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Biomedical subjects

D Musil

Publications and source records attributed to D Musil.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Regression of deep venous thrombosis].

The submitted prospective randomized study investigated the way and rate of regression of deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremities during a six-month out-patient follow up. On discharge on the 5th to 10th day after establishment of the diagnosis the thrombosis had not disappeared in any of the patients, in two patients progression was observed despite anticoagulant therapy. After three months 4.8% thromboses were recanalized, after 6 months 33.3%. In 33.3% of patients recanalization in a distal-proximal direction was found, in 19% in a proximal-distal direction and in 33.3% recanalization occurred throughout the thrombotic occlusion. Thromboses recanalized more quickly in patients under 50 years of age.

Anticoagulants↗

[Early renal failure caused by mesalazine].

The author describes a case of early onset of asymptomatic renal insufficiency in a young patient with ulcerative colitis, treated by large doses of mesalazine. After discontinuation of the drug rapid restoration of renal functions occurred. Contrary to all hitherto published cases, this patient developed renal failure very soon. Urea serum levels reached pathological values after 27 days and the creatinine level already 15 days after the onset of mesalazine administration. The renal affection was unequivocally confirmed by examination of the urine (semiquantitative and quantitative) and dynamic functional scintigraphy.

Adult↗

Is it reasonable to use faecal occult blood test for colorectal cancer screening?

There is a high prevalence and incidence of colorectal cancer in industrial countries. It is the commonest cancer in women after breast cancer and in men after prostate and lung cancer and one of the most common causes of death from malignant disease. The cause of colorectal cancer is unknown, thus primary-prevention programs could not be elaborated and the only occasion to reduce mortality is the use of screening to detect this cancer early. Faecal occult blood test (FOBT) was chosen for screening. Large population based trials included thousands of inhabitants of the United States and Europe to demonstrate: 1. Screening with FOBT Hemoccult II reduced mortality from colorectal cancer. 2. In the screening group the incidence of advanced stages of colorectal cancer decreased (Dukes' D stage). 3. The ideal balance between sensitivity and specificity revealed HemeSelect (immunodiagnosis of human haemoglobine) and combined test (Hemoccult II Sensa + HemeSelect). These two screening tests for colorectal cancer have not been verified by large population trials. 4. More sensitive guaiac tests decrease their own specificity and also lead to increase rate of expensive colon examinations. 5. The high-risk population for colorectal cancer ought to be submitted to screening. The problem is the detection of this group. 6. Patients' compliance to screening differs in various trials, but the percentage of patients undergoing FOBT evaluation decreases as the number of screenings increases. Therefore faecal occult blood test could be recommended for national programs of the screening for colorectal cancer.

Colorectal Neoplasms↗

[Population screening for colorectal carcinoma by examining feces for occult hemorrhage].

Colorectal carcinoma is in the western world one of the most frequent deaths from malignant disease. A reliable way how to reduce the mortality from this disease is early diagnosis by screening in the population, the most suitable method being examination of the faeces for occult bleeding. During the last five years in the world literature results of several long-term and well elaborated studies were published focused on screening of colorectal carcinoma by detection of occult haemorrhage in the faeces. There were three American and four European papers from which ensued: 1. In the examined population in the mentioned investigations a reduction of the mortality from colorectal carcinoma was recorded as compared with a control group. 2. In the investigated population also a reduced incidence of advanced colorectal carcinoma was observed (Dukes D). 3. The optimal ratio of sensitivity and specificity was obtained by the HemeSelect test (immunodiagnosis of human haemoglobin) and the combined test (Hemoccult II Sensa + HemeSelect). Large scale examination by these tests was not verified in major population surveys so far. 4. Increasing of the sensitivity of tests using guaiacum resin by rehydration leads to a drop of the specificity of the examination and an enormous increase of coloscopic examinations and the cost of screening. 5. Part of the population with a high risk of colorectal carcinoma should be subjected to large scale examination. The problem remains its correct selection. 6. The adherence of patients to the examination differed in different trials. The increasing number and pretentiousness (dietary restrictions) of the examination reduces proportionately the percentage of cooperating subjects. Examination of the faeces for occult haemorrhage thus can be recommended for national programmes for screening of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal Neoplasms↗

Interfering with the inhibitory mechanism of serpins: crystal structure of a complex formed between cleaved plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 and a reactive-centre loop peptide.

BACKGROUND: Plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) is an important endogenous regulator of the fibrinolytic system. Reduction of PAI-1 activity has been shown to enhance dissolution of blood clots. Like other serpins, PAI-1 binds covalently to a target serine protease, thereby irreversibly inactivating the enzyme. During this process the exposed reactive-centre loop of PAI-1 is believed to undergo a conformational change becoming inserted into beta sheet A of the serpin. Incubation with peptides from the reactive-centre loop transform serpins into a substrate for their target protease. It has been hypothesised that these peptides bind to beta sheet A, thereby hindering the conformational rearrangement leading to loop insertion and formation of the stable serpin-protease complex. RESULTS: We report here the 1.95 A X-ray crystal structure of a complex of a glycosylated mutant of PAI-1, PAI-1-ala335Glu, with two molecules of the inhibitory reactive-centre loop peptide N-Ac-TVASS-NH2. Both bound peptide molecules are located between beta strands 3A and 5A of the serpin. The binding kinetics of the peptide inhibitor to immobilised PAI-1-Ala335Glu, as monitored by surface plasmon resonance, is consistent with there being two different binding sites. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first reported crystal structure of a complex formed between a serpin and a serpin inhibitor. The localisation of the inhibitory peptide in the complex strongly supports the theory that molecules binding in the space between beta strands 3A and 5A of a serpin are able to prevent insertion of the reactive-centre loop into beta sheet A, thereby abolishing the ability of the serpin to irreversibly inactivate its target enzyme. The characterisation of the two binding sites for the peptide inhibitor provides a solid foundation for computer-aided design of novel, low molecular weight PAI-1 inhibitors.

Binding Sites↗

Refined X-ray crystal structures of the reactive site modified ovomucoid inhibitor third domains from silver pheasant (OMSVP3*) and from Japanese quail (OMJPQ3*).

Tetragonal and triclinic crystals of two ovomucoid inhibitor third domains from silver pheasant and Japanese quail, modified at their reactive site bonds Met18-Glu19 (OMSVP3*) and Lys18-Asp19 (OMJPQ3*), respectively, were obtained. Their molecular and crystal structures were solved using X-ray data to 2.5 A and 1.55 A by means of Patterson search methods using truncated models of the intact (virgin) inhibitors as search models. Both structures were crystallographically refined to R-values of 0.185 and 0.192, respectively, applying an energy restraint reciprocal space refinement procedure. Both modified inhibitors show large deviations from the intact derivatives only in the proteinase binding loops (Pro14 to Arg21) and in the amino-terminal segments (Leu1 to Val6). In the modified inhibitors the residues immediately adjacent to the cleavage site (in particular P2, P1, P1') are mobile and able to adapt to varying crystal environments. The charged end-groups, i.e. Met18 COO- and Glu19 NH3+ in OMSVP3*, and Lys18 COO- and Asp19 NH3+ in OMJPQ3*, do not form ion pairs with one another. The hydrogen bond connecting the side-chains of Thr17 and Glu19 (i.e. residues on either side of the scissile peptide bond) in OMSVP3 is broken in the modified form, and the hydrogen-bond interactions observed in the intact molecules between the Asn33 side-chain and the carbonyl groups of loop residues P2 and P1' are absent or weak in the modified inhibitors. The reactive site cleavage, however, has little effect on specific interactions within the protein scaffold such as the side-chain hydrogen bond between Asp27 and Tyr31 or the side-chain stacking of Tyr20 and Pro22. The conformational differences in the amino-terminal segment Leu1 to Val6 are explained by their ability to move freely, either to associate with segments of symmetry-related molecules under formation of a four-stranded beta-barrel (OMSVP3* and OMJPQ3) or to bind to surrounding molecules. Together with the results given in the accompanying paper, these findings probably explain why Khyd of small protein inhibitors of serine proteinases is generally found to be so small.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The refined 2.15 A X-ray crystal structure of human liver cathepsin B: the structural basis for its specificity.

From the lysosomal cysteine proteinase cathepsin B, isolated from human liver in its two-chain form, monoclinic crystals were obtained which contain two molecules per asymmetric unit. The molecular structure was solved by a combination of Patterson search and heavy atom replacement methods (simultaneously with rat cathepsin B) and refined to a crystallographic R value of 0.164 using X-ray data to 2.15 A resolution. The overall folding pattern of cathepsin B and the arrangement of the active site residues are similar to the related cysteine proteinases papain, actinidin and calotropin DI. 166 alpha-carbon atoms out of 248 defined cathepsin B residues are topologically equivalent (with an r.m.s. deviation of 1.04 A) with alpha-carbon atoms of papain. However, several large insertion loops are accommodated on the molecular surface and modify its properties. The disulphide connectivities recently determined for bovine cathepsin B by chemical means were shown to be correct. Some of the primed subsites are occluded by a novel insertion loop, which seems to favour binding of peptide substrates with two residues carboxy-terminal to the scissile peptide bond; two histidine residues (His110 and His111) in this "occluding loop' provide positively charged anchors for the C-terminal carboxylate group of such polypeptide substrates. These structural features explain the well-known dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase activity of cathepsin B. The other subsites adjacent to the reactive site Cys29 are relatively similar to papain; Glu245 in the S2 subsite favours basic P2-side chains. The above mentioned histidine residues, but also the buried Glu171 might represent the group with a pKa of approximately 5.5 near the active site, which governs endo- and exopeptidase activity. The "occluding loop' does not allow cystatin-like protein inhibitors to bind to cathepsin B as they do to papain, consistent with the reduced affinity of these protein inhibitors for cathepsin B compared with the related plant enzymes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Preliminary X-ray crystallographic study of malate dehydrogenases from the thermoacidophilic Archaebacteria Thermoplasma acidophilum and Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.

Malate dehydrogenases from the thermoacidophilic Archaebacteria Thermoplasma acidophilum and Sulfolobus acidocaldarius have been crystallized and characterized by X-ray diffraction measurements. Crystals of the enzyme from T. acidophilum display space-group symmetry P2(1), a = 63 A, b = 135 A, c = 83 A and beta = 105 degrees; they scattered to approximately 4 A resolution. Two crystal modifications of malate dehydrogenase from S. acidocaldarius were characterized; one displayed trigonal symmetry corresponding to space groups P321, P3(1)21 or P3(2)21 with lattice parameters a = 151 A and c = 248 A and with resolution approximately to 5 A, whereas the other modification displayed space group symmetry I23 or I2(1)3 with lattice parameters a = 129 A and approximately 4.5 A resolution.

Archaea↗

The 2.0 A X-ray crystal structure of chicken egg white cystatin and its possible mode of interaction with cysteine proteinases.

The crystal structure of chicken egg white cystatin has been solved by X-ray diffraction methods using the multiple isomorphous replacement technique. Its structure has been refined to a crystallographic R value of 0.19 using X-ray data between 6 and 2.0A. The molecule consists mainly of a straight five-turn alpha-helix, a five-stranded antiparallel beta-pleated sheet which is twisted and wrapped around the alpha-helix and an appending segment of partially alpha-helical geometry. The 'highly conserved' region from Gln53I to Gly57I implicated with binding to cysteine proteinases folds into a tight beta-hairpin loop which on opposite sides is flanked by the amino-terminal segment and by a second hairpin loop made up of the similarly conserved segment Pro103I - Trp104I. These loops and the amino-terminal Gly9I - Ala10I form a wedge-shaped 'edge' which is quite complementary to the 'active site cleft' of papain. Docking experiments suggest a unique model for the interaction of cystatin and papain: according to it both hairpin loops of cystatin make major binding interactions with the highly conserved residues Gly23, Gln19, Trp177 and Ala136 of papain in the neighbourhood of the reactive site Cys25; the amino-terminal segment Gly9I - Ala10I of bound cystatin is directed towards the substrate subsite S2, but in an inappropriate conformation and too far away to be attacked by the reactive site Cys25. As a consequence, the mechanism of the interaction between cysteine proteinases and their cystatin-like inhibitors seems to be fundamentally different from the 'standard mechanism' defined for serine proteinases and most of their protein inhibitors.

Animals↗

The high-resolution X-ray crystal structure of the complex formed between subtilisin Carlsberg and eglin c, an elastase inhibitor from the leech Hirudo medicinalis. Structural analysis, subtilisin structure and interface geometry.

Triclinic crystals of the complex formed by eglin with subtilisin Carlsberg were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. The crystal and molecular structure of this complex was determined with data that extended to 0.12-nm resolution by a combination of Patterson search methods and isomorphous replacement techniques. Its structure was refined to a crystallographic R value of 0.178 (1.0-0.12 nm) using an energy-restraint least-squares procedure. The complete subtilisin molecule could be traced without ambiguity in the refined electron density. The eglin component, from which an amino-terminal segment is cleaved off, is only defined from Lys8I (i.e. the lysine residue 8 of the inhibitor) onwards. Per unit cell, 436 fixed solvent molecules and 2 calcium ions were located. In spite of 84 amino acid replacements and one deletion, subtilisin Carlsberg exhibits a very similar polypeptide fold to subtilisin BPN'. The root-mean-square deviations of all alpha-carbon atoms (excluding those at the deletion site) from models of subtilisin BPN' [Alden, R. A., Birktoft, J. J., Kraut, J., Robertus, J. D. & Wright, C. S. (1971) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 45, 337-344] and subtilisin Novo [Drenth, J., Hol, W. G. J., Jansonius, J. N. & Kockoek, R. (1972) Eur. J. Biochem. 25, 177-181] are 0.077 nm and 0.103 nm. Most of these deviations result from global shifts rather than changes of the local geometry. The single-residue deletion at position 56 affects only the surrounding conformation. Two sites of high electron density and close distances to surrounding oxygen ligands have been found in the Carlsberg enzyme which are probably occupied by calcium ions. Eglin consists of a twisted four-stranded beta-sheet flanked by an alpha-helix and by an exposed proteinase binding loop on opposite sides. Around the reactive site, Leu45I-Asp46I, this loop is mainly stabilized by electrostatic/hydrogen bond interactions with the side chains of two arginine residues which project from the hydrophobic core [Bode, W., Papamokos, E., Musil, D., Seemüller, W. & Fritz, H. (1986) EMBO J. 5, 813-818]. The reactive site loop conformation resembles that found in other 'small' proteinase inhibitors. The scissile peptide bond is not cleaved but its carbonyl group is slightly distorted from planar geometry. Most of the intermolecular contacts are contributed by the nine residues of the reactive-site loop Gly40I-Arg48I.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗

Refined 1.2 A crystal structure of the complex formed between subtilisin Carlsberg and the inhibitor eglin c. Molecular structure of eglin and its detailed interaction with subtilisin.

The crystal structure of the complex formed between eglin c, an elastase inhibitor from the medical leech, and subtilisin Carlsberg has been determined at 1.2 A resolution by a combination of Patterson search methods and isomorphous replacement techniques. The structure has been refined to a crystallographic R-value of 0.18 (8-1.2 A). Eglin consists of a four-stranded beta-sheet with an alpha-helical segment and the protease-binding loop fixed on opposite sides. This loop, which contains the reactive site Leu45I--Asp46I, is mainly held in its conformation by unique electrostatic/hydrogen bond interactions of Thr44I and Asp46I with the side chains of Arg53I and Arg51I which protrude from the hydrophobic core of the molecule. The conformation around the reactive site is similar to that found in other proteinase inhibitors. The nine residues of the binding loop Gly40I--Arg48I are involved in direct contacts with subtilisin. In this interaction, eglin segment Pro42I--Thr44I forms a three-stranded anti-parallel beta-sheet with subtilisin segments Gly100--Gly102 and Ser125--Gly127. The reactive site peptide bond of eglin is intact, and Ser221 OG of the enzyme is 2.81 A apart from the carbonyl carbon.

Amino Acid Sequence↗