Initiation of chondrogenesis in cultured periotic mesenchyme. Synergistic action of transforming growth factor-beta and fibroblast growth factor.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
D A Frenz
Publications and source records attributed to D A Frenz.
Transforming growth factor beta: does it direct otic capsule formation?
Interactions between the epithelium of the otocyst and surrounding periotic mesenchyme direct the formation of the capsule of the mammalian inner ear. In the present study, we have characterized the temporal-spatial distribution of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) in the epithelial and mesenchymal tissues that compose the inner ear between 10 and 14 days of embryonic development. In addition, using high-density cultures of periotic mesenchyme to model otic capsule formation, we have demonstrated that exogenous TGF-beta 1 can modulate otic chondrogenesis by acting as either an enhancer or a suppressor of this process. Our immunohistochemical and in vitro results suggest a paracrine action for this growth factor in modulation of epithelial-mesenchymal tissue interactions and otic morphogenesis.
Animals↗
Non-chemotactic translocation of phagocytic cells mediated by a fibronectin-related human lymphokine.
A fibronectin (FN)-related human lymphokine, macrophage agglutination factor (MAggF), agglutinates monocytes at femtomolar concentrations. Similar concentrations of MAggF translocate monocytes and neutrophils through artificial extracellular matrices by a non-chemotactic adhesive process not dependent on intracellular metabolism (matrix-driven translocation). As is the case with matrix-driven translocation mediated by other FN, MAggF-mediated translocation depends on interaction of the lymphokine amino-terminal heparin-binding domain with cell surface heparin-like molecules. In contrast, lymphokine-mediated agglutination involves interactions between the MAggF cell-binding domain and integrin FN receptors recognizing the Arg-Gly-Asp sequence. MAggF-mediated translocation and agglutination are also dependent on the lymphokine gelatin-binding domain. The extremely high activity of MAggF in translocating and agglutinating monocytes may result from cooperative interactions between multiple lymphokine domains and multiple classes of cell surface receptor molecules. We suggest that MAggF-mediated matrix-driven translocation could act independently of or in addition to chemotaxis in recruiting monocytes and neutrophils to a tissue site of T cell-mediated inflammation. Subsequent interaction of MAggF and monocyte FN receptor could then detain monocytes there.
Cell Aggregation↗
Latex beads as probes of cell surface-extracellular matrix interactions during chondrogenesis: evidence for a role for amino-terminal heparin-binding domain of fibronectin.
Fibronectin-rich mesenchymal condensations form at sites of incipient chondrogenesis in the developing vertebrate limb, and in cultures of limb bud mesenchyme. We have used 6 microns polystyrene latex beads coated with various substances as probes for adhesive interactions that may mediate the formation of these condensations. Beads coated with heparin, chondroitin sulfate, or poly L-lysine, that were mixed with limb bud mesenchymal cells were centripetally conveyed into fibronectin-rich regions of cell condensation over a period of several days. Beads coated with dextran sulfate remained uniformly dispersed throughout the cultures during the same period. A monoclonal antibody directed against the amino-terminal heparin-binding domain of fibronectin completely inhibited accumulation of heparin-coated beads at condensing foci, but monoclonal antibodies directed against the collagen- or cell-binding domains of fibronectin were not inhibitory. Accumulation of chondroitin sulfate- or poly L-lysine-coated beads at condensing foci was unaffected by the antibody against the fibronectin amino terminus. Peptides with the sequence arg-gly-asp-ser or gly-arg-gly-asp-ser, which inhibit adhesive interactions mediated by the integrin-binding domain of fibronectin, had no effect on conveyance or accumulation of heparin-coated beads, but the peptide with the sequence gly-arg-gly, a repeated motif in the amino-terminal heparin-binding domain was completely inhibitory. These findings indicate that the amino-terminal heparin-binding domain of fibronectin can, within a tissue microenvironment, interact adhesively with heparin-like components on the surfaces of polystyrene beads, and by implication, on mesenchymal cells themselves. This interaction may therefore be a component of the condensation-forming mechanism in chondrogenic mesenchyme.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
The mechanism of precartilage mesenchymal condensation: a major role for interaction of the cell surface with the amino-terminal heparin-binding domain of fibronectin.
Using low magnification Hoffman Modulation Contrast microscopy to rapidly identify precartilage mesenchymal condensations in chick limb bud cultures, we have determined the effect on condensation number of treatments disruptive of the interaction of cell surface components with endogenously produced fibronectin. A monoclonal antibody directed against the amino-terminal heparin-binding domain of fibronectin reduced the number of condensations by more than 50%, as did the oligopeptide gly-arg-gly, which is a repeated motif in that fibronectin domain. In contrast, monoclonal antibodies directed against the collagen- and integrin-binding domains of fibronectin, or oligopeptides containing the fibronectin integrin-recognition sequence arg-gly-asp-ser, had no significant effect on condensation number. Addition of Flavobacterium heparinase to cultures also reduced condensation number by more than 50%. Alcian blue staining of sulfated proteoglycan was greatly reduced in differentiated cultures that had been exposed to treatments that reduced condensation number. Taken together with the accompanying study, which directly demonstrates an adhesive interaction between the amino-terminal domain of extracellular fibronectin and heparin-like molecules on the surfaces of latex bead probes, the data presented here strongly indicate a major role for the corresponding cell-matrix interaction in mediating precartilage condensation in limb mesenchyme.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Abnormal ambient glucose levels inhibit proteoglycan core protein gene expression and reduce proteoglycan accumulation during chondrogenesis: possible mechanism for teratogenic effects of maternal diabetes.
Using a tissue culture system based on a nearly pure population of avian precartilage mesenchymal cells, we have found that ambient glucose levels as little as 50% lower, or 100% higher, than normally present in embryonic sera are deleterious to cartilage development, as measured by the accumulation of highly sulfated proteoglycan and the corresponding cartilage-specific chondroitin sulfate core protein mRNA. Abnormal glucose concentrations in the ranges studied did not selectively influence cell replication, and the effects on chondrogenesis were not due to differences in overall protein synthesis or glucose utilization in the treatment groups. Core protein gene expression was more severely affected than accumulation of extracellular product, suggesting the existence of posttranscriptional compensatory mechanisms. The sensitivity to ambient glucose levels of both expression of the cartilage-specific chondroitin sulfate core protein gene and the accumulation of the corresponding extracellular matrix macromolecules during chondrogenesis suggest a molecular mechanism for the well-known adverse effect of maternal diabetes on embryonic skeletogenesis. The results further suggest that hypoglycemia resulting from stringent control of diabetes may also be deleterious to skeletal development.
Aggrecans↗
Structural changes in the NH2-terminal domain of fibronectin upon interaction with heparin. Relationship to matrix-driven translocation.
The effects of heparin and various related polysaccharides on the circular dichroic spectra of fibronectin and its 31-kDa NH2-terminal tryptic fragment were studied. These effects were evaluated with respect to (i) spectral features of the native proteins that are sensitive to pH denaturation and breaking of disulfide bonds, (ii) sensitivity of spectral changes to Ca2+, and (iii) the fibronectin-dependent interfacial interaction known as "matrix-driven translocation." We found that native heparin causes an attenuation of the positive CD peak at 228 nm with both the intact protein and the fragment, and causes a small but reproducible red shift in the spectrum of the fragment. All of these changes are analogous to spectral changes seen with denaturation or reduction of the proteins. In contrast to the situation with the intact protein, the heparin-induced spectral changes in the fragment were abolished in the presence of 10 mM Ca2+. Desulfation of heparin lessened or destroyed its ability to induce these changes, and carboxymethylated heparin and dextran sulfate induced different kinds of spectral alterations. Fibronectin and heparin determinants required for the induction of the characteristic spectral shift of the NH2-terminal domain corresponded to those required for matrix-driven translocation, suggesting that the associated conformational change in fibronectin plays a role in this biophysical effect.
Affinity Labels↗
Matrix-driven translocation: dependence on interaction of amino-terminal domain of fibronectin with heparin-like surface components of cells or particles.
During the process of matrix-driven translocation, certain types of cells or polystyrene latex beads are transported between compositionally different regions of a collagen matrix. Under appropriate conditions this translocation depends on an interaction between the cell or particle surface and fibronectin. We now show that this interaction takes place at a site located within the first 31 kDa of the amino-terminal end of the fibronectin molecule. Using defined fibronectin fragments and monoclonal antibodies directed against specific fibronectin domains, this site is established as both necessary and sufficient for the promotion of matrix-driven translocation. Competition experiments using heparin, heparan sulfate, and other sulfated polysaccharides show that this fibronectin site interacts with heparin-like cell or particle surface components in promoting matrix-driven translocation. Treatment of cells with heparinase renders them unresponsive to the translocational effect. An antibody directed against the amino-terminal domain of fibronectin completely inhibits matrix-driven translocation without interfering with heparin binding, suggesting that a post-binding conformational change in fibronectin may be required for promotion of the effect.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Matrix-driven translocation: possible role in precartilage mesenchymal condensation.
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Animals↗
Matrix-driven translocation of cells and nonliving particles.
Cells of metazoan organisms produce and react to complex macromolecular microenvironments known as extracellular matrices. Assembly in vitro of native, compositionally nonuniform collagen-fibronectin matrices caused translocation of certain types of cells or polystyrene-latex beads from regions lacking fibronectin into regions containing it. The translocation process was not due to diffusion, convection, or electrostatic distribution effects, but may depend on nonequilibrium phenomena at the interface of contiguous collagen matrices formed in the presence and absence of fibronectin or particles. Extracellular matrix formation alone was sufficient to drive translocation by a biophysical process that may play a role in cellular migration during embryogenesis, as well as in other types of tissue reorganization such as inflammation, wound healing, and tumor invasion.
Animals↗
Pollen counts in the television media.
Allergists routinely supply pollen counts to television stations to assist allergy sufferers and to publicize their medical practices. This investigation examined how widely pollen counts are used in television news programming. The authors telephoned the news director or a meteorologist at 121 broadcast television stations in the nation's 30 largest Designated Market Areas (DMAs). They were asked if pollen counts were included or would be included in news programming during the 1995 pollen season. At least one television station in 28 DMAs included pollen counts in news programming. All five stations in the Washington, DC, DMA aired pollen counts; however, no stations in the Pittsburgh or Milwaukee DMAs carried pollen information. Approximately 49 million television households have access to pollen counts through a broadcast television station. Because these data appear important to television stations and to the public, the authors outline four measures to assure the reliability and meaningfulness of pollen information.
Allergens↗