from patients with Wegener's granulomatosis and only minimal renal involvement inhibited the binding to a maximum of only 36.8 +/- 10.9% (P < 0. 001), with comparable reversal of the ceruloplasmin-mediated inhibition of MPO activity. Measurement of the affinity of the interactions demonstrated that binding between MPO and the anti-MPO antibodies is stronger than that between MPO and ceruloplasmin (1.61 x 107 to 1.33 x 108 vs. 7.46 x 106 m-1), indicating that binding to the autoantibody would be favored in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms a role for ceruloplasmin as a physiological inhibitor of MPO, and demonstrates how the inhibition may be disrupted in the presence of anti-MPO antibodies. Because a majority (16 of 21) of the antibodies did not themselves inhibit MPO activity, their interference with the inhibition mediated by ceruloplasmin may be brought about by steric hindrance consequent upon the binding of the antibody to a dominant epitope at or near the active site.  (+info)

A cell-surface superoxide dismutase is a binding protein for peroxinectin, a cell-adhesive peroxidase in crayfish. (5/3678)

Peroxinectin, a cell-adhesive peroxidase (homologous to human myeloperoxidase), from the crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus, was shown by immuno-fluorescence to bind to the surface of crayfish blood cells (haemocytes). In order to identify a cell surface receptor for peroxinectin, labelled peroxinectin was incubated with a blot of haemocyte membrane proteins. It was found to specifically bind two bands of 230 and 90 kDa; this binding was decreased in the presence of unlabelled peroxinectin. Purified 230/90 kDa complex also bound peroxinectin in the same assay. In addition, the 230 kDa band binds the crayfish beta-1,3-glucan-binding protein. The 230 kDa band could be reduced to 90 kDa, thus showing that the 230 kDa is a multimer of 90 kDa units. The peroxinectin-binding protein was cloned from a haemocyte cDNA library, using immuno-screening or polymerase chain reaction based on partial amino acid sequence of the purified protein. It has a signal sequence, a domain homologous to CuZn-containing superoxide dismutases, and a basic, proline-rich, C-terminal tail, but no membrane-spanning segment. In accordance, the 90 and 230 kDa bands had superoxide dismutase activity. Immuno-fluorescence of non-permeabilized haemocytes with affinity-purified antibodies confirmed that the crayfish CuZn-superoxide dismutase is localized at the cell surface; it could be released from the membrane with high salt. It was thus concluded that the peroxinectin-binding protein is an extracellular SOD (EC-SOD) and a peripheral membrane protein, presumably kept at the cell surface via ionic interaction with its C-terminal region. This interaction with a peroxidase seems to be a novel function for an SOD. The binding of the cell surface SOD to the cell-adhesive/opsonic peroxinectin may mediate, or regulate, cell adhesion and phagocytosis; it may also be important for efficient localized production of microbicidal substances.  (+info)

Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a novel extracellular peroxidase from Trametes versicolor. (6/3678)

The white rot basidiomycete Trametes versicolor secretes a large number of peroxidases which are believed to be involved in the degradation of polymeric lignin. These peroxidases have been classified previously as lignin peroxidases or manganese peroxidases (MnP). We have isolated a novel extracellular peroxidase-encoding cDNA sequence from T. versicolor CU1, the transcript levels of which are repressed by low concentrations of Mn2+ and induced by nitrogen and carbon but not induced in response to a range of stresses which have been reported to induce MnP expression.  (+info)

Expression of the cell adhesion molecules on leukocytes that demarginate during acute maximal exercise. (7/3678)

The pulmonary vascular bed is an important reservoir for the marginated pool of leukocytes that can be mobilized by exercise or catecholamines. This study was designed to determine the phenotypic characteristics of leukocytes that are mobilized into the circulation during exercise. Twenty healthy volunteers performed incremental exercise to exhaustion [maximal O2 consumption (VO2 max)] on a cycle ergometer. Blood was collected at baseline, at 3-min intervals during exercise, at VO2 max, and 30 min after exercise. Total white cell, polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN), and lymphocyte counts increased with exercise to VO2 max (P < 0.05). Flow cytometric analysis showed that the mean fluorescence intensity of L-selectin on PMN (from 14.9 +/- 1 at baseline to 9.5 +/- 1.6 at VO2 max, P < 0.05) and lymphocytes (from 11.7 +/- 1.2 at baseline to 8 +/- 0.8 at VO2 max, P < 0.05) decreased with exercise. Mean fluorescence intensity of CD11b on PMN increased with exercise (from 10.2 +/- 0.6 at baseline to 25 +/- 2.5 at VO2 max, P < 0.002) but remained unchanged on lymphocytes. Myeloperoxidase levels in PMN did not change with exercise. In vitro studies showed that neither catecholamines nor plasma collected at VO2 max during exercise changed leukocyte L-selectin or CD11b levels. We conclude that PMN released from the marginated pool during exercise express low levels of L-selectin and high levels of CD11b.  (+info)

Purification and cloning of the salivary peroxidase/catechol oxidase of the mosquito Anopheles albimanus. (8/3678)

Salivary homogenates of the adult female mosquito Anopheles albimanus have been shown previously to contain a vasodilatory activity associated with a catechol oxidase/peroxidase activity. We have now purified the salivary peroxidase using high-performance liquid chromatography. The pure enzyme is able to relax rabbit aortic rings pre-constricted with norepinephrine. The peroxidase has a relative molecular mass of 66 907 as estimated by mass spectrometry. Amino-terminal sequencing allowed us to design oligonucleotide probes for isolation of cDNA clones derived from the salivary gland mRNA from female mosquitoes. The full sequence of the cDNA demonstrated homology between A. albimanus salivary peroxidase and several members of the myeloperoxidase gene family. A close comparison of A. albimanus salivary peroxidase with canine myeloperoxidase, for which the crystal structure is known, showed that all six disulfide bridges were conserved and demonstrated identity for all five residues associated with a Ca2+-binding site. In addition, 16 of 26 residues shown to be in close proximity to the heme moiety in the canine myeloperoxidase were identical. We conclude that the salivary peroxidase of A. albimanus belongs to the myeloperoxidase gene family. Other possible functions for this molecule in blood feeding are discussed.  (+info)

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