Society for Pediatric Research presidential address 1995: marrying our medicine to biology.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D H Perlmutter.
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Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency is the most common genetic cause of liver disease in infants and children and is the most common genetic disease for which liver transplantation is indicated. This article presents the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency.
Liver injury in PiZZ alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) deficiency probably results from toxic effects of the abnormal alpha 1-AT molecule accumulating within the ER of liver cells. However, only 12-15% of individuals with this same genotype develops liver disease. Therefore, we predicted that other genetic traits that determine the net intracellular accumulation of the mutant alpha 1-AT molecule would also determine susceptibility to liver disease. To address this prediction, we transduced skin fibroblasts from PiZZ individuals with liver disease or without liver disease with amphotropic recombinant retroviral particles designed for constitutive expression of the mutant alpha 1-AT Z gene. Human skin fibroblasts do not express the endogenous alpha 1-AT gene but presumably express other genes involved in postsynthetic processing of secretory proteins. The results show that expression of human alpha 1-AT gene was conferred on each fibroblast cell line. Compared to the same cell line transduced with the wild-type alpha 1-AT M gene, there was selective intracellular accumulation of the mutant alpha 1-AT Z protein in each case. However, there was a marked delay in degradation of the mutant alpha 1-AT Z protein after it accumulated in the fibroblasts from ZZ individuals with liver disease ("susceptible hosts") as compared to those without liver disease ("protected hosts"). Appropriate disease controls showed that the lag in degradation in susceptible hosts is specific for the combination of PiZZ phenotype and liver disease. Biochemical characteristics of alpha 1-AT Z degradation in the protected hosts were found to be similar to those of a common ER degradation pathway previously described in model experimental cell systems for T-cell receptor alpha subunits and asialoglycoprotein receptor subunits, therefore, raising the possibility that the lag in degradation in the susceptible host is a defect in this common ER degradation pathway. Thus, these data provide evidence that other genetic traits that affect the fate of the abnormal alpha 1-AT Z molecule, at least in part, determine susceptibility to liver disease. These data also validate a system for elucidating the biochemical/genetic characteristics of these traits and for examining the relevance to human disease of pathways for protein degradation in the ER.
Transfection of cDNA for a hepatocyte canalicular phosphoprotein, the rat liver canalicular bile acid transporter/ecto-ATPase/cell CAM 105, confers bile acid efflux and ecto-ATPase activities on heterologous cells (Sippel, C. J., Suchy, F. J., Ananthanarayanan, M., and Perlmutter D. H. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 2083-2091). Our previous studies have also indicated that there is a positive correlation between the degree of phosphorylation of this transporter and its bile acid efflux activity. In this study, we introduced site-specific mutations of amino acid residues within a protein kinase C-dependent (T502A, S503A) and a tyrosine kinase-dependent (Y488F) phosphorylation consensus sequence in the cytoplasmic tail of this transporter in order to map the sites that are phosphorylated in vivo and to examine the functional significance of each. COS cells were transfected with mutant and wild type constructs using the pCDM8 expression vector. Metabolic labeling and cell surface labeling showed that the mutant proteins were synthesized and delivered to the cell surface as efficiently as the wild type. Phosphoamino acid analysis using lysates of transfected cells showed that the T502A, S503A mutant contained [32P]phosphotyrosine, the Y488F mutant contained [32P]phosphoserine, and the wild type contained both 32P-labeled amino acids, proving that Ser503 and Tyr488 are the only amino acids phosphorylated in this system under control conditions. Bile acid transport activity was completely abrogated in cells transfected with the T502A, S503A mutant cDNA and was retained but altered in kinetic characteristics in cells transfected with the Y488F mutant cDNA, even though both of these constructs conferred ecto-ATPase activity to the same extent as the wild type cDNA. Taken together, these data show that the bile acid efflux activity of this transporter requires site-specific phosphorylation of Ser503 and is regulated by site-specific phosphorylation of Tyr488.
We have shown that bile acid efflux and ecto-ATPase activities are two distinct properties of a single rat liver hepatocyte canalicular membrane protein (Sippel, C. J., Suchy, F. J., Ananthanarayanan, M., and Perlmutter, D. H. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 2083-2091). Bile acid efflux in COS cells transfected with this rat hepatocyte canalicular bile acid transport/ectoATPase cDNA is stimulated by ATP and inhibited by nonhydrolyzable ATP analogs. In this study, we depleted transfected COS cells of ATP to examine whether bile acid efflux mediated by this transporter was dependent on ATP or just stimulated by ATP. We also used mutagenesis of an ATPase consensus sequence in the ectoplasmic domain to examine the relationship of ATPase activity to bile acid efflux mediated by the same polypeptide. The results indicate that bile acid transport is abrogated by ATP depletion and reconstituted by exogenous ATP in a concentration-dependent and saturable manner. Introduction of mutations at amino acids Gly97 and Arg98 in the ATPase consensus sequence abrogated ATPase activity but did not affect synthesis or cell surface delivery of the transporter and did not affect its bile acid transport activity. Taken together, the data indicate that bile acid efflux mediated by the rat hepatocyte canalicular bile acid transport/ecto-ATPase protein is dependent on ATP but not on its own ATPase activity. The data, therefore, imply that 1) ATP affects its bile acid transport activity through an entirely distinct mechanism; and 2) if there is any functional relationship between the ecto-ATPase and bile acid transport properties, it is mediated indirectly through regulation of net ATP concentrations in the canalicular space by the ecto-ATPase.
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During the host response to inflammation/tissue injury there are many changes in intermediary metabolism including a dramatic change in the concentrations of many "acute phase" plasma proteins. Although many of these acute phase proteins are predominantly derived from the liver and the response can be elicited from liver cells incubated in tissue culture with cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interferon-gamma, leukemia inhibitory factor, interleukin-11 (IL-11), and oncostatin M, there is now evidence that the response can also be elicited in extrahepatic tissues and cell types. In this study, we show that many of the acute phase plasma proteins are expressed in human intestinal epithelial cell lines Caco2 and T84 and that their expression is induced or regulated by cytokines IL-6, IL-1, interferon, and tumor necrosis factor in a manner characteristic of the acute phase response. In fact, effects of IL-1 and IL-6 which are additive, synergistic, and antagonistic in liver cell lines are also observed in these intestinal epithelial cell lines. Responses to IL-6 and IL-1 are seen at all stages of differentiation of Caco2 cells from crypt-like enterocytes to villus-like enterocytes. Caco2 cells express binding sites for IL-6 at both poles, for IL-1 at the basolateral pole and, to a lesser extent, at the apical pole. T84 cells have IL-1 and IL-6 receptor binding sites only at the basolateral pole. IL-6 and IL-1 also regulate the expression of enterocyte-specific integral membrane proteins as exemplified by down-regulation of sucrase-isomaltase gene expression in response to IL-6. These data raise the possibility that enterocytes are involved in a local response to injury/inflammation at the epithelial surface and establish a model system for examining coordination of the acute phase response in a bipolar cell.
The serpin-enzyme complex (SEC) receptor recognizes a pentapeptide neo-domain of alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT)-elastase complexes and, in so doing, mediates internalization and intracellular catabolism of the macromolecular complex, mediates an increase in synthesis of alpha 1 AT, and elicits neutrophil chemotactic activity. In previous studies we have shown that this pentapeptide domain is highly conserved among members of the serpin family and that binding of a synthetic peptide corresponding to this region (125I-peptide 105Y, SIP-PEVKFNKPFVYLI, based on alpha 1 AT sequence 359-374) to HepG2 cells is blocked by several serpin-enzyme complexes. To determine whether the SEC receptor is the primary HepG2 cell surface binding site for these serpin-enzyme complexes, we examined the capacity for serpin-enzyme complexes to compete with each other for binding to the SEC receptor. The results indicate that binding of 125I-elastase-alpha 1 AT complexes is blocked by thrombin-antithrombin III (ATIII), thrombin-heparin cofactor II, and cathepsin G-alpha 1-antichymotrypsin (alpha 1 ACT) complexes. Moreover, unlabeled elastase-alpha 1 AT complexes compete for binding of 125I-thrombin-ATIII, 125I-thrombin-heparin cofactor II, and 125I-cathepsin G-alpha 1 ACT complexes. Preformed soluble tissue plasminogen activator-plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 complexes also compete for binding of elastase-alpha 1 AT complexes to the SEC receptor but do so to a less effective extent, probably because of a less favorable pentapeptide sequence for binding to the SEC receptor. Under conditions in which these serpin-enzyme complexes would be expected to bind to the SEC receptor there is an increase in synthesis of alpha 1 AT but not in synthesis of ATIII or alpha 1 ACT. Proteolytically modified alpha 1 AT also competes for binding of 125I-elastase-alpha 1 AT complexes to the SEC receptor and vice versa. The purified 51-kDa amino-terminal fragment of alpha 1 AT does not compete for binding of 125I-elastase-alpha 1 AT complexes, indicating that the pentapeptide neodomain in the 4-kDa carboxyl-terminal fragment is sufficient for binding to the SEC receptor.
A approximately 110-kDa glycoprotein purified from canalicular vesicles by bile acid affinity chromatography has been identified as the canalicular bile acid transport protein. Internal amino acid sequence and chemical and immunochemical characteristics of this protein were found to be identical to a rat liver canalicular ecto-ATPase. In order to definitively determine whether these were two activities of a single polypeptide, we examined the possibility that transfection of cDNA for the ecto-ATPase would confer bile acid transport characteristics, as well as ecto-ATPase activity, on heterologous cells. The results show that transfection of the ecto-ATPase cDNA conferred on COS cells de novo synthesis of a approximately 110-kDa polypeptide, as immunoprecipitated by antibody to the purified canalicular bile acid transport protein and conferred on COS cells the capacity to pump out [3H]taurocholate with efflux characteristics comparable with those previously determined in canalicular membrane vesicles (Km = 100 microM; Vmax = 200 pmol/mg of protein/20 s). A truncated ecto-ATPase cDNA, missing the cytoplasmic tail, was targeted correctly to the cell surface but did not confer bile acid transport activity on COS cells. The results of this study also show that the canalicular ecto-ATPase/bile acid transport protein is phosphorylated on its cytoplasmic tail and that its phosphorylation is stimulated by activation of protein kinase C and inhibited by inhibitors of protein kinase C activation. Moreover, inhibition of protein kinase C activation by staurosporine completely abrogates bile acid transport but does not affect ATPase activity. This study, therefore, demonstrates that the rat liver canalicular ecto-ATPase is also a bile acid transport protein, that the capacity to pump out bile acid can be conferred on a heterologous cell by DNA-mediated gene transfer, and that phosphorylation within the cytoplasmic tail of the transporter is essential for bile acid efflux activity but not for ATPase activity.
alpha 1-Antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT) is an acute phase plasma protein predominantly derived from the liver which inhibits neutrophil elastase. Previous studies have suggested that alpha 1-AT is also expressed in human enterocytes because alpha 1-AT mRNA could be detected in human jejunum by RNA blot analysis, and alpha 1-AT synthesis could be detected in a human intestinal adenocarcinoma cell line Caco2, which spontaneously differentiates into villous-like enterocytes in tissue culture. To definitively determine that the alpha 1-AT gene is expressed in human enterocytes in vivo, we examined tissue slices of human jejunum and ileum by in situ hybridization. The results demonstrate specific hybridization to enterocytes from the bases to the tips of the villi. Although there was no hybridization to enterocytes in most of the crypt epithelium, there was intense specific hybridization in one region of the crypt. Double-label immunohistochemical studies showed that alpha 1-AT and lysozyme co-localized to this region, indicating that it represented Paneth cells. Finally, there was a marked increase in hybridization to alpha 1-AT mRNA in villous enterocytes and Paneth cells in Crohn's disease. The results of this study provide definitive evidence that alpha 1-AT is expressed in human jejunal and ileal enterocytes in vivo, and show that alpha 1-AT is also a product of Paneth cells. Together with the results of other studies, these data raise the possibility that alpha 1-AT detected in fecal alpha 1-AT clearance assays for diagnosing protein-losing enteropathies is predominantly derived from sloughed enterocytes.
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alpha 1-Antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT) is plasma glycoprotein that constitutes the principle inhibitor of neutrophil elastase in tissue fluids. It has been considered a prototype for liver-derived acute phase proteins in that its concentration in plasma increases three- to fourfold during the host response to inflammation/tissue injury. However, recent studies have shown that alpha 1 AT is expressed in several types of extrahepatic cells, including mononuclear phagocytes and enterocytes, and that there are distinct transcriptional units used in hepatocytes and at least one extra-hepatic cell type, blood monocytes. In this study, we have used a combination of ribonuclease protection assays, primer elongation analysis, and transcriptional run-on assays to further characterize mechanisms of basal and modulated alpha 1 AT gene expression in hepatocytes, enterocytes, and macrophages. The hepatoma cell line HepG2, intestinal epithelial cell line Caco2, and primary cultures of human peripheral blood monocytes were used as examples of the cell types. The results indicate that there are three macrophage-specific transcriptional initiation sites upstream from a single hepatocyte-specific transcriptional initiation site. Macrophages use these sites during basal and modulated expression. Hepatoma cells use the hepatocyte-specific transcriptional initiation site during basal and modulated expression but also switch on transcription from the upstream macrophage transcriptional initiation sites during modulation by the acute phase mediator interleukin 6 (IL-6). Caco2 cells use the hepatocyte-specific transcriptional initiation site during basal expression. There is a marked increase in the use of this site and an increase in the rate of transcriptional elongation of alpha 1 AT mRNA during differentiation of Caco2 cells from crypt-type to villous-type enterocytes. Caco2 cells also switch on transcription from the upstream macrophage transcriptional initiation sites during modulation by IL-6. These results provide further evidence that there are differences in the mechanisms of constitutive and regulated expression of the alpha 1 AT gene in at least three different cell types, HepG2-derived hepatocytes, Caco2-derived enterocytes and mononuclear phagocytes.
The serpin-enzyme complex (SEC) receptor mediates catabolism of alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT)-elastase complexes and increases in synthesis of alpha 1-AT in cell culture. The SEC receptor recognizes a pentapeptide domain on alpha 1-AT-elastase complexes (alpha 1-AT 370-374), and the same domain in several other serpins, amyloid-beta peptide, substance P, and other tachykinins. Thus, it has also been implicated in the biological properties of these ligands, including the neurotoxic effect of amyloid-beta peptide. In this study, we examined the possibility that the SEC receptor mediates the previously described neutrophil chemotactic activity of alpha 1-AT-elastase complexes, and whether the other ligands for the SEC receptor have neutrophil chemotactic activity. The results show that 125I-peptide 105Y (based on alpha 1-AT 359-374) binds specifically and saturably to human neutrophils, and the characteristics of this binding are almost identical to that of monocytes and hepatoma-derived hepatocytes. Peptide 105Y and amyloid-beta peptide mediate chemotaxis for neutrophils with maximal stimulation at 1-10 nM. Mutant or deleted forms of peptide 105Y, which do not bind to the SEC receptor, have no effect. The neutrophil chemotactic effect of alpha 1-AT-elastase complexes is blocked by antiserum to peptide 105Y and by antiserum to the SEC receptor, but not by control antiserum. Preincubation of neutrophils with peptide 105Y or substance P completely blocks the chemotactic activity of amyloid-beta peptide, but not that of FMLP. These results, therefore, indicate that the SEC receptor can be modulated by homologous desensitization and raise the possibility that pharmacological manipulation of this receptor will modify the local tissue response to inflammation/injury and the neuropathologic reaction of Alzheimer's disease.
During the formation of an inhibitory complex with neutrophil elastase, alpha 1 antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT) undergoes a structural rearrangement and the resulting alpha 1 AT-elastase complex becomes endowed with chemoattractant activities, mediates an increase in synthesis of alpha 1 AT, and is rapidly cleared from the circulation. In previous studies we have provided evidence that these biological activities involve the recognition of a conformation-specific domain in the alpha 1 AT molecule by a cell surface receptor on human hepatoma HepG2 cells and human monocytes. The receptor has been termed the serpin-enzyme complex (SEC) receptor because it also recognizes complex of serpins antithrombin III, alpha 1 anti-chymotrypsin, and C1 inhibitor with their cognate enzymes. Because a pentapeptide domain of alpha 1 AT (amino acids 370-374, Phe-Val-Phe-Leu-Met) is sufficient for binding to the SEC receptor and the sequence of this domain is remarkably similar to those of substance P, several other tachykinins, bombesin, and the amyloid-beta peptide, we have examined the possibility that these other ligands bind to the SEC receptor. The results indicate that substance P, several other tachykinins, and bombesin compete for binding to, and cross-linking of, the SEC receptor. The SEC receptor is distinct from the substance P receptor by several criteria. There is no substance P receptor mRNA in HepG2 cells; the SEC receptor is present in much higher density on receptor-bearing cells and binds its ligands at lower affinity than the substance P receptor; the SEC receptor is much less restricted in the specificity with which it recognizes ligand; ligands for the SEC receptor including peptide 105Y (based on alpha 1 AT sequence 359-374), alpha 1 AT-protease complexes, and bombesin do not compete for binding of substance P to a stable transfected cell line expressing the substance P receptor. Finally, we show here that the amyloid-beta peptide competes for binding to the SEC receptor but does not bind to the substance P receptor, therein raising the possibility that the SEC receptor is involved in certain biological activities, including the recently described neurotrophic and neurotoxic effects ascribed to the amyloid-beta peptide.
The heat shock/stress response is characterized by the induction of several highly evolutionarily conserved proteins during thermal stress, chemical stress, or glucose starvation. It has recently been recognized that members of the stress protein family are synthesized constitutively and subserve functions that are critical to protein folding during intracellular transport. In this study we examined the expression of heat shock/stress proteins in human mononuclear phagocytes, cells dependent on intracellular transport for Ag processing, Ag presentation, generation of reactive oxygen intermediates, and secretion of proinflammatory and antiinflammatory polypeptides. The results indicate that there are distinct patterns in expression of individual members of the highly homologous SP70, SP90, and ubiquitin gene families during different stress states. There is a marked increase in expression of the heat-inducible form of SP70 and SP90 in human monocytes during heat shock. Expression of GRP 78/BiP and GRP 94 increases predominantly during glucose starvation but also increases during heat shock. Ubiquitin gene expression increases during both heat shock and glucose starvation. There is no change in synthesis of the constitutive form of SP 70 or of the ubiquitin activating enzyme E1 during heat shock or glucose starvation. Synthesis of the constitutive form of SP 70 and novel SP 90-like polypeptides increase during endotoxin-mediated inflammatory activation. One intracellular transport process of the mononuclear phagocyte, secretion of specific proinflammatory and antiinflammatory polypeptides, is affected by glucose starvation and by heat shock.
Formation of the covalently stabilized alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT)-neutrophil elastase complex, the archetype of serpin-enzyme complexes, results in a structurally rearranged alpha 1-AT molecule that possesses chemo-attractant activities, mediates an increase in synthesis of alpha 1-AT by mononuclear phagocytes and hepatocytes, and is more rapidly cleared from the circulation than is the native alpha 1-AT molecule. We have recently identified an abundant, high affinity cell surface receptor on human hepatoma HepG2 cells and human monocytes that binds alpha 1-AT-elastase complexes, mediates endocytosis and lysosomal degradation of alpha 1-AT-elastase complexes, and induces an increase in synthesis of alpha 1-AT. We have referred to this receptor as the serpin-enzyme complex, or SEC, receptor because it also recognizes complexes of serpins antithrombin III, alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, and C1 inhibitor with their cognate enzymes. In the current study, we show that a pentapeptide domain in the carboxyl terminal fragment of alpha 1-AT (amino acids 370-374, FVFLM) is sufficient for binding to the SEC receptor. A synthetic analog of this pentapeptide (peptide 105C, FVYLI) blocks binding and internalization of alpha 1-AT-125I-trypsin complexes by HepG2 cells. 125I-Peptide 105C binds specifically and saturably to HepG2 cells, and its binding is blocked by alpha 1-AT-trypsin or alpha 1-AT-elastase complexes. Alterations of this sequence introduced into synthetic peptides (mutations, deletions, or scrambling) demonstrate that binding of the pentapeptide domain is sequence-specific. Comparisons with the sequences of other serpins in the corresponding region indicate that this pentapeptide neodomain is highly conserved.
The net balance of neutrophil elastase and its inhibitor, alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT), is a critical determinant of connective tissue turnover during homeostasis and in disease states. In addition to liver-derived alpha 1-AT, which translocates from blood to tissues, this elastase-alpha 1-AT balance is maintained by expression of alpha 1-AT at the local tissue level in resident mononuclear phagocytes. Our previous studies have shown that this elastase-alpha 1-AT balance is also tightly controlled at a cellular level in that addition of exogenous neutrophil elastase (serpine-type elastase) to cultured mononuclear phagocytes is associated with an increase in expression of the alpha 1-AT gene. Subsequent studies have demonstrated that this novel regulatory loop involves interaction between exogenous neutrophil elastase and endogenous alpha 1-AT inducing a structural rearrangement in the alpha 1-AT molecule and exposing highly conserved conformation-specific domain of alpha 1-AT, which can then be recognized by a specific cell surface receptor, the serpine-enzyme complex receptor. In the following study, we examined the effect of a bacterial metalloelastase, Pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase, on expression of alpha 1-AT in human mononuclear phagocytes. We show that pseudomonas elastase inactivates monocyte-derived alpha 1-AT by limited proteolysis but, in so doing, alpha 1-AT becomes recognized by the serpine-enzyme complex receptor and mediates an increase in de novo synthesis of alpha 1-AT in these cells. However, the concentrations of pseudomonas elastase needed to proteolytically inactivate alpha 1-AT in monocyte culture fluid are higher than those required for inactivation of purified plasma alpha 1-AT.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)