CAS, resistent hypertension and antihypertensive medicines
March 31, 2020
One new paradigm
March 31, 2020
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00312/full
Interaction of the Human Contact System with Pathogens—An Update
Sonja Oehmcke-Hecht* and 
Juliane KöhlerClassically, it is stated that FXII has to interact with negatively charged surfaces for activation, but the current paradigm is that any artificial surface has the potential for FXII autoactivation (2).HK, which is in a noncovalent complex with PPK (3), also binds to the surface, thereby exposing PPK for activation by FXII cleavage. In turn, activated plasma kallikrein (PK) cleaves and activates more FXII, forming a powerful activation feedback loop. When sufficient amounts of FXII are activated on the surface, FXII activates coagulation factor XI (FXI), leading to subsequent thrombin formation. This result—in vitro—in the formation of a fibrin clot and is used as a diagnostic coagulation test—the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). However, individuals with congenital deficiencies in FXII, PPK, or HK, who show a prolonged aPTT, do not have bleeding diathesis or abnormal hemostasis, indicating that the intrinsic coagulation pathway does not contribute to physiological hemostasis (4). Moreover, contact activation in vivo always occurs under pathological conditions, such as thrombosis (5), sepsis, or ARDS (6, 7), which makes FXII a promising therapeutic target to limit thrombosis without increasing bleeding risk (8). Thus, it has been questioned whether activation of the intrinsic coagulation by FXII is really its main physiological function. Instead, it was suggested that the pro-inflammatory arm of the contact system—the kallikrein–kinin system—is more related to physiological in vivo functions (9).
Covid-19 and gastrointestinal symptom aspect
March 29, 2020
J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020 Mar 25. doi: 10.1111/jgh.15047. [Epub ahead of print]
Covid-19 and the Digestive System.
Wong SH1,2, Lui RN1,2, Sung JJ1,2.
Author information
Abstract
The novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is currently causing a major pandemic. It is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a member of the Betacoronavirus genus that also includes the SARS-CoV and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). While patients typically present with fever and a respiratory illness, some patients also report gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Studies have identified the SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool specimens of infected patients, and its viral receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) was found to be highly expressed in gastrointestinal epithelial cells. These suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can actively infect and replicate in the gastrointestinal tract. This has important implications to the disease management, transmission, and infection control. In this article, we review the important gastrointestinal aspects of the disease.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211383520302999
Analysis of therapeutic targets for SARS-CoV-2 and discovery of potential drugs by computational methods
MengzhuZhengaLixiaChenbHuaLiab
Hungarian Covid-19 situation
March 28, 2020
Gasdermin and neutrophil NETOSIS
March 28, 2020
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30143555
Gasdermin D plays a vital role in the generation of neutrophil extracellular traps.
Abstract
The death of a cell is an inevitable part of its biology. During homeostasis, most cells die through apoptosis. If homeostasis is disturbed, cell death can switch to proinflammatory forms of death, such as necroptosis, pyroptosis, or NETosis. We demonstrate that the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a special form of neutrophil cell death that releases chromatin structures to the extracellular space, is dependent on gasdermin D (GSDMD). GSDMD is a pore-forming protein and an executor of pyroptosis. We screened a chemical library and found a small molecule based on the pyrazolo-oxazepine scaffold that efficiently blocks NET formation and GSDMD-mediated pyroptotic cell death in human cells. During NETosis, GSDMD is proteolytically activated by neutrophil proteases and, in turn, affects protease activation and nuclear expansion in a feed-forward loop. In addition to the central role of GSDMD in pyroptosis, we propose that GSDMD also plays an essential function in NETosis.
Gasdermin D , C-terminal, Function?
March 28, 2020
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2018.03.002. SUMMARY. Pyroptosis is an inflammatory form of programmed cell death
Structures of the Gasdermin D C-Terminal Domains Reveal Mechanisms of Autoinhibition
Graphical Abstract
AuthorsZhonghua Liu, Chuanping Wang,Joseph K. Rathkey, Jie Yang,George R. Dubyak, Derek W. Abbott,Tsan Sam Xiao
The gasdermin family members are dangerous molecules capable of forming membrane pores that induce cytolysis, and thus may have evolved autoinhibition mechanisms that regulate cell death through their C-terminal domains.It remains to be determined how most of the gasdermin family members are maintained in their autoinhibited states and how they are activated through protease cleavage or other post-translational modifications, and ultimately how they function under physiological and pathological conditions. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of gasdermin transformation from soluble proteins to transmembrane pores will provide valuable insights into the roles of pyroptosis in immune protection against infections and in inflammatory disorders. These will pave the way for therapeutic targeting of various inflammatory disorders such as sepsis (Jo-gensen and Miao,2015), multiple sclerosis (Guoetal.,2015;Martinet al., 2016), and inflammatory bowel disease (Zaki et al., 2011).
…our data are consistent with the idea that the GSDMD-C domain serves important functioning suppressing cell death by the GSDMD-N domain, and that reduced autoinhibition may promote the assembly of membrane pores by GSDMD-N and spontaneous cell death.
Scientific report:
March 26, 2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60182-4#Fig1
- Article
- Open Access
- Published:
A universal reporter cell line for bioactivity evaluation of engineered cytokine products
Scientific Reports volume 10, Article number: 3234 (2020)
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/mi/2017/3578702/
Abstract
Glibenclamide is the most widely used sulfonylurea drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Recent studies have suggested that glibenclamide reduced adverse neuroinflammation and improved behavioral outcomes following central nervous system (CNS) injury. We reviewed glibenclamide’s anti-inflammatory effects: abundant evidences have shown that glibenclamide exerted an anti-inflammatory effect in respiratory, digestive, urological, cardiological, and CNS diseases, as well as in ischemia-reperfusion injury. Glibenclamide might block KATP channel, Sur1-Trpm4 channel, and NOD-like receptor pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation, decrease the production of proinflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-1β, and reactive oxygen species), and suppress the accumulation of inflammatory cells. Glibenclamide’s anti-inflammation warrants further investigation.
1. Introduction
Glibenclamide, an oral hypoglycemic agent, belongs to the class of sulfonylureas, and its clinical utilization dates back to the 1960s [1]. Actually, sulfonylureas were discovered accidentally, as the antimicrobial sulfonamides caused hypoglycemia in animals. Thereafter, glibenclamide has been used widely in the type II diabetes mellitus (DM).
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