Elastase

The Uses of Elastase

Elastase from human leukocytes has been used:

• to measure serum elastase activity
• in proteolytic digestion of fibronectin and salivary glands
• in neutrophil elastase (NE) activity assay
• cell-free NE digestion of E-cadherin
• scratch wound assay
• in a study that determined that fragments of Nle3-angiotensin(1-7) accelerate healing in dermal models

Elastase has been used to digest fibronectin. The results were compared with fibronectin digestion by crude human leukocyte homogenate to examine the presence of fibronectin peptides in saliva of patients with Sj?gren′s syndrome. It has also been used as a reference to determine the elastase activity in cell lysates. This study examined the effect of all-trans retinoic acid on procoagulant and fibrinolytic activities of cultured blast cells. These blast cells were from patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia.

General Description

Elastase is a proteolytic enzyme. It is a member of the subgroup named, peptidyl peptide hydrolases. It is a major anatomic constituent of arteries. It is mainly found in the pancreas and pancreatic juice of various birds and mammals. It is also present in human serum, granulocytes and erythrocytes.

Biochem/physiol Actions

Elastase enzyme is capable of releasing soluble peptides from insoluble elastin fibers with the help of a proteolytic process. It can stimulate disintegration of the axoneme with the help of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Unlike pancreatic elastase the leukocyte enzyme has a preferential cleavage for the carboxyl side of valine, but will also cleave to a lesser extent after alanine. Natural substrates include elastin, cartilage proteoglycans, collagen types I, II, II and IV, and fibronectin.