scholarly journals Plasma Soluble Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptor Level as a Predictor of the Severity of Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Author(s):  
Ping-Kun Tsai ◽  
Shih-Ming Tsao ◽  
Wei-En Yang ◽  
Chao-Bin Yeh ◽  
Hsiang-Ling Wang ◽  
...  

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) mediates various cellular activities and is involved in proteolysis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between soluble uPAR (suPAR) levels and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) severity. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure the plasma suPAR levels in 67 healthy controls and 75 patients with CAP. Our results revealed that plasma suPAR levels were significantly elevated in patients with CAP compared with the controls, and antibiotic treatment was effective in reducing suPAR levels. The plasma suPAR levels were correlated with the severity of CAP based on the pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores. Furthermore, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulation significantly increased uPAR expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages. In conclusion, plasma suPAR levels may play a role in the clinical assessment of CAP severity; these findings may provide information on new targets for treatment of CAP.

2001 ◽  
Vol 152 (6) ◽  
pp. 1145-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Kjøller ◽  
Alan Hall

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is involved in the regulation of cell motility in a variety of cell types. We show here that expression of human uPAR in growing murine fibroblasts leads to a dramatic reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton. uPAR expression induces multiple rapidly advancing protrusions that resemble the leading edge of migrating cells. The cytoskeletal changes are independent of uPA and activation of the RGD-binding activity of integrins but require uPAR binding to vitronectin (VN). The actin reorganization is blocked by coexpression of dominant negative versions of either Rac (N17Rac) or p130Cas, but not by inhibitors of Cdc42 or Rho, and is accompanied by a Rac-dependent increase in cell motility. In addition, a fourfold increase in the level of activated Rac is induced by uPAR expression. We conclude that uPAR interacts with VN both to initiate a p130Cas/Rac-dependent signaling pathway leading to actin reorganization and increased cell motility and to act as an adhesion receptor required for these responses. This mechanism may play a role in uPAR-mediated regulation of cell motility at sites where VN and uPAR are co-expressed, such as malignant tumors.


1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (01) ◽  
pp. 095-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul J Declerck ◽  
Leen Van Keer ◽  
Maria Verstreken ◽  
Désiré Collen

SummaryAn enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for quantitation of natural and recombinant plasminogen activators containing the serine protease domain (B-chain) of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) was developed, based on two murine monoclonal antibodies, MA-4D1E8 and MA-2L3, raised against u-PA and reacting with non-overlapping epitopes in the B-chain. MA-4D1E8 was coated on microtiter plates and bound antigen was quantitated with MA-2L3 conjugated with horseradish peroxidase. The intra-assay, inter-assay and inter-dilution coefficients of variation of the assay were 6%, 15% and 9%, respectively. Using recombinant single-chain u-PA (rscu-PA) as a standard, the u-PA-related antigen level in normal human plasma was 1.4 ± 0.6 ng/ml (mean ± SD, n = 27).The ELISA recognized the following compounds with comparable sensitivity: intact scu-PA (amino acids, AA, 1 to 411), scu-PA-32k (AA 144 to 411), a truncated (thrombin-derived) scu-PA comprising A A 157 to 411, and chimeric t-PA/u-PA molecules including t-PA(AA1-263)/scu-PA(AA144-411), t-PA(AA1-274)/scu-PA(AA138-411) and t-PA(AA87-274)/scu-PA(AA138-411). Conversion of single-chain to two-chain forms of u-PA or inhibition of active two-chain forms with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 or with the active site serine inhibitor phenyl-methyl-sulfonyl fluoride, did not alter the reactivity in the assay. In contrast, inactivation with α2-antiplasmin or with the active site histidine inhibitor Glu-Gly-Arg-CH2Cl resulted in a 3- to 5-fold reduction of the reactivity. When purified scu-PA-32k was added to pooled normal human plasma at final concentrations ranging from 20 to 1,000 ng/ml, recoveries in the ELISA were between 84 and 110%.The assay was successfully applied for the quantitation of pharmacological levels of scu-PA and t-PA(AA87_274)/scu-PA(AA138-411) in plasma during experimental thrombolysis in baboons.Thus the present ELISA, which is specifically dependent on the presence of the serine protease part of u-PA, is useful for measurement of a wide variety of variants and chimeras of u-PA which are presently being developed for improved thrombolytic therapy.


Author(s):  
J Grøndahl-HANSEN ◽  
N Agerlin ◽  
L S Nielsen ◽  
K Danø

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the measurement of human urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) in plasma and serum. Microtiter plates were coated with a monoclonal antibody and incubated with standard or sample. Bound u-PA was quantitated with polyclonal antibodies conjugated with biotin, followed by avidin-peroxidase. The assay was 10-fold as sensitive as other previously reported ELISAs, the detection limit being approximately 1 pg of u-PA in a volume of 100 μl with a linear dose-response up to 15 pg of u-PA. The assay detected active u-PA and its inactive proenzyme form equally well and the recovery of both forms was higher than 90% in plasma. A variety of structurally related proteins, including t-PA, were tested, but no reaction with proteins other than u-PA and its amino-terminal degradation product were observed. The intra-assay and inter-assay coefficients of variation for determination of u-PA in plasma were 7.6% and 8.4%, respectively. The assay was equally applicable to serum. The values obtained with plasma and serum were similar, and the results were not affected by small variations in the preparation of the samples. The ELISA was used to measure the concentration of u-PA in plasma from 34 healthy donors. The mean values for u-PA in plasma from healthy donors was 1.1 ng/ml ± 0.3 ng/ml (SD) (range 0.6 - 1.5 ng/ml). No significant differences were found between men and women and no correlation between u-PA concentration and age could be demonstrated.The mean u-PA concentration in plasma from healthy donors obtained in this study is substantially lower than that reported by others. This might be due to different methods of determination of the protein content of the standard preparations or to differences in the specificity of the assays.


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