Leukocyte elastase-independent proteolysis of gelatin-bound fibronectin by inflammatory macrophages

Monocyte activation by circulating fibronectin fragments in HIV-1-infected patients

To identify signals that can alter leukocyte function in patients receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), we analyzed single blood samples from 74 HIV-1-infected patients and additional blood was collected at 90-day intervals from 51 HIV-1-infected patients over a 516 +/- 172 (mean +/- SD) day interval. Despite the absence of circulating immune complexes and normalization of phagocytic function, compared with controls, the fraction of patients' monocytes expressing CD49e and CD62L was decreased and expression of CD11b and CD86 increased. Plasma from 63% of patients but none from normal controls contained 110-120 kDa fibronectin fragments (FNf). Presence of FNf did not reflect poor adherence to therapy. Addition of FNf to normal donor blood in vitro replicated changes in monocyte CD49e, CD62L, CD11b, and CD86 seen in vivo. FNf also induced monocytes to release a serine proteinase, nominally identified as proteinase-3, that hydrolyzed cell surface CD49e. alpha(1)-Antitrypsin blocked FNf-induced shedding of CD49e in a dose-dependent manner. Plasma with a normal frequency of CD49e(+) monocytes contained antiproteases that partially blocked FNf-induced monocyte CD49e shedding, whereas plasma from patients with a low frequency of CD49e(+) monocytes did not block this effect of FNf. Electrophoretic analyses of plasma from the latter group of patients suggested that a significant fraction of their alpha(1)-antitrypsin was tied up in high molecular mass complexes. These results suggest that monocyte behavior in HIV-1-infected patients may be influenced by FNf and the ratio of protease and antiproteases in the cells' microenvironment.

Fibronectin-binding peptides. I. Isolation and characterization of two unique fibronectin-binding peptides from gelatin

Gelatin binds to fibronectin with a high affinity although the fibronectin-binding components have not been located. Fibronectin plays an important role in tumor cell metastasis and gelatin may have a profound effect on the metastatic process. In this study, fractionated acid-washed gelatin was cleaved with trypsin and resultant peptides fractionated by fibronectin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. After further purification using size exclusion HPLC and then reverse-phase HPLC, two unique peptides were obtained and sequenced. The binding affinities of these two peptides to fibronectin were evaluated by an ELISA method developed during this study and compared with the gelatin. Both possessed significantly higher binding affinities to fibronectin than gelatin alone.