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A new animal model for relapsing polychondritis, induced by cartilage matrix protein (matrilin-1).

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) differs from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in that primarily cartilage outside diarthrodial joints is affected. The disease usually involves trachea, nose, and outer ears. To investigate whether the tissue distribution of RP may be explained by a specific immune response, we immunized rats with cartilage matrix protein (matrilin-1), a protein predominantly expressed in tracheal cartilage. After 2-3 weeks, some rats developed a severe inspiratory stridor. They had swollen noses and/or epistaxis, but showed neither joint nor outer ear affection. The inflammatory lesions involved chronic active erosions of cartilage. Female rats were more susceptible than males. The disease susceptibility was controlled by both MHC genes (f, l, d, and a haplotypes are high responders, and u, n, and c are resistant) and non-MHC genes (the LEW strain is susceptible; the DA strain is resistant). However, all strains mounted a pronounced IgG response to cartilage matrix protein. The initiation and effector phase of the laryngotracheal involvement causing the clinical symptoms were shown to depend on alphabeta T cells. Taken together, these results represent a novel model for RP: matrilin-1-induced RP. Our findings also suggest that different cartilage proteins are involved in pathogenic models of RP and RA.

Animals↗

Mice lacking the extracellular matrix adaptor protein matrilin-2 develop without obvious abnormalities.

Matrilins are putative adaptor proteins of the extracellular matrix (ECM) which can form both collagen-dependent and collagen-independent filamentous networks. While all known matrilins (matrilin-1, -2, -3, and -4) are expressed in cartilage, only matrilin-2 and matrilin-4 are abundant in non-skeletal tissues. To clarify the biological role of matrilin-2, we have developed a matrilin-2-deficient mouse strain. Matrilin-2 null mice show no gross abnormalities during embryonic or adult development, are fertile, and have a normal lifespan. Histological and ultrastructural analyses indicate apparently normal structure of all organs and tissues where matrilin-2 is expressed. Although matrilin-2 co-localizes with matrilin-4 in many tissues, Northern hybridization, semiquantitative RT-PCR, immunohistochemistry and biochemical analysis reveal no significant alteration in the steady-state level of matrilin-4 expression in homozygous mutant mice. Immunostaining of wild-type and mutant skin samples indicate no detectable differences in the expression and deposition of matrilin-2 binding partners including collagen I, laminin-nidogen complexes, fibrillin-2 and fibronectin. In addition, electron microscopy reveals an intact basement membrane at the epidermal-dermal junction and normal organization of the dermal collagen fibrils in mutant skin. These data suggest that either matrilin-2 and matrilin-2-mediated matrix-matrix interactions are dispensable for proper ECM assembly and function, or that they are efficiently compensated by other matrix components including wild-type levels of matrilin-4.

Animals↗

Primary structure of matrilin-3, a new member of a family of extracellular matrix proteins related to cartilage matrix protein (matrilin-1) and von Willebrand factor.

A mouse cDNA encoding for matrilin-3, the third member of the novel matrilin family of extracellular matrix proteins, was cloned. The protein precursor of 481 amino acids consists of a putative signal peptide, a short positively charged sequence, a single vWFA-like domain followed by four epidermal growth factor-like modules and a potential coiled-coil alpha-helical oligomerization domain at the C-terminus. It is the smallest member of the matrilin family with a predicted Mr of the mature protein of 48 902. The primary structure of a C-terminal portion of 310 amino acids of the human matrilin-3 was determined and showed a sequence identity to the mouse matrilin-3 of 84.8%. Northern blot hybridization of mouse matrilin-3 mRNA showed a 2.9 kb mRNA expressed in sternum, femur and trachea and indicates a cartilage-specific expression.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Matrilin-2 interacts with itself and with other extracellular matrix proteins.

Matrilin-2 is a component of extracellular filamentous networks. To study the interactions by which it can be integrated into such assemblies, full-length and truncated forms of matrilin-2 were recombinantly expressed in HEK-293 cells and purified from conditioned medium. The recombinant proteins, when used in interaction assays, showed affinity to matrilin-2 itself, but also to other collagenous and non-collagenous extracellular matrix proteins. The interaction between matrilin-2 and collagen I was studied in greater detail and could be shown to occur at distinct sites on the collagen I molecule and to have a K (D) of about 3 x 10(-8) M. Interactions with some non-collagenous protein ligands were even stronger, with matrilin-2 binding to fibrillin-2, fibronectin and laminin-1-nidogen-1 complexes, with K (D) values in the range of 10(-8)-10(-11) M. Co-localization of matrilin-2 with these ligands in the dermal-epidermal basement membrane, in the microfibrils extending from the basement membrane into the dermis, and in the dermal extracellular matrix, indicates a physiological relevance of the interactions in the assembly of supramolecular extracellular matrix structures.

Base Sequence↗

Interactions between the cartilage oligomeric matrix protein and matrilins. Implications for matrix assembly and the pathogenesis of chondrodysplasias.

The cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) and matrilins are abundant non-collagenous proteins in the cartilage extracellular matrix. In the presence of calcium, COMP and matrilin-1 elute together in the gel filtration of cartilage extracts and can be co-immunoprecipitated. In a screen for ligands of matrilin-1, -3, and -4 using an ELISA-style binding assay, COMP was identified as a prominent binding partner for all three, indicating a conservation of the COMP interaction among matrilins. The interaction of COMP and matrilin-4 is saturable, and an apparent K(D) of 1 nm was determined. However, only the full-length COMP and the full-length matrilin-4 proteins showed a strong interaction, indicating that the oligomeric structures markedly increase the affinity. Mutations in COMP or matrilin-3 cause related forms of human chondrodysplasia, and the COMP mutation D469Delta, which is found in patients with pseudoachondroplasia, has been shown to cause a reduced calcium binding. Despite this, the mutation causes only a slight decrease in matrilin-4 binding. This indicates that impaired binding of COMP to matrilins does not cause the pseudoachondroplasia phenotype but rather that matrilins may be coretained in the rough endoplasmatic reticulum where COMP accumulates in the chondrocytes of patients.

Animals↗

The matrilins--adaptor proteins in the extracellular matrix.

The matrilins form a four-member family of modular, multisubunit matrix proteins, which are expressed in cartilage but also in many other forms of extracellular matrix. They participate in the formation of fibrillar or filamentous structures and are often associated with collagens. It appears that they mediate interactions between collagen-containing fibrils and other matrix constituents, such as aggrecan. This adaptor function may be modulated by physiological proteolysis that causes the loss of single subunits and thereby a decrease in binding avidity. Attempts to study matrilin function by gene inactivation in mouse have been frustrating and so far not yielded pronounced phenotypes, presumably because of the extensive redundancy within the family allowing compensation by one family member for another. However, mutations in matrilin-3 in humans cause different forms of chondrodysplasias and perhaps also hand osteoarthritis. As loss of matrilin-3 is not critical in mouse, these phenotypes are likely to be caused by dominant negative effects.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

Matrilin-3 mutations that cause chondrodysplasias interfere with protein trafficking while a mutation associated with hand osteoarthritis does not.

Several mutations in the extracellular matrix protein matrilin-3 cause a heterogeneous disease spectrum affecting skeletal tissues. We introduced three disease causing point mutations leading to single amino acid exchanges (R116W, T298M, C299S) in matrilin-3 and expressed the corresponding proteins in primary articular chondrocytes to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms at the cellular level. Expression levels, processing, and the secretion pattern of a mutation linked to hand osteoarthritis (T298M) were similar to the wildtype protein, whereas the two other mutants were poorly expressed and hardly detectable in supernatants of transiently transfected cells. Using immunofluorescence staining, we demonstrated that mutants R116W and C299S are retained and accumulate within the endoplasmatic reticulum (ER). Their further trafficking to the Golgi compartment seems to be disturbed, whereas T298M is secreted normally. In cells transfected with the wildtype and T298M constructs, a matrilin-3 containing filamentous network was formed surrounding the cells, whereas in the case of R116W and C299S such structures were completely absent. These observations are similar to those for mutations in the cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) leading to multiple epiphyseal dysplasia and pseudoachondroplasia suggesting that retention and accumulation of cartilage proteins in the ER might be a general mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of chondrodysplasias.

Animals↗

Autoreactivity against matrilin-1 in a patient with relapsing polychondritis.

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is a rare inflammatory disease of cartilage. Chondritis of the auricular, nasal, and tracheal cartilages predominates in this disease, suggesting a response to a tissue-specific antigen. One potential antigen is matrilin-1, a cartilage matrix protein found uniquely in the tracheal, auricular, and nasal cartilage of adults. We describe herein a patient with RP who had both a humoral and a cellular immune response directed toward the cartilage matrix protein matrilin-1.

Aged↗

Expression of matrilin-2 in human skin.

The extracellular matrix is composed of a large number of different modular proteins. Matrilin-2 is a newly described member of the protein superfamily with von Willebrand factor A-like modules. To examine the expression of matrilin-2 in human skin, the distribution of protein and mRNA was studied by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. In addition, immunoblotting and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction were used to investigate the expression of matrilin-2 in keratinocyte and fibroblast cultures. In vivo, keratinocytes and fibroblasts were both found to express matrilin-2 mRNA and deposit the protein at the basal side of the dermal-epidermal basement membrane. Matrilin-2 molecules synthesized by the two cell types in vitro appeared to be processed differently by cell-associated proteases. Transcription of matrilin-2 mRNA in keratinocytes was enhanced by a diffusible factor produced by fibroblasts, suggesting a regulatory mechanism for the production of extracellular matrix at the dermal-epidermal junction. These findings demonstrate that matrilin-2 is expressed in normal skin by keratinocytes and fibroblasts and may thus contribute to cutaneous homeostasis.

Adult↗

The matrilins: a novel family of oligomeric extracellular matrix proteins.

The matrilin family at present has four members that all share a structure made up of von Willebrand factor A domains, epidermal growth factor-like domains and a coiled coil alpha-helical module. The first member of the family, matrilin-1 (previously called cartilage matrix protein or CMP), is expressed mainly in cartilage. Matrilin-3 has a similar tissue distribution, while matrilin-2 and -4 occur in a wide variety of extracellular matrices. Matrilin-1 is associated with cartilage proteoglycans as well as being a component of both collagen-dependent and collagen-independent fibrils and on the basis of the related structures other matrilins may play similar roles. The matrilin genes are strictly and differently regulated and their expression may serve as markers for cellular differentiation.

Animals↗

Genomewide scan for hand osteoarthritis: a novel mutation in matrilin-3.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common human joint disease, characterized by loss and/or remodeling of joint synovium, cartilage, and bone. Here, we describe a genomewide linkage analysis of patients with idiopathic hand OA who were carefully phenotyped for involvement of either or both the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints and the first carpometacarpal (CMC1) joints. The best linkage peaks were on chromosomes 4q and 3p and on the short arm of chromosome 2. Genomewide significance was reached for a locus on chromosome 2 for patients with affected CMC1 joints (LOD = 4.97); this locus was also significant for patients with OA in both CMC1 and DIP joints (LOD = 4.44). The peak LOD score at this locus coincides with a gene, MATN3, encoding the noncollagenous cartilage extracellular matrix protein, matrilin-3. Subsequent screening of the genomic sequence revealed a missense mutation, of a conserved amino acid codon, changing threonine to methionine in the epidermal growth factor-like domain in matrilin-3. The missense mutation cosegregates with hand OA in several families. The mutation frequency is slightly more than 2% in patients with hand OA in the Icelandic population and has a relative risk of 2.1.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Animal models of inflammatory spinal and sacroiliac joint diseases.

Many cartilage matrix proteins or domains such as collagen types II, IX, and XI, GP39, AG1, VG1, and LP are potential antigens that might induce polyarthritis in susceptible animals (Table 1). Ordinarily, spondylitis is not a feature of polyarthritis induced with collagen types II, IX, and XI, GP39, cartilage matrix protein (matrilin-1) and cartilage LP. It seems that only the proteoglycans aggrecan and versican are capable of inducing sacroiliitis and spondylitis. Both molecules are structural proteins in intervertebral discs. Moreover, the arthritogenic or spondylitogenic epitopes of both molecules have been localized to the homologous N-terminal G1 globular domains. This region of versican and aggrecan is highly conserved, with 52% identity of amino acids. The homology is seen exclusively in the G1 domain and is concentrated between residues 115 and 332 (AG1 numbering) near the natural cleavage DIPEN site of aggrecan [84, 85]. Extra-articular pathology is often seen in rheumatic diseases, especially in AS. Other tissues, such as the sclera of the eye [86] and the media of the arteries [86, 87], also contain type II collagen, AG1, VG1, and LP, and versican is present in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Thus, there is the potential for an immune response against cartilage G1 and LP to be directed against related structures in extra-articular tissues. The presence of versican in the tendon and trochlea of the human superior oblique muscle might account for the occurrence of transient attacks of acquired Brown syndrome in patients with juvenile and adult forms of chronic RA [88]. Thus, it will be interesting to determine whether or not extra-articular expression of these cartilage proteins is closely related to extra-articular pathogenic expression in rheumatic diseases. Uveitis develops in VG1-immunized BALB/c mice, which is not seen in AG1-, and LP-treated animals. There is evidence that aggrecan and LP are also localized at these sites in the eye, but only immunity to versican can induce uveitis. In sacroiliitis and enthesitis of AS patients, the inflammation is associated with chondrometaplasia. In versican-induced sacroiliitis, replacement of cartilage by bone is seen with relatively little inflammation, somewhat resembling the situation in AS (Fig. 2). Versican can also stimulate chondrocyte proliferation [43]. Three conserved domains of human cartilage matrix molecules, namely VG1, AG1, and LP, show considerable homology [77, 79, 80, 89], and each is capable of inducing a unique inflammatory arthritis in BALB/c mice, with VG1 inducing only spondylitis [65], LP inducing peripheral arthritis with no spondylitis [90], and AG1 inducing axial and peripheral arthritis [66, 91]. It remains a mystery why such similar molecules cause different pathology in different target tissues. The exact immunopathogenic mechanisms deserve further study.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Roles of cartilage matrix proteins, chondromodulin-I and -II, in endochondral bone formation: a review.

Insulin induces early chondrogenesis in cultures of a clonal cell-line, ATDC5, which was derived from mouse embryonal carcinoma line AT805. Cartilage-generated matrix components chondromodulin-I (ChM-I) synergistically stimulates growth and differentiation of chondrocytes in the presence or absence of FGF-2. In contrast, ChM-I inhibits the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells and tube formation, thereby further stimulating cartilage growth and inhibiting replacing cartilage by bone in an early stage. Another cartilage-derived chondromodulin-II (ChM-II) also stimulates cartilage growth. However, ChM-II does not inhibit vascularization but stimulates osteoclast differentiation. Therefore, endochondral bone formation is regulated sequentially by cartilage-derived multiple autocrine factors. This opens a new mechanism of regulation of endochondral bone formation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Matrilin-4, a new member of the matrilin family of extracellular matrix proteins.

Mouse cDNA encoding for matrilin-4 was cloned and the primary structure of this fourth member of the matrilin family was deduced from the nucleotide sequence. The protein precursor of 624 amino acids consists of a putative signal peptide, two vWFA-like domains linked by four epidermal growth factor-like modules and a potential coiled-coil alpha-helical oligomerization domain at the C-terminus. The predicted Mr of the mature protein is 66 442. Expression in lung, brain, sternum, kidney and heart was detected by Northern blot analysis of mouse mRNA. Additionally an alternatively spliced mRNA lacking the sequence coding for the first vWFA domain was found in 7 weeks old mice leading to a protein precursor of 434 amino acids and a predicted Mr of the mature protein of 45468.

Alternative Splicing↗

Mice lacking matrilin-1 (cartilage matrix protein) have alterations in type II collagen fibrillogenesis and fibril organization.

Matrilin-1 (cartilage matrix protein) is a homotrimeric protein that forms collagen-dependent and collagen-independent fibrils in the extracellular matrix of cartilage. In the growth plate of developing long bones, the gene for matrilin-1 is transcribed exclusively by the chondrocytes of the zone of maturation which is situated between the zones of proliferation and hypertrophy. When associated with the cartilage collagen fibril, which consists of collagens type II, IX, and XI, matrilin-1 displays a periodicity of 59.3 nm. Matrilin-1 also interacts with the proteoglycan, aggrecan. Because of its association with the collagen fibril, we tested the hypothesis that matrilin-1 may play a role in collagen fibril formation and cartilage matrix assembly by generating mice with targeted mutations in the matrilin-1 gene. Ultrastructural studies of the cartilage of growth plates of matrilin-1 null mice reveal an abnormal type II collagen fibrillogenesis and fibril organization in the matrix of the zone of maturation. These results represent the first report on the regulation of the heterotypic type II collagen fibril by a non-collagenous protein. The abnormal fibrillogenesis had no obvious effects on skeletal development, on the organization of chondrocytes in the growth plate and on the deposition of aggrecan and the hypertrophic-specific type X collagen in the cartilaginous matrix.

Animals↗

Modeling of a five-stranded coiled coil structure for the assembly domain of the cartilage oligomeric matrix protein.

The three-dimensional structure of the assembly domain of the cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) has been modeled. The model demonstrates a parallel five-stranded coiled coil and fits well with a large amount of experimental data that describe the oligomerization state, the alpha-helical conformation, the helix directionality and the properties of the (abcdefg)n repeat sequence containing apolar residues at (a) and (d) positions. Comparison of the pentamer model with the known dimer, trimer, and tetramer coiled coils revealed interactions that could mediate the switch to the formation of the pentamer coiled coil. The most distinctive feature of the pentamer model involves ion pair interactions. Charged side chains of the pentamer can form (f-g), (f-b'), and (e-c') interhelical ion pairs, which are neither experimentally observed nor modeled in the di-, tri-, and tetramers. A polar glutamine residue could be adopted at an interior (d) position of the modeled structure due to the formation of a symmetrical network of buried hydrogen bonds between five such glutamines. The pentamer model contains an axial cavity that can accept water molecules. Conformational analysis was carried out in an attempt to determine the three-dimensional structure of the disulfide bonded C-terminal region of the pentamer. Recent data on crystallization of the COMP assembly domain (Efimov et al., Proteins 24:259-262, 1996) indicate that the prediction can be tested experimentally in the near future.

Cartilage↗

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic study of the pentamerizing domain from cartilage oligomeric matrix protein: a five-stranded alpha-helical bundle.

Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is a pentameric glycoprotein of the thrombospondin family found in cartilage and tendon. Self-association of COMP is achieved through the formation of a five-stranded alpha-helical bundle that involves 64 N-terminal residues (from 20 to 83). The complex is further stabilized by the interchain disulfide bonds between cysteines 68 and 71. We have prepared, by expression in Escherichia coli, several peptides of different lengths from the N-terminal region of COMP and studied their amenability to crystallization. Crystals of the best quality were obtained with a peptide spanning COMP residues 28-72. This peptide forms disulfide linked pentamers with 87% of alpha-helical structure. Crystals were grown by the hanging drop vapor diffusion method, using polyethylene glycol 1500 as a precipitant. The crystals belong to space group P2(1) with unit cell dimensions a = 38.47 angstroms, b = 49.47 angstroms, c = 54.98 angstroms, beta = 103.84 degrees and contain one pentamer per asymmetric unit. They diffract strongly to at least 1.8 angstrom resolution.

Cartilage↗

Increased serum levels of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein in chronic erosive arthritis in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the utility of serum cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) for disease monitoring in rats with chronic pristane-induced arthritis, and to examine the influence of age, sex, and genes on COMP concentrations in rat serum. METHODS: Serum COMP levels were quantified by immunoassay. Sera were obtained from DA, E3, and (E3 x DA)F1 rats each week between the ages of 4 and 30 weeks. The (E3 x DA)F2 (second generation after intercrossing) rats were injected intradermally with the synthetic oil pristane. Arthritis was monitored by a macroscopic scoring system, and serum levels of COMP were measured on days 6, 35, and 49 after immunization. RESULTS: Serum levels of COMP decreased during growth, and reached a plateau after the age of 12 weeks. The DA rats had higher COMP levels than the E3 rats, and the (E3 x DA)F1 rats had intermediate levels. No differences were observed in these levels when the rats were grouped by sex. Arthritic (E3 x DA)F2 rats had increased serum concentrations of COMP on days 35 and 49 after pristane injection (P < 0.0001 versus the nonarthritic animals). COMP levels correlated with the severity of macroscopically detectable arthritis at both time points (r > 0.9). Rats with a chronic disease course were distinguished by higher serum concentrations of COMP during the acute stage than animals with similar clinical scores but with resolving arthritis (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Serum analyses of COMP offer promise for monitoring tissue involvement in experimental arthritis. Such analyses should be useful for monitoring therapeutic interventions aimed at retarding tissue destruction as well as for studies of the genetically determined regulation of COMP turnover and susceptibility to arthritis. The application of molecular marker measurements to experimental arthritis offers a new possibility for verifying the utility of such measurements in human arthritis.

Animals↗