| 1. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(författare)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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Ingår i: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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| 2. |
- Alanazi, Sultan, et al.
(författare)
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Mast Cell β-Tryptase Is Enzymatically Stabilized by DNA
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-6596 .- 1422-0067. ; 21:14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tryptase is a tetrameric serine protease located within the secretory granules of mast cells. In the secretory granules, tryptase is stored in complex with negatively charged heparin proteoglycans and it is known that heparin is essential for stabilizing the enzymatic activity of tryptase. However, recent findings suggest that enzymatically active tryptase also can be found in the nucleus of murine mast cells, but it is not known how the enzmatic activity of tryptase is maintained in the nuclear milieu. Here we hypothesized that tryptase, as well as being stabilized by heparin, can be stabilized by DNA, the rationale being that the anionic charge of DNA could potentially substitute for that of heparin to execute this function. Indeed, we showed that double-stranded DNA preserved the enzymatic activity of human β-tryptase with a similar efficiency as heparin. In contrast, single-stranded DNA did not have this capacity. We also demonstrated that DNA fragments down to 400 base pairs have tryptase-stabilizing effects equal to that of intact DNA. Further, we showed that DNA-stabilized tryptase was more efficient in degrading nuclear core histones than heparin-stabilized enzyme. Finally, we demonstrated that tryptase, similar to its nuclear localization in murine mast cells, is found within the nucleus of primary human skin mast cells. Altogether, these finding reveal a hitherto unknown mechanism for the stabilization of mast cell tryptase, and these findings can have an important impact on our understanding of how tryptase regulates nuclear events.
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| 3. |
- Alanazi, Sultan, et al.
(författare)
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Tryptase Regulates the Epigenetic Modification of Core Histones in Mast Cell Leukemia Cells
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Immunology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-3224. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mast cells are immune cells that store large amounts of mast cell-restricted proteases in their secretory granules, including tryptase, chymase, and carboxypeptidase A3. In mouse mast cells, it has been shown that tryptase, in addition to its canonical location in secretory granules, can be found in the nuclear compartment where it can impact core histones. Here we asked whether tryptase can execute core histone processing in human mast cell leukemia cells and whether tryptase thereby can affect the epigenetic modification of core histones. Our findings reveal that triggering of cell death in HMC-1 mast cell leukemia cells is associated with extensive cleavage of core histone 3 (H3) and more restricted cleavage of H2B. Tryptase inhibition caused a complete blockade of such processing. Our data also show that HMC-1 cell death was associated with a major reduction of several epigenetic histone marks, including H3 lysine-4-mono-methylation (H3K4me1), H3K9me2, H3 serine-10-phosphorylation (H3S10p), and H2B lysine-16-acetylation (H2BK16ac), and that tryptase inhibition reverses the effect of cell death on these epigenetic marks. Further, we show that tryptase is present in the nucleus of both viable and dying mast cell leukemia cells. In line with a role for tryptase in regulating nuclear events, tryptase inhibition caused an increased proliferation of the mast cell leukemia cells. Altogether, the present study emphasizes a novel principle for how epigenetic modification of core histones is regulated and provides novel insight into the biological function of human mast cell tryptase.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Faroldi, Gianni, et al.
(författare)
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Active Caspase-3 Is Stored within Secretory Compartments of Viable Mast Cells
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Immunology. - : The American Association of Immunologists. - 0022-1767 .- 1550-6606. ; 191, s. 1445-1452
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Caspase-3 is a main executioner of apoptotic cell death. The general notion is that, in viable cells, caspase-3 is found as a cytosolic inactive proenzyme and that caspase-3 activation is largely confined to processes associated with cell death. In this study, we challenge this notion by showing that enzymatically active caspase-3 is stored in viable mast cells. The enzymatically active caspase-3 was undetectable in the cytosol of viable cells, but was recovered in subcellular fractions containing secretory granule-localized proteases. Moreover, active caspase-3 was rapidly released into the cytosolic compartment after permeabilization of the secretory granules. Using a cell-permeable substrate for caspase-3, the presence of active caspase-3-like activity in granule-like compartments close to the plasma membrane was demonstrated. Moreover, it was shown that mast cell activation caused release of the caspase-3 to the cell exterior. During the course of mast cell differentiation from bone marrow cells, procaspase-3 was present in cells of all stages of maturation. In contrast, active caspase-3 was undetectable in bone marrow precursor cells, but increased progressively during the process of mast cell maturation, its accumulation coinciding with that of a mast cell-specific secretory granule marker, mouse mast cell protease 6. Together, the current study suggests that active caspase-3 can be stored within secretory compartments of viable mast cells.
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| 6. |
- Faroldi, Gianni, et al.
(författare)
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Nuclear Receptor 4a3 (Nr4a3) Regulates Murine Mast Cell Responses and Granule Content
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nuclear receptor 4a3 (Nr4a3) is a transcription factor implicated in various settings such as vascular biology and inflammation. We have recently shown that mast cells dramatically upregulate Nuclear receptor 4a3 upon activation, and here we investigated the functional impact of Nuclear receptor 4a3 on mast cell responses. We show that Nuclear receptor 4a3 is involved in the regulation of cytokine/chemokine secretion in mast cells following activation via the high affinity IgE receptor. Moreover, Nuclear receptor 4a3 negatively affects the transcript and protein levels of mast cell tryptase as well as the mast cell's responsiveness allergen. Together, these findings identify Nuclear receptor 4a3 as a novel regulator of mast cell function.
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| 7. |
- Garcia-Vilas, Javier A., et al.
(författare)
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Damnacanthal inhibits IgE receptor-mediated activation of mast cells
- 2015
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Ingår i: Molecular Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0161-5890 .- 1872-9142. ; 65:1, s. 86-93
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Damnacanthal, an anthraquinone obtained from the noni fruit (Morinda citrifolia L), has been described to possess anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties. Since mast cells are key players in various inflammatory conditions as well as in cancer, we considered the possibility that the biological actions of damnacanthal, at least partly, could be due to effects on mast cells. Many of the biological activities of mast cells are mediated by IgE receptor cross-linking, which results in degranulation with release of preformed granule mediators, as well as de nova synthesis and release of additional compounds. Here we show that damnacanthal has profound inhibitory activity on mast cell activation through this pathway. The release of the granule compounds beta-hexosaminidase and tryptase release was completely abrogated by damnacanthal at doses that were non-toxic to mast cells. In addition, damnacanthal inhibited activation-dependent pro-inflammatory gene induction, as well as cytokine/chemokine release in response to mast cell stimulation. The mechanism underlying damnacanthal inhibition was linked to impaired phosphorylation of Syk and Akt. Furthermore, damnacanthal inhibited mast cell activation in response to calcium ionophore A23187. Altogether, the data presented here demonstrate that damnacanthal inhibits mast cell activation induced by different stimuli and open a new window for the use of this compound as a mast cell stabilizer.
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| 8. |
- Grujic, Mirjana, et al.
(författare)
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Protective role of mouse mast cell tryptase Mcpt6 in melanoma.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research. - : Wiley. - 1755-1471 .- 1755-148X. ; 33:4, s. 579-590
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tryptase-positive mast cells populate melanomas, but it is not known whether tryptase impacts on melanoma progression. Here we addressed this and show that melanoma growth is significantly higher in tryptase-deficient (Mcpt6-/- ) versus wild-type mice. Histochemical analysis showed that mast cells were frequent in the tumor stroma of both wild-type and Mcpt6-/- mice, and also revealed their presence within the tumor parenchyma. Confocal microscopy analysis revealed that tryptase was taken up by the tumor cells. Further, tryptase-positive granules were released from mast cells and were widely distributed within the tumor tissue, suggesting that tryptase could impact on the tumor microenvironment. Indeed, gene expression analysis showed that the absence of Mcpt6 caused decreased expression of numerous genes, including Cxcl9, Tgtp2, and Gbp10, while the expression of 5p-miR3098 was enhanced. The levels of CXCL9 were lower in serum from Mcpt6-/- versus wild-type mice. In further support of a functional impact of tryptase on melanoma, recombinant tryptase (Mcpt6) was taken up by cultured melanoma cells and caused reduced proliferation. Altogether, our results indicate a protective role of mast cell tryptase in melanoma growth.
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| 9. |
- Hagforsen, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Ablation of human skin mast cells in situ by lysosomotropic agents
- 2015
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Ingår i: Experimental dermatology. - : Wiley. - 0906-6705 .- 1600-0625. ; 24:7, s. 516-521
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mast cells are known to have a detrimental impact on numerous types of inflammatory skin diseases such as contact dermatitis, atopic eczema and cutaneous mastocytosis. Regimens that dampen skin mast cell-mediated activities can thus offer an attractive therapeutic option under such circumstances. As mast cells are known to secrete a large array of potentially pathogenic compounds, both from preformed stores in secretory lysosomes (granules) and after de novo synthesis, mere inhibition of degranulation or interference with individual mast cell mediators may not be sufficient to provide an effective blockade of harmful mast cell activities. An alternative strategy may therefore be to locally reduce skin mast cell numbers. Here, we explored the possibility of using lysosomotropic agents for this purpose, appreciating the fact that mast cell granules contain bioactive compounds prone to trigger apoptosis if released into the cytosolic compartment. Based on this principle, we show that incubation of human skin punch biopsies with the lysosomotropic agents siramesine or Leu-Leu methyl ester preferably ablated the mast cell population, without causing any gross adverse effects on the skin morphology. Subsequent analysis revealed that mast cells treated with lysosomotropic agents predominantly underwent apoptotic rather than necrotic cell death. In summary, this study raises the possibility of using lysosomotropic agents as a novel approach to targeting deleterious mast cell populations in cutaneous mastocytosis and other skin disorders negatively influenced by mast cells.
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| 10. |
- Melo, Fabio rabelo, et al.
(författare)
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A role for serglycin proteoglycan in mast cell apoptosis induced by a secretory granule-mediated pathway
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 286:7, s. 5423-5433
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mast cell secretory granules (secretory lysosomes) contain large amounts of fully active proteases bound to serglycin proteoglycan. Damage to the granule membrane will thus lead to the release of serglycin and serglycin-bound proteases into the cytosol, which potentially could lead to proteolytic activation of cytosolic pro-apoptotic compounds. We therefore hypothesized that mast cells are susceptible to apoptosis induced by permeabilization of the granule membrane, and that this process is serglycin-dependent. Indeed, we show that wild type mast cells are highly sensitive to apoptosis induced by granule permeabilization, whereas serglycin-deficient cells are largely resistant. The reduced sensitivity of serglycin-/- cells to apoptosis was accompanied by reduced granule damage, reduced release of proteases into the cytosol and defective caspase-3 activation. Mechanistically, the apoptosis-promoting effect of serglycin involved serglycin-dependent proteases, as indicated by reduced sensitivity to apoptosis and reduced caspase-3 activation in cells lacking individual mast cell-specific proteases. Together, these findings implicate serglycin proteoglycan as a novel player in mast cell apoptosis.
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