Recombinant wild-type human serum albumin (rHSA), the single-residue mutants R410A, Y411A, Y411S and Y411F and the double mutant R410A/Y411A were produced using a yeast expression system. The recombinant proteins were correctly folded, as they had the same stability towards guanidine hydrochloride and the same CD spectrum as HSA isolated from serum (native HSA). Thus the global structures of the recombinant proteins are probably very similar to that of native HSA. We investigated, by ultrafiltration and CD, the high-affinity binding of two representative site II ligands, namely ketoprofen and diazepam. According to the crystal structure of HSA, the residues Arg-410 and Tyr-411 protrude into the centre of site II (in subdomain 3A), and the binding results showed that the guanidino moiety of Arg-410, the phenolic oxygen and the aromatic ring of Tyr-411 are important for ketoprofen binding. The guanidino moiety probably interacts electrostatically with the carboxy group of ketoprofen, the phenolic oxygen could make a hydrogen-bond with the keto group of the ligand, and the aromatic ring may participate in a specific stacking interaction with one of or both of the aromatic rings of ketoprofen. By contrast, Arg-410 is not important for diazepam binding. The two parts of Tyr-411 interact favourably with diazepam, and probably do so in the same way as with ketoprofen. In addition to its unique ligand binding properties, HSA also possesses an esterase-like activity, and studies with p-nitrophenyl acetate as a substrate showed that, although Arg-410 is important, the enzymic activity of HSA is much more dependent on the presence of Tyr-411. A minor activity could be registered when serine, but not alanine or phenylalanine, was present at position 411.

Background: The chemokine family plays important roles in cell migration and activation. In humans, at least 44 members are known. Based on the arrangement of the four conserved cysteine residues, chemokines are now classified into four subfamilies, CXC, CC, XC and CX3C. Given that zebrafish is an important experimental model and teleost fishes constitute an evolutionarily diverse group that forms half the vertebrate species, it would be useful to compare the zebrafish chemokine system with those of mammals. Prior to this study, however, only incomplete lists of the zebrafish chemokine genes were reported.

Both cytosolic (c-AAT) and mitochondrial (m-AAT) isozymes of aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1) appear in serum in some diseases including hepatobiliary dysfunction. The present study aimed at elucidation of the mechanism by which AAT isozymes are cleared from blood. Intravenous injection into rats of m-AAT and c-AAT purified from rat liver exhibited a biphasic clearance curve with an overall half-life of 42 min and 4.7 hr, respectively. The tissue distribution of the radioactivity following intravenous administration of 125I-labeled isozymes revealed that the liver is a major organ involved in plasma clearance of these isozymes. This conclusion was also supported by the significant retardation in plasma clearance of m-AAT in hepatectomized as well as CCl4-intoxicated rats. Furthermore, clearance rate of each AAT isozyme in an isolated perfused liver exhibited a single exponential process with the uptake rate for m-AAT being much faster than that for c-AAT. Separation of hepatocytes and sinusoidal liver cells from the rat intravenously injected with 125I-labeled AAT isozymes revealed that sinusoidal cells were responsible for the plasma clearances. In vitro uptake study showed that both isozymes were exclusively taken up by sinusoidal liver cells. The uptake rate for m-AAT was considerably greater than that for c-AAT. Endocytotic index for uptake by sinusoidal cells was 16 times with c-AAT and 34 times with m-AAT as compared with that for inulin or dextran which are taken up by fluid-phase endocytosis, suggesting involvement of adsorptive endocytosis in the uptake of the isozymes.

The effect of two arginine-specific cysteine proteinases (gingipain Rs) from Porphyromonas gingivalis, a causative bacterium of adult periodontitis, on human blood coagulation was investigated. Activated partial thromboplastin time and prothrombin time were shortened by these proteinases, with a 95-kDa gingipain R containing adhesin domains being 5-fold more efficient in comparison to a 50-kDa gingipain R containing the catalytic domain alone. The 50-kDa enzyme reduced each coagulation time in several plasmas deficient in various coagulation factors, while it was ineffective in factor X-deficient plasma unless reconstituted with this protein. Each proteinase activated factor X in a doseand time-dependent manner, with Michaelis constants (K m ) being found to be lower than the normal plasma factor X concentration, strongly suggesting that factor X activation by gingipain Rs, especially the 95-kDa form which is strongly activated by phospholipids, could occur in plasma. This is the first report of factor X activation by bacterial proteinases and indicates that the gingipain Rs could be responsible for the production of thrombin and, indirectly, with the generation of prostaglandins, interleukin-1, etc., which have been found to be associated with the development of periodontitis induced by P. gingivalis infections. Furthermore, the data support the hypothesis that induction of blood coagulation by bacterial proteinases may be a causative agent in the pathogenesis of disseminated intravascular coagulation in sepsis.Periodontitis is an infectious disease associated with a loss of connective tissue, resorption of alveolar bone, and formation of periodontal pockets. It is the most common cause of tooth loss in adults, primarily because of the declining incidence of dental caries in the general population (1, 2). Although the pathogenesis of periodontitis is not completely understood, prostaglandins (3, 4) and interleukin-1 (5, 6), which increase in gingival crevicular fluid in periodontal pockets, are considered to be predominant factors in the tissue destruction process associated with this disease. However, the mechanism of the production of these inflammatory mediators is still unclear.Thrombin, which is primarily associated with the cleavage of fibrinogen to generate fibrin clots (7-11), is a key proteinase in the blood coagulation system. However, besides its central role in hemostasis, this proteinase is also a potent stimulator of prostaglandin synthesis in osteoblasts (12), with in vitro bone resorption appearing to be dependent, at least in part, on thrombin-stimulated prostaglandin synthesis (13,14). In addition, thrombin also potentiates lipopolysaccharide-stimulated interleukin-1 production by macrophages (15). These facts suggest that thrombin may play a major role in the development of periodontitis by indirectly causing tissue breakdown including alveolar bone resorption. However, whether thrombin is produced at periodontitis sites is still unknown.A close relationship between Porphyromonas gingivalis (...