Immunoferritin binding to proteoglycan monomers. An electron microscopic study

Structure and interactions of aggrecans: statistical thermodynamic approach

Weak polyelectrolytes tethered to cylindrical surfaces are investigated using a molecular theory. These polymers form a model system to describe the properties of aggrecan molecules, which is one of the main components of cartilage. We have studied the structural and thermodynamical properties of two interacting aggrecans with a molecular density functional theory that incorporates the acid-base equilibrium as well as the molecular properties: including conformations, size, shape, and charge distribution of all molecular species. The effect of acidity and salt concentration on the behavior is explored in detail. The repulsive interactions between two cylindrical-shaped aggrecans are strongly influenced by both the salt concentration and the pH. With increasing acidity, the polyelectrolytes of the aggrecan acquire charge and with decreasing salt concentration those charges become less screened. Consequently the interactions increase in size and range with increasing acidity and decreasing salt concentration. The size and range of the forces offers a possible explanation to the aggregation behavior of aggrecans and for their ability to resist compressive forces in cartilage. Likewise, the interdigitation of two aggrecan molecules is strongly affected by the salt concentration as well as the pH. With increasing pH, the number of charges increases, causing the repulsions between the polymers to increase, leading to a lower interdigitation of the two cylindrical polymer layers of the aggrecan molecules. The low interdigitation in charged polyelectrolytes layers provides an explanation for the good lubrication properties of polyelectrolyte layers in general and cartilage in particular.

Aggrecan structure in amphibian cartilage

The structure of the large proteoglycan present in the bullfrog epiphyseal cartilage was studied by immunochemical and biochemical methods. The isolated monomer showed a polydisperse behavior on Sepharose CL2B, with a peak at Kav = 0.14. Chondroitin sulfate chains were identified by HPLC analysis of the products formed by chondroitinase digestion and mercuric acetate treatment. These chains have approximately 38 disaccharides, a Di45:Di68 ratio of 1.6 and GalNAc4S + GalNAc4,6S are the main non-reducing terminals. Keratan sulfate was identified by the use of two monoclonal antibodies in Western blots after chondroitinase ABC treatment. A keratan sulfate-rich region (approximately 110 kDa) was isolated by sequential treatment with chondroitinase ABC and proteases. We also employed antibodies in Western blotting experiments and showed that the full length deglycosylated core protein is about 300 kDa after SDS-PAGE. Domain-specific antibodies revealed the presence of immunoreactive sites corresponding to G1/G2 and G3 globular domains and the characterization of this large proteoglycan as aggrecan. The results indicate the high conservation of the aggrecan domain structure in this lower vertebrate.

Age-related changes in cartilage proteoglycans: quantitative electron microscopic studies

Biochemical and biophysical studies have shown that the composition and sedimentation velocity of cartilage proteoglycans change with age, but these investigations cannot demonstrate the alterations in molecular structure responsible for these changes. Development of quantitative electron microscopic methods has made it possible to define the age-related structural changes in aggregating proteoglycans and to correlate the alterations in their structure with changes in tissue composition and morphology. Electron microscopic measurement of human and animal hyaline cartilage proteoglycans has shown that with increasing age the length of the chondroitin sulfate-rich region of aggregating proteoglycan monomers (aggrecan molecules) decreases, the variability in aggrecan length increases, the density of aggrecan keratan sulfate chains increases, the number of monomers per aggregate decreases, and the proportion of monomers that aggregate declines. Proteoglycans from the nucleus pulposus of the intervertebral disc show similar but more dramatic age-related alterations. At birth, nucleus pulposus aggrecan molecules are smaller and more variable in length than those found in articular cartilage. Within the first year of human life, the populations of aggregates and large aggrecan molecules analogous to those found in articular cartilage decline until few if any of these molecules remain in the central disc tissues of skeletally mature individuals. The mechanisms of the age-related changes in cartilage proteoglycans have not been fully explained, but measurement of proteoglycans synthesized by chondrocytes of different ages suggests that alterations in synthesis produce at least some of the age-related changes in aggrecan molecules. Degradation of aggrecan chondroitin sulfate-rich regions in the matrix probably also contributes to the structural changes seen by electron microscopy. Age-related changes in proteoglycan aggregation may be due to alterations in link protein function or inhibition of aggregation of newly synthesized aggrecan molecules by accumulation of degraded aggrecan molecules.

Electron microscopic studies of cartilage proteoglycans

Proteoglycans, molecules consisting of glycosaminoglycan chains bound to protein, form a significant part of the cartilage extracellular matrix. Biochemical and biophysical methods describe the average composition and physical properties of these polydispense molecules. Electron microscopy reveals the structure and dimensions of individual proteoglycans. Examination of individual molecules can confirm or challenge concepts of their structure developed from studies of their chemical composition and physical properties, and may suggest new directions for biochemical investigation. Electron microscopy has confirmed that cartilage proteoglycans exist on two levels of organization: monomers consisting of central protein core filaments with attached glycosaminoglycan chains and aggregates consisting of central hyaluronate filaments with multiple attached monomers. Most aggregated monomers have a thin segment which attaches to the hyaluronate filament and probably represents primarily the keratan sulfate rich region of the protein core, and a peripheral thick segment that represents the chondroitin sulfate rich region and in some monomers part of the keratan sulfate rich region. Proteoglycans vary considerably in size, charge and composition. Direct visualization of proteoglycan aggregates and nonaggregated monomers has helped explain the structural basis of this polydispensity. Monomers vary in protein core length, number of glycosaminoglycan chains and length of the glycosaminoglycan chains. Aggregates vary in hyaluronate filament length, spacing between monomers, number of monomers per aggregate, and aggregated monomer length. In most populations of aggregates, from most tissues, variability in the number of monomers per aggregate produces most of the difference in aggregate size. Link proteins, small proteins that bind to monomers and hyaluronate, help determine aggregate size and the proportion of monomers that aggregate. Experiments in vitro show that link protein can increase aggregate size four fold, make the spacing between aggregated monomers more regular and increase the proportion of monomers that aggregate ten fold. With increasing age, cartilage proteoglycan monomers become shorter, more variable in length, have shorter chondroitin sulfate chain clusters and have a shorter thin segment which may result from an increase in keratan sulfate content. Study of monomers newly synthesized by calf and steer chondrocytes suggests that the age related changes in monomer structure result largely from changes in proteoglycan synthesis or intracellular processing. Aggregates also change with age. They become shorter, have fewer monomers per aggregate and have shorter aggregated monomers. In addition, the proportion of monomers that aggregate decreases. These age related changes in proteoglycan aggregation may result from a decreasing concentration of functional link protein or from accumulation of fragments of the protein core containing the hyaluronic acid binding region.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Structural changes in reassembled growth plate aggregates

To investigate possible structural changes in reassembled proteoglycan aggregates during cartilage mineralization, we examined the molecular architecture and dimensions of growth plate proteoglycan aggregates by electron microscopy. The ends of fetal bovine femurs and tibias were separated into three regions: the epiphysis; the cartilage growth plate, consisting of the proliferative zone and the unmineralized portion of the hypertrophic zone; and the calcified portion of the hypertrophic zone along with part of the metaphysis. Aggregates from all three regions had the same molecular architecture. They consisted of central hyaluronic filaments with multiple attached monomers. Monomers consisted of two segments: a peripheral thick segment, which represents primarily the chondroitin sulfate-rich region, and a thin segment attached directly to the hyaluronic acid filament. The length of aggregated monomers did not differ between the growth plate cartilage and the metaphysis, nor did the lengths of the thin and thick segments, indicating that the chondroitin sulfate-rich region of aggregated monomers is not degraded during cartilage mineralization. Between the growth plate cartilage and the metaphysis, aggregates became shorter and had fewer monomers and wider spacing between monomers. These structural alterations in proteoglycan aggregates may be one of the events that prepares the matrix for mineralization.

Age-related changes in articular cartilage proteoglycans: electron microscopic studies

Biochemical and biophysical studies have demonstrated that proteoglycan monomers from immature and adult articular cartilage differ in composition and size. To investigate the structural basis of age-related differences in articular cartilage proteoglycan monomers and aggregates, we isolated and purified high buoyant density proteoglycans from the articular cartilages of 2- to 3-month-old calves and 18-month-old steers. The molecular architecture and dimensions of the proteoglycans were examined using the electron microscope monolayer method. Aggregated and nonaggregated monomers from calf cartilage were longer and less variable in length than the corresponding monomers from steer articular cartilage. Calf monomer lengths had unimodal frequency distributions whereas nonaggregated steer monomer lengths had a bimodal distribution. These observations were confirmed by acrylamide-agarose electrophoresis, which demonstrated that the samples contained only one species of proteoglycan monomer in calf but two species in steer. In addition, calf aggregated monomers had longer thin segments indicating that calf and steer monomers differed in structure as well as in size. Steer proteoglycan aggregates were shorter and had fewer monomers than those from calf. These observations demonstrate the existence of significant age-related structural differences in articular cartilage proteoglycans and form the basis for future study of the mechanisms responsible for these differences.

Staining of proteoglycans in mouse lung alveoli. I. Ultrastructural localization of anionic sites

In order to contrast anionic sites in mouse lung alveoli, two staining procedures were applied: (a) staining with Ruthenium Red and Alcian Blue and (b) staining with Cuprolinic Blue in a critical electrolyte concentration method. The Ruthenium Red-Alcian Blue staining procedure revealed electron-dense granules in the alveolar basement membrane. The granules were closely associated with the epithelial cell membrane and continued to stain even when the procedure was carried out at a low pH, indicating the presence of sulphate groups in the granules. After staining with Cuprolinic Blue, electron-dense filaments, also closely associated with the cell membrane, became visible in the basement membrane of type I epithelial cells. Their length depended on the MgCl2 concentration used during staining. At 0.4 M MgCl2, the length was mostly within the range 100-180 nm. Using a modified Cuprolinic Blue method, the appearance of the filaments closely resembled that of spread proteoglycan monomers with their side-chains condensed. The basement membrane of type II epithelial cells also contained filaments positive towards Cuprolinic Blue; their length, however, was smaller in comparison with those of type I epithelial cells. The filaments lay in one plane and provided the whole alveolus with an almost continuous sheet of anionic sites. Cuprolinic Blue staining also revealed filaments in the basement membrane of the capillary endothelial cells. Furthermore, Cuprolinic Blue-positive filaments (average length about 40 nm) became apparent in close contact with collagen fibrils and separated from each other according to the main banding period of the collagen fibrils (about 60 nm), indicating a specific ultrastructural interaction between these two components. Filaments connecting collagen fibrils with each other were also detected.

Structural changes during development in bovine fetal epiphyseal cartilage

Sedimentation coefficients of approximately 150 S show that proteoglycan aggregates from bovine fetal epiphyseal cartilage are exceptionally large. To determine the structural basis for the unusually large size of these proteoglycan aggregates, identify changes in proteoglycan structure with changing developmental age, and provide a basis for demonstrating the structural modifications which may occur in growth plate proteoglycan aggregates during endochondral ossification, we examined the molecular architecture and dimensions of fetal epiphyseal proteoglycans by electron microscopy. The eight bovine epiphyseal cartilages studied ranged in fetal age from 168 to 241 days. Proteoglycans were extracted in 4 M guanidinium hydrochloride containing protease inhibitors and isolated by equilibrium density gradient centrifugation under associative and dissociative conditions. Electron micrographs were made from monolayer preparations of proteoglycan-cytochrome c mixtures on nitrocellulose support films. The overall molecular architecture of the proteoglycan aggregates from fetal epiphyseal cartilages was similar to that of aggregates from other cartilages and showed a single, unbranched central hyaluronic acid filament to which many proteoglycan monomers were attached. However, the dimensions of the fetal proteoglycans differed strikingly from those of proteoglycans from mature cow nasal or immature calf nasal cartilage. Specifically, proteoglycan aggregates from bovine fetal epiphyseal cartilage showed: (a) longer hyaluronic acid central filaments; (b) greater numbers of proteoglycan monomers per aggregate; (c) closer spacing of proteoglycan monomers along the hyaluronic acid central filament; and (d) longer proteoglycan monomer core proteins. Proteoglycan monomers bound to hyaluronate consisted of two segments: (1) a peripheral thick segment, composed of the chondroitin sulfate chains condensed along the peripheral portion of the protein core, which corresponds to the chondroitin sulfate-rich region; and, (2) a central thin segment, devoid of visible glycosaminoglycan chains, which attaches directly to the hyaluronic acid central filament and contains the hyaluronic acid binding region and a portion of the keratan sulfate-rich region. The contribution of the thin segment to total monomer length decreased as total monomer length increased. Thus, in longer monomers the thick segment contributed more to total monomer length and the thin segment contributed less. Both the thin and thick segments of monomers from fetal epiphyseal cartilage were longer than the corresponding segments of calf nasal cartilage and mature bovine nasal cartilage monomers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)