Human LOXL1 peptide

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the effect of pregnancy and delivery mode on cytokine expression in the pelvic organs and serum of lysyl oxidase like-1 knockout (LOXL1 KO) mice, which develop pelvic organ prolapse after delivery. Methods Bladder, urethra, vagina, rectum, and blood were harvested from female LOXL1 KO mice during pregnancy, after vaginal or cesarean delivery, and from sham cesarean and unmanipulated controls. Pelvic organs and blood were also harvested from pregnant and vaginally delivered wild-type (WT) mice and from unmanipulated female virgin WT controls. Specimens were assessed using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results Both CXCL12 and CCL7 mRNA were significantly up-regulated in the vagina, urethra, bladder, and rectum of pregnant LOXL1 KO mice compared with pregnant WT mice, suggesting systemic dysregulation of both of these cytokines in LOXL1 KO mice as a response to pregnancy. The differences in cytokine expression between LOXL1 KO and WT mice in pregnancy persisted after vaginal delivery. CCL7 gene expression increases faster and to a greater extent in LOXL1 KO mice, translating to longer lasting increases in CCL7 in serum of LOXL1 KO mice after vaginal delivery, compared with pregnant mice. Conclusions Lysyl oxidase like-1 KO mice have an increased cytokine response to pregnancy perhaps because they are less able to reform and re-cross-link stretched elastin to accommodate pups, and this resultant tissue stretches during pregnancy. The up-regulation of CCL7 after delivery could provide an indicator of level of childbirth injury, to which the urethra and vagina seem to be particularly vulnerable.

Purpose: Pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome, an age-related, systemic, elastic microfibrillopathy, is characterized by fibrillar-granular deposits in the anterior segment of the eye. Although not representing a true amyloidosis, PEX syndrome shares some features with amyloid disorders, such as Alzheimer disease. It has been shown that amyloid-associated proteins also occur in association with PEX fibrils. Apolipoprotein E (Apo-E) is directly involved in these amyloid deposition and fibrils formation. The epsilon 4 allele of APOE gene was shown to be associated both with an increased risk for coronary heart disease and late-onset Alzheimer disease. In this study, we therefore investigated whether APOE alleles are associated with PEX syndrome and/or PEX glaucoma (PEXG) in 2 large cohorts of German and Italian origin. Methods: The 3 common APOE alleles epsilon 2, epsilon 3, and epsilon 4 were genotyped in 661 unrelated patients (459 PEXG and 202 PEX patients) and 342 healthy individuals of German origin and furthermore in 209 unrelated patients (133 PEXG and 76 PEX patients) and 190 healthy individuals of Italian origin using TaqMan assays for allelic discrimination. A genetic association study was then performed. Results: The epsilon 3 allele was found to be the most common in both populations (80% to 83%), whereas the epsilon 2 allele was the rarest (6% to 9%). No significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies between both groups were observed in either population. Conclusion: Our data show that APOE genotypes are not associated with PEX and PEXG in either Germans or Italians.