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Biomedical subjects

P Bornstein

Publications and source records attributed to P Bornstein.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Structural basis for apparent heterogeneity of collagens in human basement membranes: type IV procollagen contains two distinct chains.

Fetal cells isolated from human amniotic fluid synthesize type IV procollagen when grown in monolayer culture. The procollagen, which contains two biochemically distinct chains, was found to be structurally and immunologically related to type IV collagen chains and collagenous fragments isolated from human placenta. Limited pepsin digestion of the intact procollagen that was deposited in the cell layer during culture produced a heterogeneous population of collagenous peptides comparable to that obtained during isolation of type IV collagens from human tissues. These studies support the hypothesis that basement membranes contain at least two genetically distinct type IV procollagen chains and suggest that the heterogeneity of collagenous components obtained after pepsin digestion of tissues and isolated basement membranes can result from degradative cleavage of the procollagen at a limited number of protease-sensitive sites.

Amniotic Fluid↗

Collagen synthesis by bovine aortic endothelial cells in culture.

Endothelial cells isolated from bovine aorta synthesize and secrete type III procollagen in culture. The procollagen, which represents the major collagenous protein in culture medium, was specifically precipitated by antibodies to bovine type III procollagen and was purified by diethyl-aminoethylcellulose chromatography. Unequivocal identification of the pepsin-treated collagen was made by direct comparison with type III collagen isolated by pepsin digestion of bovine skin, utilizing peptide cleavage patterns generated by vertebrate collagenase, CNBr, and mast cell protease. The type III collagen was hydroxylated to a high degree, having a hydroxyproline/proline ratio of 1.5:1.0. Pulse-chase studies indicated that the procollagen was not processed to procollagen intermediates or to collagen. Pepsin treatment of cell layers, followed by salt fractionation at acidic and neutral pH, produced several components which were sensitive to bacterial collagenase and which comigrated on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with alpha A, alpha B, and type IV collagen chains purified from human placenta by similar techniques. Bovine aortic endothelial cells also secreted fibronectin and a bacterial collagenase-insensitive glycoprotein which, after reduction, had a molecular weight of 135,000 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (using procollagen molecular weight standards) and which was not precipitable by antibodies to cold-insoluble globulin or to alpha 2-macroglobulin. Collagen biosynthesis by these cells provides an interesting model system for studying the polarity of protein secretion and the attachment of cells to an extracellular matrix. The presence of type III collagen in the subendothelium and the specific interaction of this protein with fibronectin and platelets suggest the involvement of this collagen in thrombus formation following endothelial cell injury.

Animals↗

Procollagen processing. Limited proteolysis of COOH-terminal extension peptides by a cathepsin-like protease secreted by tendon fibroblasts.

An enzymatic activity, capable of removing the COOH-terminal extensions of type I chick procollagen, has been demonstrated in embryonic chick tendons and in cultured tendon fibroblasts utilizing two new methods of analysis. The protease was purified by a combination of ultrafiltration concanavalin A affinity chromatography and gel filtration. The isolated protein has an apparent Mr of 43,000 by gel filtration and sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. The enzyme shows a major pH optimum at 4.2 and is susceptible to inhibitors such as pepstatin and leupeptin; it therefore seems related to the cathepsins. The possibility that this enzyme plays a role in the limited proteolytic processing of procollagen is discussed.

Animals↗

Characterization of a novel collagen chain in human placenta and its relation to AB collagen.

A novel collagen chain, termed alpha C, has been isolated from human placenta by limited pepsin digestion. The collagen containing the alpha C chain copurifies with placental AB collagen during selective salt precipitation but is virtually absent from fetal birth membranes, which contain relatively larger amounts of AB. Both native AB and alpha C-containing collagens are resistant to human skin collagenase under conditions that support cleavage of type I by greater than 90%. The alpha C chain was separated from alpha B by phosphocellulose chromatography and subsequently from alpha P by chromatography on CM-cellulose. Its amino acid composition is distinct from alpha A and alha B although all three chains posses compositional features in common; the carbohydrate content of the alpha C chain was intermediate between those of alpha A and alpha B. Analysis by NaDodSO4-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of peptides produced by CNBr cleavage and by limited digestion with the enzyme mast cell protease indicated different and unique products for the alpha A, alpha B, and alpha C chains. The data support the existence of another collagen chain which is related to the alpha A and alpha B chains but which is structurally unique. The proteins containing these chains may in turn comprise a subfamily of collagen isotypes which represents a divergence from and/or specialization of the type IV basement membrane collagens.

Amnion↗

Declining procollagen mRNA sequences in chick embryo fibroblasts infected with rous sarcoma virus. Correlation with procollagen synthesis.

Chick cells infected with Rous sarcoma virus are characterized by a wide variety of changes known collectively as transformation. Among these are decreases in the level of procollagen biosynthesis and in the level of procollagen mRNA. In this communication, we examine the time course of the decrease in procollagen biosynthesis, as measured by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and collagenase assay, and compare it with the decrease in procollagen mRNA sequences measured by hybridization to a complementary DNA. Procollagen biosynthesis and procollagen mRNA sequences decrease simultaneously after infection. Even the initial decrease in procollagen biosynthesis, therefore, is due to a decline in the level of procollagen mRNA.

Animals↗

Characterization of a type IV procollagen synthesized by human amniotic fluid cells in culture.

Fetal epithelioid cells, isolated from human amniotic fluid, synthesize and secrete a type IV-like procollagen characterized by a unique pattern of cyanogen bromide (CNBr)-produced peptides. The procollagen is disulfide-bonded and, after reduction, migrates on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as a doublet between collagen beta components and pro-alpha 1(I) chains. No conversion of the procollagen to collagen or to procollagen intermediates is observed in cell culture. The procollagen was purified by salt fractionation and ion exchange chromatography; its amino acid composition resembles that of collagenous proteins extracted from basement membranes, with a high 3- and 4-hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine content and low levels of alanine and arginine. The major products obtained after limited proteolytic digestion of the protein retain interchain disulfide bonds and, after reduction, migrate on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis near intact pro-alpha 1(I) chains. The procollagen is secreted efficiently by amniotic fluid cells despite almost complete inhibition of peptidyl hydroxylation but, unlike type I procollagen, the secreted underhydroxylated chains lack interchain disulfide bonds. Since these cells also secrete fibronectin and elaborate an extensive extracellular matrix, the system should prove useful in the study of cell-matrix interactions.

Amino Acids↗

Isolation of a collagen-binding fragment from fibronectin and cold-insoluble globulin.

Limited proteolytic cleavage of fibronectin and plasma cold-insoluble globulin with cathepsin D produced two major fragments. The smaller, Mr = 72,000 fragment bound to collagen and contained most of the cysteine in the molecule. This region contains intrachain disulfide bonds which maintain a conformation that is necessary for interaction with collagen. Cleavage of the intact protein and the 72,000-dalton fragment with plasmin localized the collagen-binding region in cold-insoluble globulin to a sequence of about 42,000 daltons. This region is located approximately two-thirds of the linear distance from the NH2 terminus of each chain in the dimeric molecule.

Amino Acids↗

NH2-terminal sequence of the chick proalpha1(I) chain synthesized in the reticulocyte lysate system. Evidence for a transient hydrophobic leader sequence.

Translation of chick procollagen mRNA in a reticulocyte lysate system yields a larger proalpha1(I) chain than is observed in vivo. The NH2-terminal sequence of this putative precursor, determined by automated radiosequencing, is Met-Phe-Ser-Phe-Val-X-Ser-Arg-Leu-Leu-Leu-Leu-Ile-Ala-Ala-X-X-Leu-Leu. This sequence closely resembles the transient hydrophobic leader (signal) sequences observed on most secreted proteins. When synthesized in the presence of microsomal membranes from dog pancreas, which contain signal peptidase activity, proalpha chains with the electrophoretic mobility of underhydroxylated procollagen polypeptides synthesized in vivo are produced. Estimates of the molecular weight of the NH2-terminal extension of the precursor suggest that the leader sequence may be longer than those commonly found in precursors of secreted proteins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Comparison of the structures of human fibronectin and plasma cold-insoluble globulin.

Human amniotic fluid fibronectin and plasma fibronectin (cold-insoluble globulin) are indistinguishable both immunologically and by amino acid composition. Cyanogen bromide and tryptic peptides also suggest substantial structural homology. However, carbohydrate analysis has demonstrated additional saccharides in fibronectin and an overall increase in carbohydrate content relative to cold-insoluble globulin. Furthermore, limited proteolytic cleavage of the two proteins indicates differences in primary structure or in conformation. Using affinity-purified antibodies to cold-insoluble globulin, a glucosamine-labeled pronase-resistant component, probably proteoglycan, was found to coprecipitate with fibronectin, suggesting an association between these two macromolecules in the connective tissue matrix.

Amino Acids↗

Collagen synthesis by human amniotic fluid cells in culture: characterization of a procollagen with three identical proalpha1(I) chains.

Second trimester human amniotic fluid cells synthesize and secrete a variety of collagenous proteins in culture. F cells (amniotic fluid fibroblasts) are the most active biosynthetically and synthesize predominantly type I with smaller amounts of type III procollagen. Epithelioid AF cells (the predominating clonable cell type) synthesize a type IV-like procollagen and a procollagen with three identical proalpha chains, structurally and immunologically related to the proalpha1 chains of type I procollagen. The latter procollagen, when cleaved with pepsin and denatured, yields a single non-disulfide-bonded alpha chain that migrates more slowly than F cell or human skin alpha1(I) on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis but coelutes with these chains from carboxymethyl-cellulose. The major cyanogen bromide produced peptides demonstrate a similar behavior relative to peptides derived from alpha1(I). The collagen is characterized by an increased solubility at neutral pH and high ionic strength, relative to type I collagen. The amino acid composition of the pepsin-resistant alpha chain is essentially identical with that of human alpha1(I), except for marked increases in the content of 3- and 4-hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine. Preliminary experiments suggest that these increased posttranslational modifications are responsible for the unusually slow migration of this collagen and its cyanogen bromide peptides on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The procollagen has, therefore, been assigned the chain composition [proalpha1(I)]3. Like type I procollagen, [proalpha1(I)]3 undergoes a time-dependent conversion, in the medium and cell layer, to procollagen intermediates and alpha chains. The production of [proalpha1(I)]3 probably reflects the state of differentiation and/or embryologic derivation of AF cells rather than a characteristic of the fetal phenotype, since F cells do not synthesize significant amounts of the procollagen.

Amino Acids↗

Organization of extracellular proteins on the connective tissue cell surface: relevance to cell-matrix interactions in vitro and in vivo.

A model has been developed that proposes a cell surface-associated protein meshwork, composed in part of fibronectin and collagen, for a connective tissue cell attached to a substratum. In support of this model are the observations that collagen and fibronectin interact and that these proteins are similarly distributed on the fibroblast cell surface. We suggest that this external meshwork interacts directly or indirectly with the internal cytoskeleton and with the extracellular matrix and thereby mediates several cellular properties, including adhesion, shape, and motility. Loss of cell surface fibronectin as a result of viral transformation, or due to treatment of normal cells with tunicamycin, an inhibitor of protein glycosylation, may contribute to the reduced adhesion and altered morphology observed in these circumstances. We therefore predict that the changes in these properties observed with virally transformed cells, mitotic cells, and cells treated with proteolytic enzymes are related to alterations in the external protein meshwork.

Animals↗

Inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids on collagen synthesis by mouse sponge granulomas and granuloma fibroblasts in culture.

The basis for the glucocorticoid-mediated decrease in tissue collagen was studied in mouse granulomas and in primary granuloma fibroblast cultures. Injection of mice for 12 days with dexamethasone (0.35 mg/kg body weight) resulted in a 50--70% inhibition of collagen synthesis and accumulation in polyvinyl sponge-induced granulomas whereas total protein synthesis was inhibited by only about 25%. The decreased collagen content of the granuloma was accounted for by both a reduced fibroblast number and diminished synthesis per cell. Growth rates, total protein synthesis and collagen synthesis were the same in granuloma fibroblast cultures derived from control or steroid-treated mice. However, addition of 3.10(-7) M hydrocortisone to the culture medium caused a 30--50% inhibition of both collagen and non-collagen protein synthesis in firbroblasts from either source. These inhibitory effects were dose- and time-dependent with a lag time of 12--24 h. Prolyl hydroxylase activity was reduced both in sponge granulomas from glucocorticoid-treated mice and in hydrocortisone-treated fibroblast cultures. However, protein synthesis was inhibited to the same extent as the inhibition of prolyl hydroxylase activity and there was no effect on peptidyl prolyl hydroxylation. These results indicate that the glucocorticoid-induced reduction of collagen synthesis and accumulation observed in mouse granulomas and primary granuloma fibroblast cultures is not specific for this protein. Furthermore, glucocorticoid-induced inhibition of collagen synthesis cannot be attributed to underhydroxylation of collagen prolyl residues.

Animals↗