Stimulation of lung lysyl oxidase activity in hamsters with elastase-induced emphysema.

Lysyl oxidase activity was measured in lung extracts of hamsters with elastase-induced emphysema 8 days after administration of the enzyme and again after 2, 3, and 4 wk. Levels of activity rose rapidly to 7 times the base values determined in the lungs of saline-injected control animals. In parallel with the increase in lysyl oxidase activity, the rate of 14C-lysine incorporation into desmosine and isodesmosine was at its maximum 1 wk after elastase administration, reflecting the lysyl-oxidase-mediated cross-link formation, which is the final step in the resynthesis of the pulmonary elastin destroyed by the elastolytic insult.