Human tryptase as a potent, cell-specific mitogen: role of signaling pathways in synergistic responses

Do Mast Cells Have a Role in Tendon Healing and Inflammation?

Understanding the links between the tendon healing process, inflammatory mechanisms, and tendon homeostasis/pain after tissue damage is crucial in developing novel therapeutics for human tendon disorders. The inflammatory mechanisms that are operative in response to tendon injury are not fully understood, but it has been suggested that inflammation occurring in response to nerve signaling, i.e., neurogenic inflammation, has a pathogenic role. The mechanisms driving such neurogenic inflammation are presently not clear. However, it has recently been demonstrated that mast cells present within the injured tendon can express glutamate receptors, raising the possibility that mast cells may be sensitive to glutamate signaling and thereby modulate neurogenic inflammation following tissue injury. In this review, we discuss the role of mast cells in the communication with peripheral nerves, and their emerging role in tendon healing and inflammation after injury.

Human airway trypsin-like protease, a serine protease involved in respiratory diseases

More than 2% of all human genes are coding for a complex system of more than 700 proteases and protease inhibitors. Among them, serine proteases play extraordinary, diverse functions in different physiological and pathological processes. The human airway trypsin-like protease (HAT), also referred to as TMPRSS11D and serine 11D, belongs to the emerging family of cell surface proteolytic enzymes, the type II transmembrane serine proteases (TTSPs). Through the cleavage of its four major identified substrates, HAT triggers specific responses, notably in epithelial cells, within the pericellular and extracellular environment, including notably inflammatory cytokine production, inflammatory cell recruitment, or anticoagulant processes. This review summarizes the potential role of this recently described protease in mediating cell surface proteolytic events, to highlight the structural features, proteolytic activity, and regulation, including the expression profile of HAT, and discuss its possible roles in respiratory physiology and disease.

Tryptase serum levels in patients suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing intra-arterial chemoembolization: Possible predictive role of response to treatment

Tryptase is a serin protease stored in mast cell granules that has recently been found to be involved in tumor angiogenesis. Data from experimental tumor models have suggested that prior to the onset of angiogenesis mast cells were accumulated near tumor cells and were required for the macroscopic expansion and metastatic spread of primary tumor cells. Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is a well-established, highly angiogenesis-dependent hypervascular tumor. The aim of this preliminary study was to assess tryptase serum levels in 30 HCC patients prior and subsequent to hepatic transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). In this study, patients with intermediate stage (B) HCC, according to the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging classification, were enrolled. Additional patient features were adequate liver functional reserve and A or B status, according to the Child-Pugh classification. Tryptase levels were measured using the UniCAP-Tryptase fluoroimmunoassay. TACE was performed by loading doxorubicin on microspheres. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) tryptase level pre-TACE was 7.74±3.62 μg/l, and post-TACE 4.67±2.79 μg/l. A statistically significant difference (P<0.001) was detected, using the Student's t-test, between pre- and post-TACE tryptase level concentrations. No correlations were found between tryptase levels and other important clinicopathological features of patients. This is the first preliminary study analyzing the potential significance of serum tryptase levels in HCC patients. The results demonstrated higher serum tryptase levels in HCC patients, suggesting tryptase release from HCC tissue. As expected, after TACE, serum tryptase levels were decreased. Therefore, we suggested that tryptase was a potential biomarker of response to TACE treatment in HCC patients.

Spontaneous cutaneous mast cell tumor with lymph node metastasis in a Richardson's ground squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii)

A 4-year-old female Richardson's ground squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii) presented with multicentric nodules arising from the skin of the middle of the tail and lumbosacral regions. Histologically, the nodules were composed of a proliferation of spindloid to pleomorphic cells that sometimes formed sheets and fascicular to storiform patterns. Diffuse infiltration of eosinophils was also noted. The results of immunohistochemistry indicated positive labeling for vimentin, mast cell tryptase, c-kit, and Ki-67. Toluidine blue stain revealed fine, metachromatic, cytoplasmic granules. The histologic diagnosis was mast cell tumor. The neoplasm recurred and metastasized to the right lumbar lymph node 1 month later.

Inactivation of AP1 proteins by a nuclear serine protease precedes the onset of radiation-induced fibrosing alveolitis

Radiation-induced lung damage comprises inflammation (alveolitis) as well as disturbed regulation of cell differentiation and proliferation (fibrosis). The transcriptional regulation of this process is poorly understood. One key transcription factor involved in the regulation of proliferation and differentiation is AP1 (activator protein 1). The present study examined changes in the DNA-binding activity of AP1 after irradiation and defined the underlying molecular mechanisms in an animal model. The right lungs of Fischer rats received a single radiation dose of 20 Gy. Lung tissue was tested for AP1 DNA-binding activity, AP1 mRNA, and levels of AP1 proteins as well as for c-Jun specific proteolytic activity. After an initial increase, the AP1 DNA-binding activity was completely lost starting at 5.5 weeks after irradiation, which is 2.5 weeks before the onset of fibrosing alveolitis. This was not caused by reduction of mRNA levels or size. Instead, a selective nuclear cleavage of c-Jun by a serine protease caused the loss of AP1 activity. Considering the central role of AP1 in cell proliferation and differentiation and the strict timely correlation to the onset of the disease, the complete loss of AP1 function is likely to play a critical role in radiation-induced fibrosing alveolitis.

Active monomers of human beta-tryptase have expanded substrate specificities

beta-Tryptase, a product of the TPSAB1 and TPSB2 genes, is a trypsin-like serine protease that is a major and selective component of the secretory granules of all human mast cells, accounting for as much as 25% of cell protein. Once mast cells are activated, beta-tryptase is released along with histamine and heparin proteoglycan. beta-Tryptase is a unique enzyme with a homotetrameric structure in which active sites face into the central cavity of the four monomers, stabilized by heparin-proteoglycan. This structure makes beta-tryptase resistant to most biological inhibitors of serine proteases. Without stabilization, at neutral pH beta-tryptase converts to inactive monomers. Tryptase levels are elevated in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid obtained from atopic asthmatics and in serum during systemic anaphylactic shock. Several synthetic small molecular weight beta-tryptase inhibitors reduced Ag-induced airway hypersensitivity in animals, suggesting that beta-tryptase is involved in the pathogenesis of airway inflammation. Although the major biologic substrate(s) of beta-tryptase remain ambiguous, the protease can digest several proteins of potential biologic importance, including fibrinogen, fibronectin, pro-urokinase, pro-matrix metalloprotease-3 (proMMP-3), protease activated receptor-2 (PAR2) and complement component C3. Recently, monomers of beta-tryptase with enzymatic activity have been detected in vitro. Here we discuss how beta-tryptase monomers with enzymatic activity were identified as well as their potential role in vivo.

Mast cell tryptases and chymases in inflammation and host defense

Tryptases and chymases are the major proteins stored and secreted by mast cells. The types, amounts, and properties of these serine peptidases vary by mast cell subtype, tissue, and mammal of origin. Membrane-anchored gamma-tryptases are tryptic, prostasin-like, type I peptidases that remain membrane attached on release and act locally. Soluble tryptases, including their close relatives, mastins, form inhibitor-resistant oligomers that act more remotely. Befitting their greater destructive potential, chymases are quickly inhibited after release, although some gain protection by associating with proteoglycans. Most chymase-like enzymes, including mast cell cathepsin G, hydrolyze chymotryptic substrates, an uncommon capability in the proteome. Some rodent chymases, however, have mutations resulting in elastolytic activity. Secreted tryptases and chymases promote inflammation, matrix destruction, and tissue remodeling by several mechanisms, including destroying procoagulant, matrix, growth, and differentiation factors and activating proteinase-activated receptors, urokinase, metalloproteinases, and angiotensin. They also modulate immune responses by hydrolyzing chemokines and cytokines. At least one chymase protects mice from intestinal worms. Tryptases and chymases can also oppose inflammation by inactivating allergens and neuropeptides causing inflammation and bronchoconstriction. Thus, like mast cells themselves, mast cell serine peptidases play multiple roles in host defense, and any accounting of benefit versus harm is necessarily context specific.

Tryptase activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases proteolytically independently from proteinase-activated receptor-2 in cultured dog airway smooth muscle cells

Mast cell tryptase is a potent mitogen for many cells in the airways and lung, but the cellular mechanisms for its growth stimulatory effects are poorly understood. Our major goal was to determine whether tryptase activates phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI 3-kinases) in cultured dog tracheal smooth muscle cells to induce its mitogenic effects. After exposure to tryptase, cells were lysed. Immunocomplexes prepared from the lysates using an antibody to the p85 subunit of PI 3-kinase, but not using anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies, possessed increased capacity to phosphorylate inositol on its D3 hydroxyl group. Tryptase also increased phosphorylation of Akt, a downstream target of PI 3-kinases. This effect was abolished by one PI 3-kinase inhibitor, wortmannin, and attenuated by another, LY-294004, which also blocked tryptase's mitogenic effects. Treatment of tryptase with p-amidino phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, to abolish its proteolytic activity irreversibly, inhibited its stimulatory effects on Akt phosphorylation. Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2)-activating peptides failed to increase Akt phosphorylation in cultured dog tracheal smooth muscle cells, but the PAR-2-activating peptides did induce brisk increases in Akt phosphorylation in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells. We concluded that tryptase activates PI 3-kinases in cultured dog tracheal smooth muscle cells to induce its potent mitogenic effects. These effects of tryptase on PI 3-kinases appear to occur via novel proteolytic mechanisms independent from PAR-2. Also, tryptase, although comparable in mitogenic potency to platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), induces considerably less tyrosine phosphorylation on proteins than occur in response to PDGF.

Human airway trypsin-like protease stimulates human bronchial fibroblast proliferation in a protease-activated receptor-2-dependent pathway

Human airway trypsin-like protease (HAT) was isolated from airway secretions and localized to bronchial epithelial cells by immunohistochemistry. In the present study, we examined whether HAT could stimulate DNA synthesis and proliferation of primary human bronchial fibroblasts (HBF). HAT significantly stimulated the proliferation of HBF by 20–55%, a level similar to that of the mitogenic activity of lung mast cell tryptase (MCT). HAT also stimulated the incorporation of [3H]thymidine in HBF, and this HAT-induced DNA synthesis was abolished by leupeptin. Protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) mRNA was expressed and localized to the cell surface in HBF. PAR-2 activating peptide (AP) also enhanced DNA synthesis, and both HAT and PAR-2 AP induced receptor internalization, similar to the response to trypsin. Pretreatment of HBF with anti-PAR-2 antibody significantly suppressed both HAT and PAR-2 AP-induced DNA synthesis. In addition, HAT and PAR-2 AP induced intracellular Ca2+mobilization in HBF. The HAT-induced increase in Ca2+was desensitized by pretreatment with trypsin or PAR-2 AP. U0126, a specific MAPK inhibitor, completely inhibited HAT-induced DNA synthesis as well as HAT-induced phosphorylation of MAPK. The effect of HAT and MCT together was additive, whereas the effect of HAT and insulin together on HBF DNA synthesis was synergistic. These results indicate that HAT stimulates fibroblast proliferation in bronchial airways through a PAR-2-dependent MEK-MAPK mediated pathway and that HAT is linked to airway processes involving fibroblasts.

Mast cell and neutrophil peptidases attack an inactivation segment in hepatocyte growth factor to generate NK4-like antagonists

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a plasminogen-like protein with an alpha chain linked to a trypsin-like beta chain without peptidase activity. The interaction of HGF with c-met, a receptor tyrosine kinase expressed by many cells, is important in cell growth, migration, and formation of endothelial and epithelial tubes. Stimulation of c-met requires two-chain, disulfide-linked HGF. Portions of an alpha chain containing an N-terminal segment and four kringle domains (NK4) antagonize HGF activity. Until now, no physiological pathway for generating NK4 was known. Here we show that chymases, which are chymotryptic peptidases secreted by mast cells, hydrolyze HGF, thereby abolishing scatter factor activity while generating an NK4-like antagonist of HGF scatter factor activity. Thus, chymase interferes with HGF directly by destroying active protein and indirectly by generating an antagonist. The site of hydrolysis, Leu480, lies in the alpha chain on the N-terminal side of the cysteine linking the alpha and beta chains. This site appears to be specific for HGF because chymase does not hydrolyze other plasminogen-like proteins, such as macrophage-stimulating protein and plasminogen itself. Mast cell/neutrophil cathepsin G and neutrophil elastase generate similar fragments of HGF by cleaving near the chymase site. Mast cell and neutrophil peptidases are secreted during tissue injury, infection, ischemia, and allergic inflammation, where they may oppose HGF effects on epithelial repair. Thus, HGF possesses an "inactivation segment" that serves as an Achilles' heel attacked by inflammatory proteases. This work reveals a potential physiological pathway for inactivation of HGF and generation of NK4-like antagonists.

Mast cell tryptase may modulate endothelial cell phenotype in healing myocardial infarcts

Mast cells and macrophages infiltrate healing myocardial infarcts and may play an important role in regulating fibrous tissue deposition and extracellular matrix remodelling. This study examined the time-course of macrophage and mast cell accumulation in healing infarcts and studied the histological characteristics and protease expression profile of mast cells in a canine model of experimental infarction. Although macrophages were more numerous than mast cells in infarct granulation tissue, macrophage density decreased during maturation of the scar, whereas mast cell numbers remained persistently elevated. During the inflammatory phase of infarction, newly recruited leucocytes infiltrated the injured myocardium and appeared to be clustered in close proximity to degranulating cardiac mast cells. During the proliferative phase of healing, mast cells had decreased granular content and were localized close to infarct neovessels. In contrast, macrophages showed no selective localization. Mast cells in healing canine infarcts were alcian blue/safranin-positive cells that expressed both tryptase and chymase. In order to explain the pro-inflammatory and angiogenic actions of tryptase--the major secretory protein of mast cells--its effects on endothelial chemokine expression were examined. Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines that play an important role in leucocyte trafficking and angiogenesis and are highly induced in infarcts. Tryptase, a proteinase-activated receptor (PAR)-2 agonist, induced endothelial expression of the angiogenic chemokines CCL2/MCP-1 and CXCL8/IL-8, but not the angiostatic chemokine CXCL10/IP-10. Endothelial PAR-2 stimulation with the agonist peptide SLIGKV induced a similar chemokine expression profile. Mast cell tryptase may exert its angiogenic effects in part through selective stimulation of angiogenic chemokines.

Novel pyrazinone inhibitors of mast cell tryptase: synthesis and SAR evaluation

In this manuscript, the synthesis and SAR evaluation of a novel pyrazinone class of tryptase inhibitors is described. Chemical optimization of the P1 and P4 groups led to the identification of 7p (K(i)=93 nM) as a potent inhibitor of mast cell tryptase.

Antifibrotic effect of Ac-SDKP and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in hypertension

OBJECTIVE

N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (Ac-SDKP) is a potent natural inhibitor of hematopoietic stem cell proliferation which is degraded mainly by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). In vitro, Ac-SDKP inhibits collagen production by cardiac fibroblasts; while in vivo it blocks collagen deposition in the left ventricle (LV) of rats with hypertension or myocardial infarction (MI). In addition, it reportedly prevents and reverses macrophage infiltration in the LV of rats with MI. We tested the hypothesis that when Ac-SDKP is infused at doses that cause plasma concentrations similar to those observed after ACE inhibition, it mimics the anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects of ACE inhibitors (ACEi) in the heart, and, further, that these effects are independent of changes in blood pressure.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Rats were divided into five groups: (1) controls, (2) Ang II (750 microg/kg per day, s.c.), (3) Ang II + captopril (100 mg/kg per day in drinking water), (4) Ang II + Ac-SDKP (400 microg/kg per day, s.c.), and (5) Ang II + Ac-SDKP (800 microg/kg per day, s.c.). We measured LV cell proliferation, inflammatory cell infiltration, cytokine expression, hypertrophy and fibrosis.

RESULTS

Plasma Ac-SDKP was five-fold higher in rats given ACEi and four- and ten-fold higher in rats given 400 and 800 microg/kg per day Ac-SDKP, respectively. ACEi significantly decreased Ang II-induced cell proliferation (Ki-67), LV macrophage/mast cell infiltration, transforming growth factor-beta, connective tissue growth factor and collagen deposition without affecting hypertension, LV hypertrophy or myocyte cross-sectional area, and these effects were mimicked by exogenous Ac-SDKP (400 microg/kg per day) which raised plasma Ac-SDKP to levels similar to ACEi. BP was not decreased by either ACEi or Ac-SDKP.

CONCLUSIONS

We concluded that Ac-SDKP may be an important mediator of the anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects of ACEi in hypertension independent of its hemodynamic effects.

Tryptase's potent mitogenic effects in human airway smooth muscle cells are via nonproteolytic actions

We reported previously that mast cell tryptase is a growth factor for dog tracheal smooth muscle cells. The goals of our current experiments were to determine if tryptase also is mitogenic in cultured human airway smooth muscle cells, to compare its strength as a growth factor with that of other mitogenic serine proteases, and to determine whether its proteolytic actions are required for mitogenesis. Highly purified preparations of human lung beta-tryptase (1-30 nM) caused dose-dependent increases in DNA synthesis in human airway smooth muscle cells. Maximum tryptase-induced increases in DNA synthesis far exceeded those occurring in response to coagulation cascade proteases, such as thrombin, factor Xa, or factor XII, or to other mast cell proteases, such as chymase or mastin. Irreversibly abolishing tryptase's catalytic activity did not alter its effects on increases in DNA synthesis. We conclude that beta-tryptase is a potent mitogenic serine protease in cultured human airway smooth muscle cells. However, its growth stimulatory effects in these cells occur predominantly via nonproteolytic actions.

Mast cell tryptases and airway remodeling

On the basis of their amino acid sequences, tryptases are just another group of serine proteinases related to trypsin that happen to be expressed and stored in mast cells rather than the pancreas. On the basis of their biochemical and biological features, however, tryptases show little family likeness to trypsin and most other trypsin-like proteases. The intriguing discrepancies have been explained by the crystal structure of the tryptase tetramer. It is now clear how tryptases, by forming tetramers, have gained the ability to prevail enzymatically active in tissues, but, at the cost of an unusual narrow substrate specificity. The tryptase tetramer thus became both a (neuro)peptidase and a long-lasting initiator that orchestrates responses by the cleavage of a few key proteins, the activation of other proteases with broader specificity, and the stimulation of cellular responses. With the support of these performers, tryptase drives a variety of processes contributing to chronic inflammation and tissue remodeling, the diversity of which is still emerging.

The differentiation and function of myofibroblasts is regulated by mast cell mediators

Myofibroblasts are fibroblasts that express certain features of smooth muscle differentiation. Increased numbers of myofibroblasts and mast cells are frequently found together in a wide variety of settings, such as normal wound repair and scleroderma skin, which suggests that mediators produced by the mast cells could play a role in the regulation of myofibroblast differentiation and function. We used a human mast cell line, HMC-1, to determine if mast cells can induce normal human dermal fibroblasts to differentiate into functional myofibroblasts in vitro. We monitored the differentiation process by assaying two properties of the myofibroblast phenotype: expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin and functional capacity to contract a collagen matrix. In both a simple coculture system and in a skin-equivalent culture system, HMC-1 cells induced alpha-smooth muscle actin expression by fibroblasts. HMC-1 cells also stimulated fibroblast contraction of collagen gels, and the relative amount of contraction was dependent upon the number of HMC-1 cells present. To characterize the individual contributions made by specific mast cell products, we examined the effects of histamine, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and tryptase. Histamine induced a clear increase in alpha-smooth muscle actin expression, but it did not appear to stimulate fibroblast contraction. Tumor necrosis factor alpha had no effect in either assay. Purified human tryptase induced alpha-smooth muscle actin expression, and blocking the proteolytic activity of tryptase with specific inhibitors reduced that response. Tryptase inhibitors also eliminated the ability of HMC-1 cells to stimulate fibroblast contraction, suggesting that tryptase secreted by the HMC-1 cells may be one of the active mast cell mediators.

Tryptase and agonists of PAR-2 induce the proliferation of human airway smooth muscle cells

Airway remodeling with smooth muscle cell (SMC) hyperplasia is a feature of chronic asthma. We investigated the potential for tryptase, the major secretory product of human mast cells, to act as a growth factor for human airway SMCs. Because this serine protease can activate proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2), we also examined the actions of SLIGKV, a peptide agonist of PAR-2. Incubation with lung tryptase provoked a twofold increase in [(3)H]thymidine incorporation; a similar increase in cell numbers was found when we used the MTS assay. The effect was catalytic site dependent, being abolished by the protease inhibitors leupeptin and benzamidine and by heat inactivation of the enzyme. Tryptase-induced DNA synthesis was inhibited by preincubation of the cells with pertussis toxin, calphostin C, or genistein. Transduction mechanisms are thus likely to involve a pertussis toxin-sensitive G protein, protein kinase C, and tyrosine kinase. SLIGKV elicited a response on SMCs similar to that of tryptase. Tryptase could provide an important stimulus for SMC proliferation in asthmatic airways, by acting on PAR-2.

Mast cell tryptase activates extracellular-regulated kinases (p44/p42) in airway smooth-muscle cells: importance of proteolytic events, time course, and role in mediating mitogenesis

We previously reported that mast cell tryptase is a potent mitogen for cultured airway smooth-muscle cells, but the early intracellular signals mediating this response are not known. In many cells, proliferative effects are mediated by a mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway involving Raf-1, MAP kinase kinases (MEKs), and extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases (ERKs) 1 and 2. Therefore, we tested for tryptase-induced activation of ERK1 and 2 in cultured dog tracheal smooth-muscle cells. Tryptase, in nanomolar concentrations which potently stimulated DNA synthesis, increased dual phosphorylation of ERKs in cellular lysates as well as ERK2 kinase activity in immunoprecipitates. Pretreatment of cells with the MEK inhibitor PD098059 abolished tryptase-induced increases in DNA synthesis and attenuated increases in ERK2 activity. Irreversible inhibition of tryptase's proteolytic activity, using p-amidino phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, attenuated tryptase-induced increases in DNA synthesis and dual phosphorylation of ERKs by 76% and 40 to 60%, respectively. Tryptase also increased c-fos transcription as quantified in polymerase chain reactions. In concentrations that caused similar increases in DNA synthesis, tryptase and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB) increased ERK activity (and c-fos transcription) with markedly different kinetics, the tryptase-induced responses being slower in onset and more sustained. We conclude that tryptase-induced mitogenesis in airway smooth-muscle cells requires activation of ERK1 and 2; that these responses depend partially, but not completely, upon tryptase's properties as a protease; and that they are slower in onset and more sustained than those induced by PDGF-BB.

Mast cell tryptase stimulates human lung fibroblast proliferation via protease-activated receptor-2

Mast cells play a potentially important role in fibroproliferative diseases, releasing mediators including tryptase that are capable of stimulating fibroblast proliferation and procollagen synthesis. The mechanism by which tryptase stimulates fibroblast proliferation is unclear, although recent studies suggest it can activate protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2. We therefore investigated the role of PAR-2 in tryptase-induced proliferation of human fetal lung and adult lung parenchymal and airway fibroblasts and, for comparative purposes, adult dermal fibroblasts. Tryptase (0.7-70 mU/ml) induced concentration-dependent increases in proliferation of all fibroblasts studied. Antipain, bis(5-amidino-2-benzimidazolyl)methane, and benzamidine inhibited tryptase-induced fibroblast proliferation, demonstrating that proteolytic activity is required for the proliferative effects of tryptase. RT-PCR demonstrated the presence of PAR-2 mRNA, and immunohistochemical staining localized PAR-2 to the cell surface of lung fibroblasts. In addition, specific PAR-2 activating peptides, SLIGKV and SLIGRL, mimicked the proliferative effects of tryptase. In contrast, human dermal fibroblasts only weakly stained with the PAR-2 antibody, PAR-2 mRNA was almost undetectable, and fibroblasts did not respond to PAR-2 activating peptides. These results suggest that tryptase induces lung, but not dermal, fibroblast proliferation via activation of PAR-2 and are consistent with the hypothesis that the release of tryptase from activated mast cells may play an important role in the fibroproliferative response observed in asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and patients with pulmonary fibrosis.

Inflammatory mast cells up-regulate angiogenesis during squamous epithelial carcinogenesis

Expression of HPV16 early region genes in basal keratinocytes of transgenic mice elicits a multistage pathway to squamous carcinoma. We report that infiltration by mast cells and activation of the matrix metalloproteinase MMP-9/gelatinase B coincides with the angiogenic switch in premalignant lesions. Mast cells infiltrate hyperplasias, dysplasias, and invasive fronts of carcinomas, but not the core of solid tumors, where they degranulate in close apposition to capillaries and epithelial basement membranes, releasing mast-cell-specific serine proteases MCP-4 (chymase) and MCP-6 (tryptase). MCP-6 is shown to be a mitogen for dermal fibroblasts that proliferate in the reactive stroma, whereas MCP-4 can activate progelatinase B and induce hyperplastic skin to become angiogenic in an in vitro bioassay. Notably, premalignant angiogenesis is abated in a mast-cell-deficient (KITW/KITWWv) HPV16 transgenic mouse. The data indicate that neoplastic progression in this model involves exploitation of an inflammatory response to tissue abnormality. Thus, regulation of angiogenesis during squamous carcinogenesis is biphasic: In hyperplasias, dysplasias, and invading cancer fronts, inflammatory mast cells are conscripted to reorganize stromal architecture and hyperactivate angiogenesis; within the cancer core, upregulation of angiogenesis factors in tumor cells apparently renders them self-sufficient at sustaining neovascularization.

Cloning and characterization of human protease-activated receptor 4

Protease-activated receptors 1-3 (PAR1, PAR2, and PAR3) are members of a unique G protein-coupled receptor family. They are characterized by a tethered peptide ligand at the extracellular amino terminus that is generated by minor proteolysis. A partial cDNA sequence of a fourth member of this family (PAR4) was identified in an expressed sequence tag database, and the full-length cDNA clone has been isolated from a lymphoma Daudi cell cDNA library. The ORF codes for a seven transmembrane domain protein of 385 amino acids with 33% amino acid sequence identity with PAR1, PAR2, and PAR3. A putative protease cleavage site (Arg-47/Gly-48) was identified within the extracellular amino terminus. COS cells transiently transfected with PAR4 resulted in the formation of intracellular inositol triphosphate when treated with either thrombin or trypsin. A PAR4 mutant in which the Arg-47 was replaced with Ala did not respond to thrombin or trypsin. A hexapeptide (GYPGQV) representing the newly exposed tethered ligand from the amino terminus of PAR4 after proteolysis by thrombin activated COS cells transfected with either wild-type or the mutant PAR4. Northern blot showed that PAR4 mRNA was expressed in a number of human tissues, with high levels being present in lung, pancreas, thyroid, testis, and small intestine. By fluorescence in situ hybridization, the human PAR4 gene was mapped to chromosome 19p12.

Mast cell tryptase regulates rat colonic myocytes through proteinase-activated receptor 2

Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) is a G protein-coupled receptor that is cleaved and activated by trypsin-like enzymes. PAR-2 is highly expressed by small intestinal enterocytes where it is activated by luminal trypsin. The location, mechanism of activation, and biological functions of PAR-2 in the colon, however, are unknown. We localized PAR-2 to the muscularis externa of the rat colon by immunofluorescence. Myocytes in primary culture also expressed PAR-2, assessed by immunofluorescence and RT-PCR. Trypsin, SLIGRL-NH2 (corresponding to the PAR-2 tethered ligand), mast cell tryptase, and a filtrate of degranulated mast cells stimulated a prompt increase in [Ca2+]i in myocytes. The response to tryptase and the mast cell filtrate was inhibited by the tryptase inhibitor BABIM, and abolished by desensitization of PAR-2 with trypsin. PAR-2 activation inhibited the amplitude of rhythmic contractions of strips of rat colon. This response was unaffected by indomethacin, l-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester, a bradykinin B2 receptor antagonist and tetrodotoxin. Thus, PAR-2 is highly expressed by colonic myocytes where it may be cleaved and activated by mast cell tryptase. This may contribute to motility disturbances of the colon during conditions associated with mast cell degranulation.

Human mast cells stimulate vascular tube formation. Tryptase is a novel, potent angiogenic factor

The presence of mast cells near capillary sprouting sites suggests an association between mast cells and angiogenesis. However, the role of mast cells in blood vessel development remains to be defined. In an attempt to elucidate this relationship, we investigated the effect of human mast cells (HMC-1) and their products on human dermal microvascular endothelial cell (HDMEC) tube formation. Coculture of HMC-1 with HDMEC led to a dose-response increase in the network area of vascular tube growth. Moreover, the extent of neovascularization was enhanced greatly when HMC-1 were degranulated in the presence of HDMEC. Further examination using antagonists to various mast cell products revealed a blunted response (73-88% decrease) in the area of vascular tube formation if specific inhibitors of tryptase were present. Tryptase (3 microg/ml) directly added to HDMEC caused a significant augmentation of capillary growth, which was suppressed by specific tryptase inhibitors. Tryptase also directly induced cell proliferation of HDMEC in a dose-dependent fashion (2 pM-2 nM). Our results suggest that mast cells act at sites of new vessel formation by secreting tryptase, which then functions as a potent and previously unrecognized angiogenic factor.