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J F Woessner

Publications and source records attributed to J F Woessner.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Specificity and biological role of cathepsin D.

The purity of cathepsin D has been increased from 150 units/mg to over 200 units/mg. Peptides such as Ala-Phe-NH2, His-Phe-NH2 and Phe-Phe were split by impure enzyme and activity was blocked by pepstatin and diazoacetylnorleucine methyl ester. Pure preparations no longer digested these peptides. This points to the presence of a second peptidase activity similar to cathepsin D in specificity and inhibition properties, but distinct from it . Cathepsin D splits the peptides Leu-Phe-NH2, Leu-Tyr-NH2, Ac-Phe-TyrI2, and Ala-Leu-Tyr-Leu upon overnight incubation. More rapid splitting is found with phenyl sulfite, Glu-Ala-Leu-Tyr-Leu-Val, and Bz-Arg-Gly-Phe-Phe-Leu-4-methoxy-beta-naphthylamide. Digestion of bovine hemoglobin and human serum albumin by ruptured rat liver tritosomes was studied over the pH range 2.5-6.5. The combined action of cathepsin D and thiol proteinases accounted for most of the digestion. Cathepsin D accounted for 75% of the hemoglobin digestion at pH 3 and 45% at pH 5. Thiol proteinase accounted for 85% of the albumin digestion at pH 5. The role of cathepsin D in the development of embryonic limbs and skin, in uterine involution, and in cartilage degradation was reviewed. The activity of cathepsin D on cartilage matrix proteoglycans is limited to acid pH values. Human articular cartilage also contains metalloproteases active at pH 4.5 and 5.7.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Extraction of collagenase from the involuting rat uterus.

Collagenase (EC 3.4.24.3) activity can be measured directly in homogenates of the involuting rat uterus. Latent forms of collagenase are activated by a brief exposure to trypsin; trypsin activity is then blocked with soybean trypsin inhibitor. Homogenizing conditions have been developed that permit 90-95% recovery of the total active and latent collagenase activity in a 6000 X g pellet, where it is presumably bound to its collagen substrate. This insoluble activity can then be extracted by heating to 60 degrees C for 4 min in 0.04 M Tris - HCl buffer, pH 7.5, containing 0.1 M CaCl2. Methods are presented for the estimation of the recovery of collagenase in the extracts; this approximates 65-70% of the total. Small amounts of activity can also be extracted from rat liver and kidney. This extraction procedure should be of use in purifying collagenase without culturing the enzyme-producing tissue and in the direct assay of tissue collagenase activity. The activity extracted from rat uterus has been proven to be collagenase by its characteristic pattern of collagen breakdown products on disc electrophoresis and by the split of tropocollagen at interband 41 as shown by electron microscopy of reconstituted fragments. The activity is inhibited by EDTA, and this inhibition is not reversed by calcium or zinc ions.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Metalloproteases of human articular cartilage that digest cartilage proteoglycan at neutral and acid pH.

Extracts of human articular cartilage contain proteases capable of degrading the proteoglycan component of cartilage matrix at neutral and acid pH. These enzymes have been partially purified by ion exchange chromotography and characterized by disc electrophoresis, inhibition patterns, and action of proteoglycan. Three distinct metalloproteases are described. A neutral protease that digests proteoglycan subunit optimally at pH 7.25 has been purified up to 900-fold. It is strongly inhibited by o-phenanthroline, alpha-2-macroglobulin, and egg white, and to a lesser extent by D-penicillamine and EDTA. Inhibition by chelating agents is reversed by cobalt, zinc, and ferrous ions. Two acid metalloproteases, distinct from cathespins B1, D, and F, digest proteoglycan subunit at pH 4.5 and 5.5. Both are inhibited by o-phenanthroline and activity is restored by cobalt, zinc, or ferrous ions. With electron microscopy, it was found that cartilage slices were depleted of ruthenium red-staining matrix proteoglycan after incubation in vitro with a partially purified cartilage extract at neutral pH. Sedimentation, gel chromatography, sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis, and immuno-diffusion studies of digests of isolated proteoglycan fraction produced by the partially purified cartilage extract at neutral and acid pH confirmed that the cartilage enzymes act only on the protein component of proteoglycan subunit, producing fragments with 5 to 12 chondroitin sulfate chains. The link proteins were not digested.

Cartilage, Articular↗
PubMed1975

Effect of progesterone on collagen breakdown and tissue collagenolytic activity in the involuting rat uterus.

Progestational agents were studied for their effects on collagenolytic activity and loss of collagen and wet weight from the involuting post-partum rat uterus. Administration of very large doses of progesterone (80-150 mg/day) significantly retarded uterine involution and loss of collagen. This was accompanied by a significant reduction in uterine collagenolytic activity. By 72 h post partum, uteri of rats treated with 150 mg progesterone/day had wet weights 30% above, collagen 85% above, and collagenolytic activity 45% below, those of the control uteri. Similar effects were produced by 17alpha-acetoxy-6alpha-methylprogesterone at the same dosage levels. However, the progestational agent 6-chloro-17alpha-acetoxypregna-4,6-diene-3,20-dione acetate had no effect in this system.

Animals↗
PubMed1974

Neutral proteases and cathepsin D in human articular cartilage.

Proteolytic enzymes have been studied in extracts of human articular cartilage by the use of micromethods. The digestion of hemoglobin at pH 3.2 and of cartilage proteoglycan at pH 5 was shown to be due chiefly to cathepsin D. Cathepsin D was purified 900-fold from human patellar cartilage. Its identity was established by its specific cleavage of the B chain of insulin. At least six multiple forms of cathepsin D are present in cartilage; these corresponded to bovine forms 4-9. Cathepsin D had no action on proteins at pH 7.4. However, cartilage extracts digested proteoglycan, casein, and histone at this pH. The proteolytic activities against these three substrates were purified about 170-, 160-, and 70-fold, respectively. Each activity appeared in multiple forms on DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. The three activities appear to be different since cysteine inhibited casein digestion, aurothiomalate inhibited histone digestion, and neither inhibited proteoglycan digestion. Tests with a wide range of inhibitors and activators suggest that these three activities differ from other neutral proteases described in the literature.

Aged↗
PubMed1973

The action of cathepsin D in human articular cartilage on proteoglycans.

In recent years the lysosomal cathepsins have been implicated as important agents in the physiological degradation of various cartilages. In the present study, the nature of cathepsin present in human articular cartilage was investigated by microtechniques and a possible role for cathepsins in the cartilage degradation observed in osteoarthritis was sought. The results of this study indicated that the hemoglobin and proteoglycan-digesting activity in the human cartilage observed is predominantly that of a cathepsin D-type enzyme. This cathepsin D-type enzyme activity was present in two to three times greater amounts in yellowish or ulcerated articular cartilage from patients with primary osteoarthritis than in control "normal" human cartilages. The human cathepsin D-type enzyme, as well as a highly purified cathepsin D from bovine uterus degraded proteoglycan subunit (PGS) maximally at pH 5. Both enzyme preparations were inactive on hemoglobin at pH 6-8, but degraded PGS considerably at neutral pH. The activity of the human cathepsin extract was not affected by reagents which inhibit or activate cathepsins A and B. Neutral proteases which are active on hemoglobin or are inhibited by diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) were not detected in these preparations, but contamination by another type of neutral protease cannot be excluded. Chloroquine inhibited the degradation of PGS at neutral pH by the human cartilage enzyme extract.

Adult↗