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 [Cover Caption] Other Issues: 
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Contents:
Volume 84, Issue 2; April, 2004.
[Index by Author] [Editorial Board]
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= article is free immediately upon publication
(all articles are free one year after publication)
Cover: A summary of the biological actions of proteases that may be mediated by protease-activated receptors (PARs). The coagulation proteases thrombin, factor VIIa, and factor Xa are prominent activators of PARs that are generated in the circulation during trauma and inflammation. They convert fibrinogen to fibrin, the basis of a blood clot. In addition, they have multiple receptor-mediated actions on many cell types; they induce aggregation of platelets, signal to endothelial cells to regulate proliferation, vasodilatation, plasma extravasation and release of cytokines, and promotion of the adhesion and infiltration of granulocytes. Proteases from inflammatory cells such as tryptase from mast cells and cathepsin G from neutrophils are released during inflammation and also signal to cells by cleaving PARs. Other proteases that activate PARs, for example, trypsins, may be released from epithelial tissues or could penetrate tissues from mucosal surfaces during inflammation, which is often accompanied by reorganization of tight junctions and enhanced epithelial permeability. The coagulation proteases, inflammatory cell proteases, and epithelial proteases can regulate the function of epithelial and endothelial cells, myocytes, fibroblasts, neurons, and astrocytes by cleaving and activating PARs. The proteases that activate PARs are generated and released during trauma and inflammation and regulate tissue responses to injury such as hemostasis, inflammation, pain transmission, and repair. See Ossovskaya, Valeria S., and Nigel W. Bunnett. Physiol Rev 84: 579-621, 2004.
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