Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L Van de Water

Publications and source records attributed to L Van de Water.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Fibrinogen and fibrin are anti-adhesive for keratinocytes: a mechanism for fibrin eschar slough during wound repair.

During cutaneous wound repair the epidermis avoids the fibrin-rich clot; rather it migrates down the collagen-rich dermal wound margin and over fibronectin-rich granulation tissue. The mechanism(s) underlying keratinocyte movement in this precise pathway has not been previously addressed. Here we demonstrate that cultured human keratinocytes do not express functional fibrinogen/fibrin receptors, specifically alpha v beta 3. Biologic modifiers known to induce integrin expression or activation did not induce adhesion to fibrin, fibrinogen, or its fragments. Epidermal explant outgrowth and single epidermal cell migration failed to occur on either fibrin or fibrinogen. Surprisingly, fibrin and fibrinogen mixed at physiologic molar ratios with fibronectin abrogated keratinocyte attachment to fibronectin. Keratinocytes transduced with the beta 3 integrin subunit cDNA, expressed alpha v beta 3 on their surface and attached to and spread on fibrinogen and fibrin. beta-gal cDNA-transduced keratinocytes did not demonstrate this activity. Furthermore, beta 3 cDNA-transduced keratinocyte adhesion to fibrin was inhibited by LM609 monoclonal antibody to alpha v beta 3 in a concentration-dependent fashion. From these data, we conclude that normal human keratinocytes cannot interact with fibrinogen and its derivatives due to the lack of alpha v beta 3. Thus, fibrinogen and fibrin are authentic anti-adhesive for keratinocytes. This may be a fundamental reason why the migrating epidermis dissects the fibrin eschar from wounds.

Animals↗

Mechanisms by which fibrin and fibronectin appear in healing wounds: implications for Peyronie's disease.

PURPOSE: The extracellular matrix that is present at sites of tissue repair in most instances undergoes an orderly transition from a fibrin containing matrix to collagen-rich scar. However, in some conditions, such as Peyronie's disease, fibrin persists. Evidence from a number of experimental systems indicates that extracellular matrix proteins and their receptors serve an important function in regulating cell behaviors. Thus, the presence of the fibrin matrix is likely to have important implications in the course of either normal or pathogenic wound healing as occurs in Peyronie's disease. Potential mechanisms by which the fibrin rich provisional matrix appears in healing wounds are presented. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Methodologies, such as in situ hybridization, immunolocalization and labeled tracer techniques, were used in our study. RESULTS: We found by these approaches that the 2 general mechanisms that contribute to the generation of the wound extracellular matrix are leakage of plasma proteins, such as plasma fibronectin and fibrinogen, and the synthesis of variants of fibronectin by wound cells. CONCLUSIONS: Developing an understanding of the mechanisms that regulate the appearance of these matrix proteins may provide new avenues for therapy in conditions such as Peyronie's disease in which the temporal pattern of the provisional matrix deposition is abnormal.

Animals↗

Specialized imaging techniques.

The foregoing discussion has presented a summary of many of the optical microscopic methods in use by researchers and clinicians. Along with emerging technologies, such as laser tweezers and scissors, which are outside the scope of this review, the methodologies discussed here ensure that the optical microscope will remain a central tool for biomedical research.

Diagnostic Imaging↗

Overexpression of vascular permeability factor (VPF/VEGF) and its endothelial cell receptors in delayed hypersensitivity skin reactions.

Delayed hypersensitivity (DH) is a T cell-mediated form of immune response characterized by a predominantly perivascular, mononuclear cell infiltrate. The venules in DH reactions are hyperpermeable to plasma proteins, leading to extravasation of plasma fibrinogen and its extravascular clotting to form a fibrin gel that promotes induration and angiogenesis. The mechanisms responsible for microvascular hyperpermeability in DH are unknown. Recently, a cytokine named vascular permeability factor (VPF, also known as vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF) has been implicated in the chronic vascular hyperpermeability and angiogenesis of solid and ascites tumors, healing wounds, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis. These findings suggested that VPF/VEGF might also have a role in the pathogenesis of DH. Two model systems were studied: allergic contact dermatitis to poison ivy in human volunteers and classical tuberculin hypersensitivity in rats. In both, in situ hybridization revealed that the mRNAs encoding VPF/VEGF were strikingly overexpressed in keratinocytes of the epidermis; scattered mononuclear cells infiltrating the dermis also overexpressed VPF/VEGF mRNA, to a greater extent in rat tuberculin than in human contact reactions. In contact reactions, mRNAs for two VPF/VEGF vascular endothelial cell receptors, flt-1 and KDR, were also strikingly overexpressed. Abundant fibrin deposition in both models confirmed that dermal microvessels were indeed hyperpermeable to plasma fibrinogen. These results implicate VPF/VEGF as a potentially important mediator in the pathogenesis of cell-mediated immunity and provide further evidence that products of epithelial cells may regulate the inflammatory response.

Animals↗

Anti-TNF-alpha treatment down-regulates the expression of fibronectin and decreases cellular infiltration of cardiac allografts in rats.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) components provide costimulatory signals for T cell activation in vitro, and may be critical for lymphocyte migration and tissue positioning in vivo. We conducted a series of studies in rat recipients of cardiac allografts to evaluate intragraft expression of a prominent ECM protein, fibronectin (FN), and to analyze the effects of infusing a neutralizing anti-TNF-alpha serum on FN expression and lymphocyte migration into the transplants. LBNF1 cardiac allografts were rejected within 8 days in control LEW rats. A prominent immunohistochemical feature of this immune response was the dense deposition of FN at the graft site as early as 3 h, which then peaked at 4 to 6 days. The early 3-h FN deposition (likely plasma FN) was noted before cellular infiltration. Northern blot analysis established that a marked induction of FN mRNA expression occurred in rejecting cardiac allografts at day 4 after transplantation. To determine the source of FN mRNA, we conducted a series of in situ hybridization studies with probes for FN and lysozyme, a macrophage-specific marker. Indeed, the majority of graft-infiltrating cells expressed lysozyme mRNA and FN mRNA. Administration of anti-TNF-alpha serum into LEW hosts (0.5 ml i.v. at days 1 and 3 only) abrogated acute rejection and prolonged cardiac allograft survival to approximately 13 days. This was accompanied by depressed circulating and intragraft TNF-alpha levels, and markedly down-regulated FN mRNA/protein expression patterns, as compared with those in recipients given nonimmune rabbit serum. Anti-TNF-alpha treatment also markedly decreased graft infiltration by ED1+ monocytes/macrophages, OX-8+, and VLA-4+ cells, normally peaking at 4 days. Moreover, we found that the migration of 111In-labeled specifically sensitized lymph node lymphocytes to cardiac allografts in secondary rat recipients conditioned with anti-TNF-alpha serum was significantly decreased, as compared with that in controls. Thus, FN expression by intragraft macrophages occurs within the same interval as cellular infiltration, and may act as an ECM component "signal" for selective homing of recirculating lymphocytes in graft recipients. The results of this study support the notion that in vivo interactions between mononuclear cells and ECM may be vital for the ingress of alloreactive lymphocytes at the graft site, and offer potential novel sites for therapeutic intervention in the control of transplant rejection.

Animals↗

Keratinocyte-derived vascular permeability factor (vascular endothelial growth factor) is a potent mitogen for dermal microvascular endothelial cells.

Expression of vascular permeability factor/vascular endothelial growth factor (VPF/VEGF) is markedly increased in the epidermis of lesional psoriatic skin and in healing skin wounds. In this study, we characterized the effects of several cytokines and growth factors on the expression and secretion of VPF/VEGF mRNA and protein by cultured human epidermal keratinocytes, as well as the effect of VPF/VEGF on the growth of cultured human dermal microvascular endothelial cells. Transforming growth factor-alpha, epidermal growth factor, and phorbol myristate acetate markedly stimulated VPF/VEGF mRNA expression by cultured keratinocytes; as in psoriatic skin, the three most common VPF/VEGF isoforms (encoding proteins of 121, 165, and 189 amino acids) were upregulated to an equal extent. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-alpha, epidermal growth factor, and phorbol myristate acetate also enhanced the secretion of VPF/VEGF by keratinocytes; in contrast, a number of other cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma, and transforming growth factor-beta did not induce VPF/VEGF secretion. The VPF/VEGF secreted by keratinocytes was biologically active in that, like recombinant human VPF/VEGF, it potently stimulated dermal endothelial cell proliferation. Scatchard analysis revealed two high-affinity VPF/VEGF binding sites on dermal endothelial cells with dissociation constants of 51 pM and 2.9 pM. These results suggest that the avascular epidermis has the capacity to regulate dermal angiogenesis and microvascular permeability by a paracrine mechanism involving the secretion of VPF/VEGF. Similar mechanisms may be anticipated in a variety of inflammatory and neoplastic skin diseases characterized by microvascular hyperpermeability, edema, and angiogenesis.

Binding Sites↗

Adhesive properties of osteopontin: regulation by a naturally occurring thrombin-cleavage in close proximity to the GRGDS cell-binding domain.

Osteopontin (OPN) is a secreted adhesive glycoprotein with a functional glycine-arginine-glycine-aspartate-serine (GRGDS) cell-binding domain. An interesting feature of OPN structure is the presence of a thrombin-cleavage site in close proximity to the GRGDS region. Cleavage of OPN by thrombin is likely to be of physiological importance, because cleavage of blood plasma OPN occurs naturally after activation of the blood coagulation pathway. To investigate functional consequences of OPN cleavage by thrombin, cell attachment and spreading assays were performed with uncleaved and cleaved forms of OPN. For all cell lines examined, thrombin-cleaved OPN promoted markedly greater cell attachment and spreading than uncleaved OPN. Cell attachment and spreading on thrombin-cleaved OPN was inhibited both by the soluble GRGDS peptides and an OPN-specific antibody raised to the GRGDS domain of OPN, thus implicating the GRGDS region in mediating the increased cell attachment and spreading observed on thrombin-cleaved OPN. Because the GRGDS sequence in OPN is only six residues from the thrombin-cleavage site, the data suggest that possibility that thrombin cleavage allows greater accessibility of the GRGDS domain to cell surface receptors. To investigate receptors that recognize uncleaved and thrombin-cleaved OPN, affinity chromatography was performed on placental extracts; the cell surface integrin alpha v beta 3 bound to columns constructed either with native or thrombin-cleaved OPN and was selectively eluted from each with soluble GRGDS peptide and EDTA. Moreover, adhesion assays performed in the presence of alpha v beta 3 blocking monoclonal antibody LM609 identified alpha v beta 3 as a major functional receptor for thrombin-cleaved OPN. Several lines of evidence suggest that cleavage of OPN by thrombin occurs in vivo, such as in tumors and at sites of tissue injury, and adhesion assay data presented here indicate that such cleavage is important in the regulation of OPN function.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Vascular permeability factor (VPF, VEGF) in tumor biology.

Vascular permeability factor (VPF), also known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is a multifunctional cytokine expressed and secreted at high levels by many tumor cells of animal and human origin. As secreted by tumor cells, VPF/VEGF is a 34-42 kDa heparin-binding, dimeric, disulfide-bonded glycoprotein that acts directly on endothelial cells (EC) by way of specific receptors to activate phospholipase C and induce [Ca2+]i transients. Two high affinity VPF/VEGF receptors, both tyrosine kinases, have thus far been described. VPF/VEGF is likely to have a number of important roles in tumor biology related, but not limited to, the process of tumor angiogenesis. As a potent permeability factor, VPF/VEGF promotes extravasation of plasma fibrinogen, leading to fibrin deposition which alters the tumor extracellular matrix. This matrix promotes the ingrowth of macrophages, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. Moreover, VPF/VEGF is a selective endothelial cell (EC) growth factor in vitro, and it presumably stimulates EC proliferation in vivo. Furthermore, VPF/VEGF has been found in animal and human tumor effusions by immunoassay and by functional assays and very likely accounts for the induction of malignant ascites. In addition to its role in tumors, VPF/VEGF has recently been found to have a role in wound healing and its expression by activated macrophages suggests that it probably also participates in certain types of chronic inflammation. VPF/VEGF is expressed in normal development and in certain normal adult organs, notably kidney, heart, adrenal gland and lung. Its functions in normal adult tissues are under investigation.

Animals↗

Macrophages and fibroblasts express embryonic fibronectins during cutaneous wound healing.

Fibronectins (FN) comprise a family of adhesive glycoproteins that are prominent components of wound healing. These proteins arise by alternative splicing of a single gene transcript at three sites, termed EIIIA, EIIIB, and V. Extravasated plasma FN, which lacks the EIIIA and EIIIB domains, along with fibrin, comprise the "provisional" matrix that forms within minutes of tissue injury. By 2 days after cutaneous excisional wounding in rats, total FN messenger RNA (mRNA) expression is increased locally and dramatically within the surrounding dermis, in the subjacent muscle (panniculus carnosus) and, notably, at the wound margins. Moreover, in contrast to normal skin, 2-day wounds express EIIIA- and EIIIB-containing "embryonic" FN mRNAs. To identify the cells responsible for synthesizing the various FN isoforms, we performed in situ hybridization with probes for the various FN mRNAs. Collagen and lysozyme probes were employed to distinguish fibroblasts from macrophages. At early intervals (2 days) after wounding, macrophages were the principal cells that expressed FN mRNA. Moreover, many of these cells expressed embryonic FN mRNAs. At 7 to 10 days, when the wound defect was maturing, fibroblasts were the major cells synthesizing these embryonic FNs. It is widely accepted that wound macrophages phagocytose debris and provide degradative enzymes and cytokines essential for early stages of tissue repair. Our findings suggest an additional function for wound macrophages--synthesis of embryonic FNs providing an extracellular matrix that facilitates wound repair, perhaps by promoting cell migration.

Animals↗

Vascular permeability factor mRNA and protein expression in human kidney.

Vascular permeability factor (VPF), also known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is a potent microvascular permeability-enhancing mediator as well as a selective mitogen for vascular endothelium. In this study, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry co-localized VPF mRNA and protein to glomerular visceral epithelial cells in human kidneys. Northern analysis confirmed the presence of VPF mRNA of expected size. The finding of VPF in renal glomerular epithelium identifies a potent mediator of permeability and endothelial proliferation whose role in renal physiology and pathology requires investigation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Expression and distribution of osteopontin in human tissues: widespread association with luminal epithelial surfaces.

Osteopontin, a glycoprotein with a glycine-arginine-glycine-aspartate-serine (GRGDS) cell-binding domain, has been described in bone and is also known to be expressed in other organs, particularly kidney. The goal of the present work was to define the distribution of osteopontin synthesis and deposition in a wide variety of normal adult human tissues using a multifaceted approach that included immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and Northern analysis. Immunohistochemical studies have revealed the unexpected finding that osteopontin is deposited as a prominent layer at the luminal surfaces of specific populations of epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder, pancreas, urinary and reproductive tracts, lung, breast, salivary glands, and sweat glands. Northern analyses identified gallbladder as a major site of osteopontin gene transcription comparable in magnitude with that of kidney, and immunoblotting identified osteopontin in bile. In situ hybridization localized osteopontin gene transcripts predominantly to the epithelium of a variety of organs as well as to ganglion cells of bowel wall. Osteopontin of epithelial cell origin, like bone-derived osteopontin, promoted GRGDS-dependent cell spreading in attachment assays. We postulate that osteopontin secreted by epithelium binds integrins on luminal surfaces. Collectively, these findings suggest an important role for osteopontin on many luminal epithelial surfaces communicating with the external environment.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Vascular permeability factor (vascular endothelial growth factor) gene is expressed differentially in normal tissues, macrophages, and tumors.

Vascular permeability factor (VPF), also known as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), increases microvascular permeability and is a specific mitogen for endothelial cells. Expression of VPF/VEGF previously was demonstrated in a variety of tumor cells, in cultures of pituitary-derived cells, and in corpus luteum. Here we present evidence, by Northern analysis and in situ hybridization, that the VPF/VEGF gene is expressed in many adult organs, including lung, kidney, adrenal gland, heart, liver, and stomach mucosa, as well as in elicited peritoneal macrophages. The highest levels of VPF/VEGF transcripts were found in epithelial cells of lung alveoli, renal glomeruli and adrenal cortex, and in cardiac myocytes. The prominence of VPF/VEGF mRNA in these tissues suggests a possible role for VPF/VEGF in regulating baseline microvascular permeability, which is essential for tissue nutrition and waste removal. We also demonstrate particularly high VPF/VEGF mRNA levels in several human tumors, where it may be involved in promoting tumor angiogenesis and stroma generation, both as an endothelial cell mitogen and indirectly by its permeability enhancing effect that leads to the deposition of a provisional fibrin gel matrix.

Animals↗

Distribution of vascular permeability factor (vascular endothelial growth factor) in tumors: concentration in tumor blood vessels.

Vascular permeability factor (VPF) is a highly conserved 34-42-kD protein secreted by many tumor cells. Among the most potent vascular permeability-enhancing factors known, VPF is also a selective vascular endothelial cell mitogen, and therefore has been called vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF). Our goal was to define the cellular sites of VPF (VEGF) synthesis and accumulation in tumors in vivo. Immunohistochemical studies were performed on solid and ascites guinea pig line 1 and line 10 bile duct carcinomas using antibodies directed against peptides synthesized to represent the NH2-terminal and internal sequences of VPF. These antibodies stained tumor cells and, uniformly and most intensely, the endothelium of immediately adjacent blood vessels, both preexisting and those newly induced by tumor angiogenesis. A similar pattern of VPF staining was observed in autochthonous human lymphoma. In situ hybridization demonstrated VPF mRNA in nearly all line 10 tumor cells but not in tumor blood vessels, indicating that immunohistochemical labeling of tumor vessels with antibodies to VPF peptides reflects uptake of VPF, not endogenous synthesis. VPF protein staining was evident in adjacent preexisting venules and small veins as early as 5 h after tumor transplant and plateaued at maximally intense levels in newly induced tumor vessels by approximately 5 d. VPF-stained vessels were also hyperpermeable to macromolecules as judged by their capacity to accumulate circulating colloidal carbon. In contrast, vessels more than approximately 0.5 mm distant from tumors were not hyperpermeable and did not exhibit immunohistochemical staining for VPF. Vessel staining disappeared within 24-48 h of tumor rejection. These studies indicate that VPF is synthesized by tumor cells in vivo and accumulates in nearby blood vessels, its target of action. Because leaky tumor vessels initiate a cascade of events, which include plasma extravasation and which lead ultimately to angiogenesis and tumor stroma formation, VPF may have a pivotal role in promoting tumor growth. Also, VPF immunostaining provides a new marker for tumor blood vessels that may be exploitable for tumor imaging or therapy.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Purification and NH2-terminal amino acid sequence of guinea pig tumor-secreted vascular permeability factor.

Rodent and human tumor cell lines secrete a potent vascular permeability factor (VPF) which causes a rapid and substantial increase in microvascular permeability to plasma proteins without causing mast cell degranulation, or endothelial cell damage or without exciting an inflammatory cell infiltrate [D. R. Senger, S. J. Galli, A. M. Dvorak, C. A. Perruzzi, V. S. Harvey, and H. F. Dvorak. Science (Wash. DC), 219: 983-985, 1983; D. R. Senger, C. A. Perruzzi, J. Feder, and H.F. Dvorak. Cancer Res., 46: 5629-5632, 1986]. VPF now has been purified to homogeneity from guinea pig tumor cell culture medium; it is a Mr 34,000-43,000 protein, and a NH2-terminal amino acid sequence has been derived. A synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acid residues 1-24 of the native protein was used to raise rabbit antibodies which bind all of the vessel permeability-increasing activity secreted by guinea pig tumor cells and which stain purified VPF on immunoblots. These findings establish that this NH2-terminal amino acid sequence was derived from the permeability factor. Homology searches found no identity or close similarity between VPF NH2-terminal sequence and database sequences, indicating that VPF is distinct from other proteins for which sequence data are available. In particular, no sequence similarity was found between tumor-secreted VPF and other mediators of increased vessel permeability including plasma and glandular kallikreins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Pathogenesis of tumor stroma generation: a critical role for leaky blood vessels and fibrin deposition.

Tumor stroma formation results from the interaction of tumor cells and their products with the host and certain of its normal defense mechanisms, particularly the clotting and fibrinolytic systems. It is a process in which tumor cells render local venules and veins hyperpermeable with the result that fibrinogen and other proteins extravasate and clot, forming an extravascular crosslinked fibrin gel. Coagulation is mediated by an interaction between extravasated plasma clotting factors and tumor-associated and perhaps other tissue procoagulants. Parallel activation of the fibrinolytic system leads to substantial fibrin turnover, but fibrin nonetheless accumulates in amounts, variable from tumor to tumor, that are sufficient to provide a provisional stroma. This provisional stroma imposes on tumor cells a structure that persists even as tumor cells multiply and as the fibrin provisional stroma is replaced by mature connective tissue. The provisional fibrin stroma also serves to regulate the influx of macrophages, and perhaps other inflammatory cells, but at the same time, and in ways that are not fully understood, facilitates the inward migration of new blood vessels and fibroblasts, integral components of mature tumor stroma. Ascites tumors differ from solid tumors in that fibrin gel is not ordinarily deposited in body cavities and, as a result, there is no provisional stroma to impose an initial structure. Tumor stroma generation resembles the process of wound healing in many respects. However, it differs in the mechanism of its initiation, and in the apparent lack of a role for platelets. It also differs fundamentally in that invading tumor cells continually render new vessels hyperpermeable to plasma, thus perpetuating the cycle of extravascular fibrin deposition. In this sense, tumors behave as wounds that do not heal. Largely neglected in this review has been discussion of the numerous cytokines, mitogens, and growth factors that are widely believed to play important roles in tumor angiogenesis and wound healing; i.e., PDGF, FGF, EGF, TGF alpha, TGF beta, TNF, interferons, etc. This omission has been intentional, and for two reasons. First, these cytokines have already received considerable attention [100,123-128]. Second, it is not yet clear how closely the actions of these molecules, as described in vitro, relate to their functions in vivo. At present we are deluged with a surfeit of factors that have the capacity to induce new blood vessel formation in angiogenesis assays; these factors include not only peptides but lipids and even ions [126,129-131].(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Blood Coagulation↗

Reappearance of an embryonic pattern of fibronectin splicing during wound healing in the adult rat.

The adhesive extracellular matrix glycoprotein fibronectin (FN) is thought to play an important role in the cell migration associated with wound healing. Immunolocalization studies show abundant FN in healing wounds; however, these studies cannot define the cellular site(s) of FN synthesis, nor do they distinguish the different and potentially functionally distinct forms of FN that can arise from alternative splicing of the primary gene transcript. To examine these questions of FN synthesis and splicing during wound healing, we have performed in situ hybridization with segment-specific probes on healing wounds in adult rat skin. We find that the FN gene is expressed at increased levels after wounding both in the cells at the base of the wound and in subjacent muscle and dermis lateral to the wound. Interestingly, however, the pattern of splicing of FN mRNA was different in these areas. In adjacent dermis and muscle, the splicing pattern remains identical with that seen in normal adult rat skin, with two of the three spliced segments (EIIIA and EIIIB) excluded from FN mRNA. In contrast, these two segments are included in the FN mRNA present in the cells at the base of the wound. As a result, the mRNA in this region is spliced in a pattern identical with that found during early embryogenesis. The finding that the pattern of FN splicing during wound healing resembles an embryonic pattern suggests that alternative splicing may be used during wound healing as a mechanism to generate forms of FN that may be functionally more appropriate for the cell migration and proliferation associated with tissue repair.

Animals↗