Human stomach aldehyde dehydrogenase, ALDH3

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) 3A1 expression by the human keratocyte and its repair phenotypes

Transparency is essential for normal corneal function. Recent studies suggest that corneal cells express high levels of so-called corneal crystallins, such as aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) and transketolase (TKT) that contribute to maintaining cellular transparency. Stromal injury leads to the appearance of repair phenotype keratocytes, the corneal fibroblast and myofibroblast. Previous studies on keratocytes from species such as bovine and rabbit indicate that the transformation from the normal to repair phenotype is accompanied by a loss of corneal crystallin expression, which may be associated with loss of cellular transparency. Here we investigated if a similar loss occurs with human keratocyte repair phenotypes. Human corneal epithelial cells were collected by scraping and keratocytes were isolated by collagenase digestion from cadaveric corneas. The cells were either processed immediately (freshly isolated keratocytes) or were cultured in the presence of 10% fetal bovine serum or transforming growth factor-beta to induce transformation to the corneal fibroblast and myofibroblast phenotypes, respectively. RT-PCR, western blotting and immunolabeling were used to detect mRNA and protein expression of ALDH isozymes and TKT. ALDH enzyme activity was also quantitated and immunolabeling was performed to determine the expression of ALDH3A1 in human corneal tissue sections from normal and diseased corneas. Human corneal keratocytes isolated from three donors expressed ALDH1A1 and ALDH3A1 mRNA, and one donor also expressed ALDH2 and TKT. Corneal epithelial cells expressed ALDH1A1, ALDH2, ALDH3A1 and TKT. Compared to normal keratocytes, corneal fibroblast expression of ALDH3A1 mRNA was reduced by 27% (n=5). ALDH3A1 protein expression as detected by western blotting was markedly reduced in passage zero fibroblasts and undetectable in higher passages (n=3). TKT protein expression was reduced in fibroblasts compared to keratocytes (n=2). ALDH3A1 enzyme activity was not detectable in corneal fibroblasts (n=6) but was readily detected in corneal epithelial cells (0.29+/-0.1U/mg protein, n=4) and keratocytes (0.05+/-0.009U/mg protein, n=7). ALDH3A1 expression was also reduced in corneal fibroblasts and myofibroblasts as determined by immunolabeling of the cells in culture (n=3) and in diseased corneal tissues in situ (n=2). We conclude that expression of the crystallin ALDH3A1 is decreased in repair phenotype human keratocytes, compared to normal human keratocytes. Extrapolating from studies of bovine and rabbit, the reduced expression of ALDH3A1 may contribute to the loss of corneal transparency experienced by human patients after injury and refractive surgeries.

Human aldehyde dehydrogenases: potential pathological, pharmacological, and toxicological impact

Aldehyde dehydrogenases catalyze the pyridine nucleotide-dependent oxidation of aldehydes to acids. Seventeen enzymes are currently viewed as belonging to the human aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily. Summarized herein, insofar as the information is available, are the structural composition, physical properties, tissue distribution, subcellular location, substrate specificity, and cofactor preference of each member of this superfamily. Also summarized are the chromosomal locations and organization of the genes that encode these enzymes and the biological consequences when enzyme activity is lost or substantially diminished. Broadly, aldehyde dehydrogenases can be categorized as critical for normal development and/or physiological homeostasis (1). even when the organism is in a friendly environment or (2). only when the organism finds itself in a hostile environment. The primary, if not sole, evolved raison d'être of first category aldehyde dehydrogenases appears to be to catalyze the biotransformation of a single endobiotic for which they are relatively specific and of which the resultant metabolite is essential to the organism. Most of the human aldehyde dehydrogenases for which the relevant information is available fall into this category. Second category aldehyde dehydrogenases are relatively substrate nonspecific and their evolved raison d'être seems to be to protect the organism from potentially harmful xenobiotics, specifically aldehydes or xenobiotics that give rise to aldehydes, by catalyzing their detoxification. Thus, the lack of a fully functional first category aldehyde dehydrogenase results in a gross pathological phenotype in the absence of any insult, whereas the lack of a functional second category aldehyde dehydrogenase is ordinarily of no consequence with respect to gross phenotype, but is of consequence in that regard when the organism is subjected to a relevant insult.