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Cruz-Silva I, Nunes VA, Rydlewski M, Gozzo AJ, Praxedes-Garcia P, Ferraz Carbonel AA, Tanaka AS, Araújo MDS. Disclosing the involvement of proteases in an eczema murine animal model: Perspectives for protease inhibitor-based therapies. Biochimie 2021; 194:1-12. [PMID: 34896570 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2021.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Eczema is a skin condition characterized by itchy and inflammatory patches. The accumulation of neutrophils and the imbalance between enzymes and their inhibitors appears to be related to this condition. We proposed a neutrophil elastase (NE)-based eczema model in mice in order to verify histopathological features as well as the expression and activity of proteases and inhibitors. Mice skins were topically administered with human NE (0-2 pmol/cm2) for 24-168 h. It was observed thickening of epidermis, parakeratosis, spongiosis and leukocyte infiltration. Also, NE-treated skins presented high activity of epidermal kallikreins 5 and 7, and cathepsin B on synthetic substrates, and expression evaluated by RT-qPCR. The proteolytic activity was inhibited by soybean trypsin inhibitor, CA074 and Caesalpinia echinata kallikrein inhibitor (CeKI). The topic application of CeKI reversed eczema phenotype in NE-treated skins. Elafin expression was shown to be increased in NE-treated skins. These results suggest that the NE may trigger morphological and biochemical changes in skin similar to those observed in eczematous diseases. In addition to the establishment of this in vivo model, this work opens perspectives for the use of protease inhibitor-based drugs for the management of this skin condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilana Cruz-Silva
- Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Centro Universitário São Camilo, SP, Brazil
| | - Viviane Abreu Nunes
- Laboratory of Skin Physiology and Tissue Bioengineering, School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, Universidade de São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Mariana Rydlewski
- Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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Cruz-Silva I, Gozzo AJ, Nunes VA, Tanaka AS, da Silva Araujo M. Bioengineering of an elastase inhibitor from Caesalpinia echinata (Brazil wood) seeds. PHYTOCHEMISTRY 2021; 182:112595. [PMID: 33321445 DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2020.112595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2019] [Revised: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Protease inhibitors have been widely used in several therapeutic applications such as in the treatment of bleeding disorders, hypertension, cancer and pulmonary diseases. In a previous work, we demonstrated that a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor isolated from the seeds of Caesalpinia echinata (CeEI) exhibits pharmacological potential in lung inflammatory diseases in which neutrophil elastase plays a crucial role. However, an important challenge in the use of natural products is to ensure a commercially viable production. In this work, we report the cloning, expression and purification of two recombinant CeEI isoinhibitors with 700 base pairs encoding two proteins with 181 amino acid residues (rCeEI-4 and rCeEI-5). After the expression, each yielding 22 mg/L of active protein, both isoinhibitors presented a molecular mass of about 23.0 kDa, evaluated by SDS-PAGE. The inhibition constants for human neutrophil elastase (HNE) were 0.67 nM (rCeEI-4) and 0.57 nM (rCeEI-5), i.e., similar to the native inhibitor (1.90 nM). Furthermore, rCeEI-4 was used as a template to design smaller functional peptides flanking the inhibitor reactive site: rCeEI-36, delimited between the amino acid residues N36 and S88 containing a disulfide bond in the reactive-site loop, and rCeEI-46, delimited between S46 and L75 without the disulfide bond. The yields were 18 mg/L (rCeEI-36) and 12 mg/L (rCeEI-46). Both peptides inhibit HNE in the nanomolar range (Ki 0.30 ± 0.01 and 8.80 ± 0.23, respectively). Considering their size and the inhibitory efficiency, these peptides may be considered in strategies for the development of drugs targeting pulmonary disorders where elastase is involved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilana Cruz-Silva
- Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Três de Maio, 100, 04044-020, São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Division of Dermatology, Hospital Sírio Libanês, Rua Professor Daher Cutait, 69, 01308-060, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Andrezza Justino Gozzo
- Institute of Marine Sciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Doutor Carvalho de Mendonça, 144, 11070-100, Santos, SP, Brazil.
| | - Viviane Abreu Nunes
- Department of Biotechnology, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Arlindo Béttio, 1000, 03828-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Aparecida Sadae Tanaka
- Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Três de Maio, 100, 04044-020, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | - Mariana da Silva Araujo
- Department of Biochemistry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Rua Três de Maio, 100, 04044-020, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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