Basement membrane-producing tumors as antigenic substrate for the demonstration of anti-basement membrane antibodies.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Timpl.
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We have followed the deposition and maturation of the pericellular matrix of amniotic epithelial cell cultures for up to eight weeks using metabolic labeling and immunoelectron microscopy. This matrix contains mainly collagen type III and fibronectin. Cleavage of the carboxypropeptide occurred after secretion of the procollagen molecules into the medium but was not accompanied by a significant release of the aminopropeptide. The early matrix, as isolated from the cultures by a deoxycholate procedure, contained collagenous proteins predominantly composed of pN alpha 1(III) chains, which still possessed the aminopropeptide, and only little material in the form of alpha 1(III) chains. The relative amount of alpha 1(III) chains increased during subsequent days of culture. Electron microscopy showed two types of structures in the matrix: thin fibrils, ranging from 10 to 30 nm in diameter, with no apparent cross-striation, and 50-500 nm thick bundles composed of filamentous and amorphous material. In the fibrils, immunoferritin electron microscopy showed a regular staining for the aminopropeptide of procollagen type III with a periodicity of 71 nm. These collagenous fibrils did not stain for fibronectin which was found in the bundles. Since most of the aminopropeptide in the matrix appeared covalently linked as pN-collagen, we conclude that the deposition of this intermediate form of procollagen is a general mechanism in collagen type III fibrillogenesis.
Dermatosparaxis is a genetic defect found in humans and animals, which affects the conversion of procollagen to collagen and aminopropeptides . Under cell culture conditions a reduction of the release of aminopropeptides is paralleled by an increased synthesis of collagens type I and III. This fact provides further evidence for a regulatory involvement of aminopropeptides in the biosynthesis of collagen.
Type IV procollagen was isolated from the culture medium of the teratocarcinoma cell line PYS-2 by affinity chromatography on heparin-Sepharose. Immunological studies showed that type IV procollagen is composed of pro-alpha 1(IV) and pro-alpha 2(IV) chains and contains two potential cross-linking sites which are located in the short triple-helical 7S domain and the globular domain NC1 . The 7S domain was also identified as the heparin binding site. Rotary shadowing visualized type IV procollagen as a single triple-helical rod (length 388 nm) with a globule at one end. Some of the procollagen in the medium, however, had formed aggregates by alignment of 2-4 molecules along their 7S domains. After deposition in the cell matrix, non-reducible cross-links between the 7S domains are formed while the globules of two procollagen molecules connect to each other. The latter may require a slight proteolytic processing of the globular domains NC1 . The shape of type IV procollagen and the initial steps in its assembly are compatible with a recently proposed network of type IV collagen molecules in basement membranes. Since both type IV collagen and laminin bind to heparin, the formation of higher ordered structures by interaction of both proteins with heparan-sulfate proteoglycan may occur in situ.
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Purified antibodies against type IV collagen and laminin were used ot localize basement membranes by indirect immunofluorescence in various anatomical regions of normal and diseased human skin. The two proteins showed extensive codistribution. A continuous linear staining was found along the epidermal-dermal junction and around hair follicles, sebaceous gland acini and small capillaries. The same proteins also surrounded individual cells such as those found in vessels, hair erector muscles and subcutaneous tissue. Blister formation in bullous pemphigoi left type IV collagen and laminin on the floor of the blister, while the bullous pemphigoid antigen as detected by human autoantibodies was found on both sides of the blister. In solid basal cell carcinoma a strong staining was found around all tumour islands as well as focally within the cell clusters. This suggests that the tumour cells produce these basement membrane proteins but have lost, at least in part, control of polar deposition.
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The distribution of laminin, type IV collagen, and fibronectin was investigated in the rat kidney cortex by immunolabeling. It was demonstrated by immunofluorescence on both unfixed cryostat sections and fixed ultracryomicrotome sections, by immunoperoxidase on fixed cryostat sections, and by immunoferritin on isolated glomerular basement membranes (GBM). This multifaceted approach provided complementary and convergent results. Distinct patterns were found for each antigen in the glomerulus and remaining kidney cortex. Laminin was localized predominantly in the GBM, where it was concentrated in the laminae rarae. Staining also occurred to a lesser extent in the mesangial matrix. Type IV collagen was evenly distributed in the lamina densa of the GBM and in the mesangial matrix. Fibronectin was most abundant in the mesangial matrix, but it could also be detected in the peripheral GBM, where it was localized in the laminae rarae. Labeling for fibronectin was particularly prominent at the endothelial-mesangial interface. The findings indicate that the three layers of the GBM differ in their composition: The lamina densa contains type IV collagen and the laminae rarae contain the two attachment proteins, fibronectin and laminin. The mesangial matrix stains for all three antigens, but it is also heterogeneous and can be subdivided into several domains--i.e., the endothelial-mesangial matrix, which is particularly rich in fibronectin, the intermesangial matrix, which contains mainly type IV collagen and fibronectin, and the GBM (where it continues over the mesangial regions), which stains most heavily for laminin.
The embryonal carcinoma mouse cell line F-9 was used as a convenient model for a quantitative study of the production of the basement membrane proteins laminin and type IV collagen. Both proteins could be identified in the culture medium and cell layer by radioimmuno assays, metabolic labeling and immunofluorescence. More than 95% of the material is secreted into the medium. Lack of ascorbic acid inhibits secretion of type IV collagen but not of laminin. Induction of differentiation into endoderm-like cells by retinoic acid consistently caused after a lag period of 2-3 days a 5-10 fold increase in the production of basement membrane proteins but not of total protein. Dibutyryl cyclic AMP further potentiated this specific effect particularly with respect to type IV collagen synthesis. Insulin, epidermal growth factor and nerve growth factor produced only moderate increases (10-60%) in the amount of laminin and type IV collagen. Effects of these hormones were only observed with certain doses and were quite variable between different experiments.
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Fragment P1 (Mr = 55 000) which is located in the carboxy-terminal portion of the triple-helical segment of the alpha 1(IV) chain was purified from a pepsin digest of a mouse tumor basement membrane. Peptides produced from P1 by cleavage with cyanogen bromide and trypsin were purified and characterised with respect to their size, composition and partial amino acid sequence. Fragment patterns and overlapping sequences allowed the ordering of these peptides within the P1 segment. About 70% of the sequence was determined by Edman degradation. Segments of seven or eight amino acid residues, which lacked the triple-helical sequence Gly-Xaa-Yaa, were found at both ends of fragment P1, explaining the susceptibility of native type IV collagen to pepsin. Two further interruptions of the triple helix were indicated by single deletions of GLy or Yaa positions in the triplet structure (Gly-Xaa-Yaa)n. The two 3-hydroxyproline residues were found in position Xaa and are surrounded by homologous sequences.
A general mechanism for the assembly of procollagens is proposed from a biosynthetic study of procollagen III. This was shown to proceed by a stepwise process punctuated by disulfide bond formation and an assembly intermediate was recovered. The biosynthesis of type III procollagen in excised chick embryo blood vessels was studied by radioactive labeling for 30 min. Velocity sedimentation under denaturing conditions and purified antibodies specific against bovine amino propeptide III were used to identify and characterize monomeric pro alpha 1 III chains and a type III procollagen intermediate which is interchain disulfide-linked only at the carboxyl end but not at the amino end. The monomeric chains presumably have intrachain disulfide bonds within the propeptides. The monomeric pro alpha 1 III chains were also found when alpha, alpha'-dipyridyl was present during incubation. Pulse-chase experiments show that the monomeric chains and the intermediate are biosynthetic precursors of type III procollagen. Furthermore, it is shown that monomeric pro alpha 1 chains are not triple helical when extracted under nondenaturing conditions. The results indicate that the assembly of pro alpha 1 III chains into type III procollagen starts with the association of the folded carboxyl propeptides and is followed by formation of disulfide bonds between carboxyl propeptides, folding of the triple helix, and formation of disulfide bonds between amino propeptides. All procollagens may follow a similar assembly sequence.