Specific degradation of the collagen molecule by tadpole collagenolytic enzyme

Current concepts in soft connective tissue wound healing

The strength and integrity of intact soft connective tissues are related to the forces which exist between collagen fibrils and these in turn appear to depend on collagen fibril size, density and architecture en masse. The genetic type of collagen, enzymic modifications to the collagen monomer and the proteoglycan environment all affect fibril size. Current evidence suggests that the restoration of tissue continuity and the early redevelopment of tissue strength following wounding are initially achieved by the formation of a myofibroblast-reticulin network which eventually disappears as the healing wound ages. The extent of this network defines the area in which repair tissue will be laid down and the network is equipped with the sensory apparatus to monitor the physical and chemical environment where healing is taking place and thus to direct the various facets of connective tissue synthesis outlined above. The maturation of the scar connective tissue matrix and the development of attachment between new and original connective tissues are simultaneous, related but independent processes. It takes some time before the weld is achieved by the same forces that hold connective tissue fibres together in intact tissues and the myofibroblast-reticulin network is replaced.

Evidence for production of an inactive collagenase by fibroblasts from phenytoin-enlarged human gingivae

When measured by radioimmunoassay, fibroblasts derived from the overgrown gingivae of phenytoin-treated epileptic individuals synthesize and release elevated amounts of collagenase in vitro, as compared to similar-appearing fibroblasts from normal, non-phenytoin-treated persons. However, it appears that much of the immunoreactive enzyme is unable to degrade reconstituted collagen in culture. This preliminary finding in 9 different strains of cells indicates that reduced collagenase activity by a subpopulation of cells may contribute to the development of phenytoin-induced gingival overgrowth.

The collagenase of Entamoeba histolytica

The present work was designed to investigate the capacity of trophozoites of Entamoeba histolytica to adhere to and digest human collagen types I and III in vitro. The time-course of binding of ameba to both human collagen types I and III was similar. However, the kinetics of detachment were different for each collagen type. Trophozoites of E. histolytica cultured on heat-reconstituted type I collagen gels produced a well-defined area of lysis. Quantitative studies using 14C-labeled collagen revealed that after 24 h of incubation, Entamoeba digested three and a half times more type I than type III collagen, thus suggesting the presence of a collagenase with higher specificity for type I collagen. This activity was optimum with trophozoites harvested after 42 h in culture (1.5 X 10(5) trophozoites/ml). The digestion of type I collagen was a function of the number of trophozoites, and was inhibited by EDTA, L-cysteine, and serum, but not by soybean trypsin inhibitor, phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride, or N-ethylmaleimide (NEM). Electrophoretic analysis of the type I collagen fragments revealed three main classes of polypeptides of 75,000, 50,000, and 25,000 daltons. Subsequent proteolysis of these collagen fragments was probably carried out by other proteases derived from trophozoites. This activity was inhibited with 10 mM NEM. Collagenase activity appeared to be located at the plasma membrane and direct contact of the ameba with the substrate is required for collagen digestion. The results suggest that collagenase activity of E. histolytica may play an important role in tissue invasion.

Role of collagenases in tumor cell invasion

Collagenases are a family of metalloproteinases which may play a role in facilitating tumor cell invasion of the extracellular matrix. Tumor cells traverse two types of extracellular matrix: basement membranes and interstitial stroma, at multiple stages of the metastatic process. The matrix is a dense meshwork of collagen, proteoglycans, elastin and glycoproteins. Normally the matrix does not contain open spaces large enough for cell movement. Therefore numerous investigators have postulated that collagenolytic proteases, secreted by tumor cells or associated host cells, breakdown the extracellular matrix during tumor cell invasion. A large number of animal and human tumors have been shown to contain collagenase at a higher level than corresponding benign tissues. Separate collagenolytic metalloproteinases have been identified which degrade specific types of collagen. A basement membrane collagenolytic protease was shown to be elevated in a series of metastatic murine tumor cells. Immunologic studies using antibodies specific for collagenase have demonstrated that in vivo, tumor cells can produce collagenase. Therefore identification of collagenase in cultured lines of tumor cells is not an artifact of in vitro cultivation. In some cases, tumor cells may induce host cells to produce collagenase. The best evidence to date that collagenases actually play a role in invasion is derived from experiments in which natural collagenase inhibitors block tumor cell invasion of extracellular matrix in vitro.

Substrate specificity of the collagenolytic serine protease from Uca pugilator: studies with noncollagenous substrates

The collagenolytic serine protease (crab protease) isolated from the hepatopancreas of the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, has been investigated with respect to its peptide bond specificity and catalytic properties by using noncollagenous substrates. In contrast to vertebrate collagenases, crab protease is a good general protease capable of degrading a variety of polypeptide and synthetic low molecular weight substrates. Crab protease displays a broad range of specificity, cleaving on the carboxyl-terminal side of residues with both positively and negatively charged side chains as well as hydrophobic side chains. The enzyme appears to favor tyrosyl, phenylalanyl, leucyl, and perhaps lysyl residues and, to a lesser extent, arginyl and glutamyl residues. The rate of cleavage of polypeptide substrates is similar to chymotrypsin but is significantly less than trypsin or chymotrypsin for low molecular weight esterase and amidase substrates. Crab protease is effectively inhibited by chymostatin but not by leupeptin or elastatinal. Several common chloromethyl ketone derivatives of phenylalanine and lysine are also ineffective, although crab protease efficiently cleaves at these residues in polypeptide substrates.

Collagen breakdown by gingival collagenase and elastase

The granule fraction of human polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs), the concentrated product of gingival washing from 2 human volunteers and the culture fluid of samples of human gingiva were incubated with neutral salt soluble collagen from rat skin and the patterns of collagen degradation were studied by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Collagenase from human gingiva cleaved the collagen molecules in a fashion similar to that of the PMN granule fraction. Collagen was also attacked by elastase from human PMNs and, to a lesser extent, by elastase from the gingival washings.

Collagenase in the lower respiratory tract of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

To test the hypothesis that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is mediated through collagenase present in the lower respiratory tract, we used the fiberoptic bronchoscope to obtain fluid from the lower respiratory tract of 24 patients with IPF, 18 controls and nine patients with sarcoidosis. The fluid was analyzed for a variety of enzymes, including collagenase. Fifteen of 21 patients with IPF showed collagenase activity, whereas normal controls and patients with sarcoidosis showed none (P greater than 0.001, for all comparisons). In two patients with IPF who were re-evaluated after eight to 24 months, the collagenase activity was persistent. Fluid from patients with IPF also contained elevated levels of a non-specific neutral protease (P greater than 0.01 compared with controls), but there was no elastase activity in fluid from patients with IPF or from controls. The collagenase found in lavage fluid in IPF cleaved lung collagen into collagenase-specific TCA and TCB fragments. We conclude that in IPF the collagen of the lung is subjected to sustained lysis, followed by disordered resynthesis, and that the presence of active collagenase in the lower respiratory tract is a specific feature of the alveolitis associated with this disease.

Differences in the degradation of native collagen by two microbial collagenases

The early stages of degradation of native collagen by two bacterial collagenases were studied by electron microscopy and by automatic Edman degradation. The purified collagenase from Clostridium histolyticum was shown to cleave native collagen at several sites, but not progressively from the N-terminus, as had been previously suggested. The homogeneous collagenase from Achromobacter iophagus cleaves native collagen preferentially at two sites corresponding to the interbands 33-34 and 41-42. The latter lies within the region cleaved by the eukaryotic collagenases.

[Banded filamentous associates in the intra- and extracellular space in connection with collagen degradation (author's transl)]

Banded fibrous associates are described in the extracellular space of connective tissue from human endometrium, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and of tendon rupture. In the cases of morbus Dupuytren these associates are also found as intracellular inclusions. The banded structures are interpreted as states of an enzymatically induced degradation of collagen in correlation with Type-III collagen.

The Seventh Frederick H. Verhoeff Lecture. Collagenase and collagenase inhibitors

Besides EDTA and cysteine, cystine and penicillamine are the best collagenase inhibitors. The collagenase is produced by the leucocytes. The action mechanism of the collagenase inhibitors is due to the chelation of Zn ions. The best clinical indications for collagenase inhibitors are punctate epithelial keratitis, chemical burns, recurrent corneal erosions in keratoconus, trophic postinfectious ulcerations of the cornea (metaherpetic ulcers), and descemetoceles.

Collagenase studies in bones of guinea pigs

A specific collagenase has been demonstrated in culture fluids of guinea pig bones. Based on the acrylamide gel electrophoretic pattern, the mechanism of action of guinea pig bone collagenase appears similar to other known vertebrate collagenases. 2 peaks of enzymatic activity were found upon assay of fractions from gel chromatography, corresponding to molecular weights in the range of 137,000 daltons and 29,000 daltons. The enzyme is inhibited by cysteine and EDTA. Alpha1-macroglobulin is a much stronger inhibitor of the collagenase than alpha-antitrypsin. Activation studies suggested the presence of a proenzyme to guinea pig bone collagenase that was converted to an active enzyme by proteases present in the culture fluid.

The amino acid sequence of chick skin collagen alpha1-CB7

The amino acid sequence of chick skin collagen alpha1-CB7, the 268 CNBr peptide from the helical portion of the alpha1 chain, has been determined by automatic and manual degradation of tryptic and chymotryptic peptides, and of the COOH-terminal fragment produced by cleavage with animal collagenase. The resulting sequence shows 94% identity with that of the corresponding peptide from calf skin collage (Fietzek, P. P., Rexrodt, F. W., Hopper, K. E., and Kühn, K. (1973), Eur. J. Biochem. 38, 396). The bond cleaved by animal collagenase has been identified as Gly-Ile at residues 221-222 of alpha1-CB7.

Collagenase production by lymphokine-activated macrophages

Macrophages incubated with products (lymphokines) secreted by stimulated spleen cells produced collagenase. Active lymphokines were obtained both from mitogen- and antigen-stimulated lymphocytes. These observations suggest that the degradation of collagen in chronic inflammatory lesions may be caused by macrophage collagenase.

The distribution of collagenase in the rat uterus during postpartum involution. An immunohistochemical study

A monospecific rabbit anti-rat uterus collagenase antibody has been prepared and used to study the distribution of the enzyme in the rat uterus during postpartum involution. Cryostat sections of rat uteri from 24 to 240 hours postpartum were stained by the indirect immunofluorescent method. Nonpregnant rat uterus revelaed positive staining in basement membranes, in endometrial stroma, in perimuscular and in vascular connective tissue. During postpartum involution of the uterus two types of changes in uterine collagenase were observed: (1) variations in the distrubiton of the enzyme, which became selectively localized in the epithelial basement membrane and in the wall of small blood vessels, and (2) variations in the overall intensity of fluorescent staining, which decreased immediately after delivery and slowly increased back to nonpregnant levels in 5 days. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the mechanisms of control of collagenase activity in vivo.

Indoluble collagen II. The use of fluorescein labelled polymeric collagen fibrils in a very sensitive assay procedure for enzymes degrading insoluble collagen

98% of the collagen in mature connective tissue is in the form of insoluble collagen fibers, consisting of bundles of polymeric collagen (PC) fibrils. The enzymes concerned in connective tissue remodeling degrade PC rather than tropocollagen (TC). TC is the most usual substrate for collagenase assays, and we believe it is essential to employ PC in any study of the activity of collagenolytic enzymes. In order to facilitate the study of enzymic degradation of PC we have labelled PC with fluorescein iso-thiocyanate to produce F-PC fibrils, containing 5 fluorescein labelled epilson-NH2 groups of lysine per TC molecule within the PC. The fluorescent F-PC is degraded at the same rate as PC with the release of hydroxyprolyl peptides but has the great advantage that the solubilised F-peptides can be quantitated by their fluorescent emission. The technique is described in detail employing bacterial collagenase and mammalian collagenase preparations to illustrate the methodology. The advantages of the fluorescent technique over the collagenolytic assay methods currently in use are outlined.

Collagenase production by endotoxin-activated macrophages

Peritoneal exudate macrophages, when exposed to bacterial lipopolysaccharide in culture, were found to produce collagenase (EC 3.4.24.3). This enzyme was not detected in extracts of the macrophages or in media from nonstimulated macrophage cultures. Lipidcontaining fractions of the lipopolysaccharide, including a glycolipid from the rough mutant of Salmonella minnesota (R595) and lipid A, were potent stimulators of collagenase production. The lipid-free polysaccharide fraction had no effect. Cycloheximide prevented the production of collagenase by endotoxin-treated macrophages, suggesting that it was newly synthesized.

Cathepsin B1. A lysosomal enzyme that degrades native collagen

1. Experiments were made to determine whether the purified lysosomal proteinases, cathepsins B1 and D, degrade acid-soluble collagen in solution, reconstituted collagen fibrils, insoluble collagen or gelatin. 2. At acid pH values cathepsin B1 released (14)C-labelled peptides from collagen fibrils reconstituted at neutral pH from soluble collagen. The purified enzyme required activation by cysteine and EDTA and was inhibited by 4-chloromercuribenzoate, by the chloromethyl ketones derived from tosyl-lysine and acetyltetra-alanine and by human alpha(2)-macroglobulin. 3. Cathepsin B1 degraded collagen in solution, the pH optimum being pH4.5-5.0. The initial action was cleavage of the non-helical region containing the cross-link; this was seen as a decrease in viscosity with no change in optical rotation. The enzyme also attacked the helical region of collagen by a mechanism different from that of mammalian neutral collagenase. No discrete intermediate products of a specific size were observed in segment-long-spacing crystalloids (measured as native collagen molecules aligned with N-termini together along the long axis) or as separate peaks on gel filtration chromatography. This suggests that once an alpha-chain was attacked it was rapidly degraded to low-molecular-weight peptides. 4. Cathepsin B1 degraded insoluble collagen with a pH optimum below 4; this value is lower than that found for the soluble substrate, and a possible explanation is given. 5. The lysosomal carboxyl proteinase, cathepsin D, had no action on collagen or gelatin at pH3.0. Neither cathepsin B1 nor D cleaved Pz-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-d-Arg. 6. Cathepsin B1 activity was shown to be essential for the degradation of collagen by lysosomal extracts. 7. Cathepsin B1 may provide an alternative route for collagen breakdown in physiological and pathological situations.

A specific collagenase from rabbit fibroblasts in monolayer culture

1. Explants of rabbit skin and synovium in tissue culture secreted a specific collagenase into their culture media. Primary cultures of fibroblast-like cells, which were obtained from these tissues and maintained in culture for up to 14 subculture passages, also secreted high activities of a specific collagenase into serum-free culture medium. Secretion of enzyme activity from the cell monolayer was at constant rate for over 100h and continued for up to 8 days in serum-free culture medium. The enzymic activity released was proportional to the number of cells in the monolayer. 2. The fibroblast collagenase was maximally active between pH7 and 8. At 24 degrees C the collagenase decreased the viscosity of collagen in solution by 60%. The collagen molecule was cleaved into three-quarters and one-quarter length fragments as demonstrated by electron microscopy of segment-long-spacing crystallites (measured as native collagen molecules aligned with N-termini together along the long axis), and by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis of the denatured products. The collagenase hydrolysed insoluble collagen, reconstituted collagen fibrils and gelatin, but had no effect on haemoglobin or Pz-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-d-Arg (where Pz=4-phenylazobenzyloxycarbonyl). 3. The fibroblast collagenase was partially purified by gel filtration and the molecular weight was estimated as 38000. The activity of the partially purified enzyme was stimulated by 4-chloromercuribenzoate, inhibited by EDTA, cysteine, 1,10-phenanthroline and serum, but was unaffected by di-isopropyl phosphorofluoridate, Tos-LysCH(2)Cl and pepstatin. 4. Long-term cell cultures originating from rabbit skin or synovium from rabbits with experimentally induced arthritis also secreted specific collagenase. Human fibroblasts released only very small amounts of collagenase.

Collagen-mediated platelet aggregation. Effects of collagen modification involving the protein and carbohydrate moieties

In an effort to elucidate the nature of the collagen-platelet interaction, the effects of collagen modification on platelet aggregation have been studied. We have shown that purified rat skin (salt) soluble collagen is effective at about 20 nM in mediating platelet aggregation in human platelet-rich plasma. This concentration is somewhat greater than that required of several skin insoluble collagens (ca. 10 nM). Both the alpha1(I) and alpha2 chains from rat skin soluble collagen produced platelet aggregation, but only at concentrations of about 13 muM and 55 muM, respectively. In contrast, heat-denatured collagen and chains (e.g., 65 muM alpha1(I) and 160 muM alpha2) failed to induce platelet aggregation and to inhibit platelet aggregation by native collagen. Glycopeptides were prepared from human skin insoluble collagen by extended digestion with bacterial collagenase and trypsin, and were purified by gel filtration into two classes. One class of higher molecular weight contained sialic acid, glucosamine, galactosamine, fucose, mannose, galactose, and glucose, and the other of lower molecular weight consisted primarily of a mixture of galactose and galactosyl-glucose units O-glycosidically linked to hydroxylysine-containing peptides. We found that, after the residual tryptic activity contaminating the higher molecular weight fraction was inhibited, neither of the glycopeptide classes produced nor inhibited native human skin insoluble collagen-mediated platelet aggregation at the highest concentration examined (ca. 1-2 mg glycopeptide per ml of platelet-rich plasma). Highly purified samples of the hydroxylysyl glycosides, hydroxylysylgalactose and hydroxylysylgalactosylglucose (Hyl-Gal and Hyl-Gal-Glc, respectively), were prepared from human urine and labeled at galactose using galactose oxidase followed by reduction with tritiated borohydride. Binding studies with platelet-rich plasma showed that, at concentrations greater than 50 nM, Hyl-Gal gives apparent binding to platelets, but there was no evidence of Hyl-Gal-Glc binding to platelets at concentrations up to 250 nM. At concentrations several hundredfold higher than the equivalents present in the minimum concentration of rat skin soluble collagen required for platelet aggregation, neither Hyl-Gal (at 29 muM) nor Hyl-Gal-Glc (at 18 muM) caused platelet aggregation or inhibited platelet aggregation by native collagen. Also, at a concentration of 85 muM (which represents a concentration about two thousandfold higher than the equivalents in the minimum concentration of soluble collagen required for platelet aggregation) the Gal-Glc-containing 36 residue rat skin soluble collagen alpha1(I)cyanogen bromide #5 peptide had no platelet aggregating or inhibiting activity. Modification of at least 90% of the rat skin soluble collagen carbohydrate by mild periodate oxidation had no effect on the platelet aggregating activity. Human skin insoluble collagen was reacted with periodate under the same conditions, and this had no demonstrable effect on its ability to induce platelet aggregation. This indicates that the normal carbohydrate side chains of these collagens are not required for the platelet interaction that produces the release of ADP and other metabolic constituents and leads to aggregation.Thus, collagen-platelet interactions appear to involve at least two distinct binding sites on the platelet plasma membrane. One is a protein binding site that activates platelet aggregation and has high specificity and affinity for the collagen triple-helical fold or perhaps even for a particular amino acid sequence in the triple helix.

Role of granulocyte collagenase in collagen degradation

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A transport form of collagen from embryonic tendon: electron microscopic demonstration of an NH 2 -terminal extension and evidence suggesting the presence of cystine in the molecule (chick embryo-tropocollagen-gel filtration)

When cells were isolated from chickembryo tendons and incubated in vitro for 2-6 hr, essentially all the newly-synthesized collagen was recovered from the incubation medium as a transport form larger than tropocollagen. Experiments in which cells were incubated with [(14)C]cystine suggested that the transport form contained cystine and that it was, in part, stabilized by disulfide bonds. Electron microscopy of segment-long-spacing aggregates prepared from the transport form of collagen showed that the native molecule differed from tropocollagen in that it had an extension of about 13 nm (130 A) at the NH(2)-terminal end.