Interleukin-20 plays a critical role in maintenance and development of psoriasis in the human xenograft transplantation model.

BACKGROUND: Interleukin (IL)-20 is a recently discovered cytokine displaying increased levels in psoriatic lesions. Interestingly, IL-20 levels decrease with antipsoriatic treatment, correlating with clinical improvement. However, the role of IL-20 in the aetiology of psoriasis is unknown. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we investigate the effects both of blocking IL-20 signalling in psoriatic plaques and of adding IL-20 to nonlesional psoriasis skin. METHODS: We employed the human skin xenograft transplantation model in which psoriatic plaques and nonlesional keratome skin biopsies obtained from donors with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis were transplanted on to immuno-deficient mice. The transplanted mice were treated with anti-IL-20 antibodies or recombinant human IL-20. RESULTS: We demonstrate that blocking IL-20 signalling with anti-IL-20 antibodies induces psoriasis resolution and inhibits psoriasis induction. We also demonstrate that continuous IL-20 infusion, together with injection of additional nonactivated leucocytes, promotes induction of psoriasis in nonlesional skin from patients with psoriasis. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that IL-20 plays a critical role in the induction and maintenance of psoriasis, and IL-20 is suggested as a new possible specific target in psoriasis treatment.

Crystal structure of the family 7 endoglucanase I (Cel7B) from Humicola insolens at 2.2 A resolution and identification of the catalytic nucleophile by trapping of the covalent glycosyl-enzyme intermediate.

Cellulose is the major polysaccharide component of the plant cell wall and the most abundant naturally produced macromolecule on Earth. The enzymic degradation of cellulose, by cellulases, is therefore of great environmental and commercial significance. Cellulases are found in 12 of the glycoside hydrolase families classified according to their amino acid sequence similarities. Endoglucanase I (Cel7B), from the soft-rot fungus Humicola insolens, is a family 7 enzyme. The structure of the native form of Cel7B from H. insolens at 2.2 A resolution has been solved by molecular replacement using the known Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I [Divne, Ståhlberg, Reinikainen, Ruohonen, Pettersson, Knowles, Teeri and Jones (1994) Science 265, 524-528] structure as the search model. Cel7B catalyses hydrolysis of the beta-1,4 glycosidic linkages in cellulose with net retention of anomeric configuration. The catalytic nucleophile at the active site of Cel7B has been identified as Glu-197 by trapping of a 2-deoxy-2-fluorocellotriosyl enzyme intermediate and identification of the labelled peptide in peptic digests by tandem MS. Site-directed mutagenesis of both Glu-197 and the prospective catalytic acid, Glu-202, results in inactive enzyme, confirming the critical role of these groups for catalysis.

Characterization of human and rat intestinal trefoil factor produced in yeast.

Intestinal trefoil factor (ITF) from human (hITF) and rat (rITF) have been produced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The DNA encoding the two peptides were cloned by polymerase chain reactions (PCR) from a human normal colon library and a rat small intestinal epithelial cell library. Recombinant plasmids were constructed to encode a fusion protein consisting of a hybrid leader sequence and the rat and human ITF sequences, respectively. The leader sequence used serves to direct the fusion protein into the secretory (and processing) pathway of the cell. The secreted recombinant hITF was found in a monomer and a dimer form, whereas the rITF was only secreted as a dimer. The secreted peptides were purified by a combination of ionic exchange chromatography and preparative HPLC. From 8 L of yeast fermentation broth, 256 mg of hITF (monomer) and 133 mg of hITF (dimer) were isolated, and from 8.7 L of fermentation broth, 236 mg of rITF (dimer) was isolated. The structure of hITF (monomer), hITF (dimer), and rITF (dimer) was determined by amino acid analyses, peptide mapping, sequence analyses, and electrospray mass spectrometry analyses. In hITF (monomer) six of the seven cysteines are disulfide-linked to form 3 disulfide bridges. Mass analysis indicated that the last cysteine residue (Cys-57) did not exist as free (-SH) cysteine, but have reacted with cysteine to form an S-S linked cystine. Sequence and mass spectrometry analyses as well as peptide mapping showed that the dimer form of both hITF and rITF is mediated by a disulfide bridge between Cys-57 residues of two monomers.

One-step purification and characterization of human pancreatic lipase expressed in insect cells.

A cDNA clone encoding the sequence of human pancreatic lipase (HPL) was subcloned into the baculovirus transfer vector pVL1392 and used in co-transfection of Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) insect cells with wild-type Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) DNA. A single recombinant protein (50 kDa) secreted by Sf9 cells was detectable in the culture medium 24 h post-infection using both anti-HPL polyclonal antibodies and potentiometric measurements of lipolytic activity. The expression level reached 40 mg/l of enzyme at 6 days. A single cation-exchange chromatography was sufficient to obtain a highly pure recombinant HPL as demonstrated by N-terminal sequencing, amino acid composition and carbohydrate analysis, as well as by mass spectrometry. These analyses revealed the production of mature protein with the correct processing of signal peptide and an homogenous glycosylation pattern. The kinetic properties of recombinant and native HPL were compared. Both enzymes showed similar profiles of interfacial activation, inhibition by bile salts and re-activation by colipase.

A structural domain (the lid) found in pancreatic lipases is absent in the guinea pig (phospho)lipase.

Typically pancreatic lipases are characterized by the following properties: (1) they are activated by lipid/water interfaces (interfacial activation), (2) they are inhibited by bile salts but reactivated by colipase (a small activator protein), and (3) they do not hydrolyze significantly phospholipids. A cDNA clone encoding a guinea pig pancreatic (phospho)lipase (GPL) has been sequenced and expressed. The enzyme (recombinant as well as native) differs from other pancreatic lipases in that (1) it is not interfacially activated, (2) its activity is unaffected by the presence of bile salts and/or colipase using tributyrin as substrate, and (3) it exhibits equally phospholipase A1 and lipase activities. The amino acid sequence of GPL is highly homologous to that of other known pancreatic lipases, with the exception of a deletion in the so-called lid domain that regulates access to the active centers of other lipases. We propose that this deletion is directly responsible for the anomalous behavior of this enzyme. Thus GPL challenges the classical distinction between lipases, esterases, and phospholipases.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of a fungal endoglucanase I.

An endoglucanase I (EG1) from a fungal source (Humicola insolens) has been crystallized in a number of forms suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis. Four crystal forms have been grown from various precipitants using vapour phase diffusion methods in hanging drops. Three of these crystal forms diffract to beyond 2.5 A resolution. Two forms, obtained from ammonium sulphate at pH 5.4, or 8.0, grow as tetragonal bipyramids in space group P4(1)22 or P4(3)22, with approximate cell dimensions a = b = 102 A, c = 282 A. The other crystal forms were grown from polyethylene glycol 8000 at pH 8.0. One grows as monoclinic plates, space group P2(1), with cell dimensions a = 66.9 A, b = 75.2 A, c = 86.9 A and beta = 102.9 degrees and the other as long hexagonal rods in space group P6(1)22 or P6(5)22, with cell dimensions a = b = 119 A, c = 83 A.

Calcium binding in alpha-amylases: an X-ray diffraction study at 2.1-A resolution of two enzymes from Aspergillus.

X-ray diffraction analysis (at 2.1-A resolution) of an acid alpha-amylase from Aspergillus niger allowed a detailed description of the stereochemistry of the calcium-binding sites. The primary site (which is essential in maintaining proper folding around the active site) contains a tightly bound Ca2+ with an unusually high number of eight ligands (O delta 1 and O delta 2 of Asp175, O delta of Asn121, main-chain carbonyl oxygens of Glu162 and Glu210, and three water molecules). A secondary binding site was identified at the bottom of the substrate binding cleft; it involves the residues presumed to play a catalytic role (Asp206 and Glu230). This explains the inhibitory effect of calcium observed at higher concentrations. Neutral Aspergillus oryzae (TAKA) alpha-amylase was also refined in a new crystal at 2.1-A resolution. The structure of this homologous (over 80%) enzyme and additional kinetic studies support all the structural conclusions regarding both calcium-binding sites.