| 1. |
- Wichert, R., et al.
(författare)
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Mucus Detachment by Host Metalloprotease Meprin beta Requires Shedding of Its Inactive Pro-form, which Is Abrogated by the Pathogenic Protease RgpB
- 2017
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Ingår i: Cell Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 2211-1247. ; 21:8, s. 2090-2103
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The host metalloprotease meprin beta is required for mucin 2 (MUC2) cleavage, which drives intestinal mucus detachment and prevents bacterial over-growth. To gain access to the cleavage site in MUC2, meprin b must be proteolytically shed from epithelial cells. Hence, regulation of meprin b shedding and activation is important for physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Here, we demonstrate that meprin b activation and shedding are mutually exclusive events. Employing ex vivo small intestinal organoid and cell culture experiments, we found that ADAM-mediated shedding is restricted to the inactive pro-form of meprin beta and is completely inhibited upon its conversion to the active form at the cell surface. This strict regulation of meprin beta activity can be overridden by pathogens, as demonstrated for the bacterial protease Arg-gingipain (RgpB). This secreted cysteine protease potently converts membrane-bound meprin beta into its active form, impairing meprin beta shedding and its function as a mucus-detaching protease.
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| 2. |
- Wilms, H., et al.
(författare)
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Suppression of Map Kinases Inhibits Microglial Activation and Attenuates Neuronal Cell Death Induced by Alpha-Synuclein Protofibrils
- 2009
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Ingår i: International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology. - 0394-6320. ; 22:4, s. 897-909
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- alpha-Synuclein (alpha-Syn) accounts, as a major component of Lewy bodies (LB), for the filamentous deposits in many cases of neurodegenerative diseases. Yet, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of neuronal loss in these diseases. The correlation between alpha-Syn oligomerization/aggregation and pathologies raises the key question of which molecular form of alpha-Syn (i.e. monomeric alpha-Syn, protofibrils or mature fibrils) represents the damage-inducing culprit in the scenario of synucleinopathies. We show that human alpha-Syn protofibrils (PFs) are potent activators of parallel proinflammatory signalling pathways (p38 and ERK1/2 MAP kinases and NF-kappa B) in microglial cells in vitro. Furthermore, stereotactic injection of alpha-Syn PFs into the substantia nigra of adult rats leads to a profound activation of microglia and adjacent neuronal cell loss, which can be attenuated by the MAP kinase inhibitor semapimod. We propose that the neurodegenerative process of alpha-synucleinopathies involves microglial activation through alpha-Syn released or extruded from cells with pathogenic alpha-Syn metabolism. Compounds that inhibit the MAPK/NF-kappa B pathways might be a promising pharmacological strategy for the treatment of the inflammatory component of synucleinopathies including PD.
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