Ascorbic Acid Promotes Procollagen C-Proteinase Enhancer 1 Expression, Secretion, and Cell Membrane Localization.

Removal of the C-propeptide from fibrillar procollagens is essential for collagen fibril assembly. The reaction is catalyzed by bone morphogenetic protein-1/tolloid-like proteinases and is accelerated by procollagen C-proteinase enhancer 1 (PCPE-1), an extracellular matrix glycoprotein that binds to the procollagen C-propeptide and its expression overlaps that of collagen. Ascorbic acid (Asc) is vital for collagen hydroxylation, folding, and secretion. It also increases collagen gene expression. The role of Asc as a regulator of PCPE-1 expression is debatable. To shed further light on this matter, herein, we studied the effects of Asc on PCPE-1 expression, secretion, and cellular localization in Rat2 and/or mouse 3T3 fibroblasts. Asc increased PCPE-1 expression at the translational and transcriptional levels about two-fold. It also increased the rate of PCPE-1 secretion approximately six-fold. Endogenous PCPE-1 was found to be cell associated, and Asc increased the amount of PCPE-1 on the cell surface. In the absence of PCPE-1 hydroxylation, we propose that the dependence of PCPE-1 secretion on Asc may be related to its role in procollagen secretion. Localization of PCPE-1 to the cell membrane favors the cell-surface as a physiological site of PCPE-1 action. Anat Rec, 2019. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Using antibodies against P2Y and P2X receptors in purinergic signaling research.

The broad expression pattern of the G protein-coupled P2Y receptors has demonstrated that these receptors are fundamental determinants in many physiological responses, including neuromodulation, vasodilation, inflammation, and cell migration. P2Y receptors couple either G(q) or G(i) upon activation, thereby activating different signaling pathways. Ionotropic ATP (P2X) receptors bind extracellular nucleotides, a signal which is transduced within the P2X protein complex into a cation channel opening, which usually leads to intracellular calcium concentration elevation. As such, this family of proteins initiates or shapes several cellular processes including synaptic transmission, gene expression, proliferation, migration, and apoptosis. The ever-growing range of applications for antibodies in the last 30 years attests to their major role in medicine and biological research. Antibodies have been used as therapeutic tools in cancer and inflammatory diseases, as diagnostic reagents (flow cytometry, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry, to name a few applications), and in widespread use in biological research, including Western blot, immunoprecipitation, and ELISPOT. In this article, we will showcase several of the advances that scientists around the world have achieved using the line of antibodies developed at Alomone Labs for P2Y and P2X receptors.