The presence of collagenase in collagen preparations.

The frequently observed instability of neutral salt solutions of native collagen extracted from various sources and partially purified by standard procedures has been studied by disc electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel and by electron microscopic examination of segment long spacing crystallites. The phenomenon has revealed time and temperature dependency, pH optima near neutrality, and inhibition by sodium EDTA and serummin addition, collagen breakdown has been found to be quantitatively related to the state of aggregation of the substrate, being more marked in reconstituted collagen gels than in collagen in solutionma typical pattern of animal collagenase degradation of native collagen into two fragments designated as TC-A and TC-B has been observed under certain conditions. It is concluded that the degradation of native collagen in neutral salt solution is due to a specific collagenase, and that this enzyme probably remains bound to collagen throughout the process of extraction and partial purification. Experiments with gelatin suggest that, in addition to collagenase, a nonspecific proteolytic activity may also be present in collagen preparations.     

The presence of collagenase in collagen preparations

The frequently observed instability of neutral salt solutions of native collagen extracted from various sources and partially purified by standard procedures has been studied by disc electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel and by electron microscopic examination of segment long spacing crystallites. The phenomenon has revealed time and temperature dependency, pH optima near neutrality, and inhibition by sodium EDTA and serum. In addition, collagen breakdown has been found to be quantitatively related to the state of aggregation of the substrate, being more marked in reconstituted collagen gels than in collagen in solution. A typical pattern of animal collagenase degradation of native collagen into two fragments designated as TC^A and TC^B has been observed under certain conditions. It is concluded that the degradation of native collagen in neutral salt solution is due to a specific collagenase, and that this enzyme probably remains bound to collagen throughout the process of extraction and partial purification. Experiments with gelatin suggest that, in addition to collagenase, a nonspecific proteolytic activity may also be present in collagen preparations.     

Isolation of tissue collagenase from homogenates of embryonic chick bones

An enzyme capable of digesting undenatured collagen in solution and in the solid state as reconstituted collagen fibrils at neutral pH was extracted from demineralized embryonic chick bone homogenates in 1.0M NaCl at neutral pH. The enzyme could be dissociated from the small amount of collagen which was also solubilized in 1.0M NaCl by the serial use of Diaflo XM-300 and PM-10 membranes, which procedures also concentrated the enzyme. The enzymatic activity was inhibited by EDTA, cysteine and horse serum, and was enhanced by the addition of heparin.     

Purification of rheumatoid synovial collagenase and its action on soluble and insoluble collagen.

1. The neutral collagenase released into the culture medium by explants of ehrumatoid synovial tissue has been purified by ultrafiltration and column chromatography, utilising Sephadex G-200, Sephadex QAE A-50 and Sephadex G-100 superfine. 2. The final collagenase preparation had a specific activity against thermally reconstituted collagen fibrils of 312 mug collagen degraded min-1 mg enzyme protein-1, representing more than a 1000-fold increase over that of the active culture medium. 3. Electrophoresis in polyacrylamide disc-gels with and without sodium dodecyl sulphate showed the enzyme to migrate as a single protein band. Elution experiments from polyacrylamide gels and chromatography columns have provided no evidence for the existence of more than one collagenase. 4. The molecular weight of the enzyme, as determined by dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, was 33000. 5. Data obtained from sutdies with the ion-exchange resin and from gel electrophoresis in acid and alkaline buffer systems suggested a basically charged enzyme. 6. It did not hydrolyse the synthetic collagen peptide Pz-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-D-Arg and non-specific protease activity was absent. 7. The collagenase attacked undenatured collagen in solution at 25 degrees C resulting in a 58% loss of viscosity and producing the two characteristic products TCA(3/4) and TCB(1/4). 8. At 37 degrees C and pH 8.0 both reconstituted collagen fibrils and gelatin were degraded to peptides of less than 10000 molecular weight. 9. As judged by the release of soluble hydroxyproline peptides and electron microscopic appearances the enzyme degraded human insoluble collagens derived from tendon and soft juxta-articular tissues although rates of attack were less than with reconstituted fibrils. 10. The data suggests that pure rheumatoid synovial collagenase at 37 degrees C and neutral pH can degrade gelatin, reconstituted fibrils and insoluble collagens without the intervention of non-specific proteases. 11. The different susceptibilities of various collagenous substrates to collagenase attack are discussed.     

Extraction of collagenase from the involuting rat uterus.

Collagenase (EC 3.4.24.3) activity can be measured directly in homogenates of the involuting rat uterus. Latent forms of collagenase are activated by a brief exposure to trypsin; trypsin activity is then blocked with soybean trypsin inhibitor. Homogenizing conditions have been developed that permit 90-95% recovery of the total active and latent collagenase activity in a 6000 X g pellet, where it is presumably bound to its collagen substrate. This insoluble activity can then be extracted by heating to 60 degrees C for 4 min in 0.04 M Tris - HCl buffer, pH 7.5, containing 0.1 M CaCl2. Methods are presented for the estimation of the recovery of collagenase in the extracts; this approximates 65-70% of the total. Small amounts of activity can also be extracted from rat liver and kidney. This extraction procedure should be of use in purifying collagenase without culturing the enzyme-producing tissue and in the direct assay of tissue collagenase activity. The activity extracted from rat uterus has been proven to be collagenase by its characteristic pattern of collagen breakdown products on disc electrophoresis and by the split of tropocollagen at interband 41 as shown by electron microscopy of reconstituted fragments. The activity is inhibited by EDTA, and this inhibition is not reversed by calcium or zinc ions.     

Cathepsin B1. A lysosomal enzyme that degrades native collagen

1. Experiments were made to determine whether the purified lysosomal proteinases, cathepsins B1 and D, degrade acid-soluble collagen in solution, reconstituted collagen fibrils, insoluble collagen or gelatin. 2. At acid pH values cathepsin B1 released (14)C-labelled peptides from collagen fibrils reconstituted at neutral pH from soluble collagen. The purified enzyme required activation by cysteine and EDTA and was inhibited by 4-chloromercuribenzoate, by the chloromethyl ketones derived from tosyl-lysine and acetyltetra-alanine and by human alpha(2)-macroglobulin. 3. Cathepsin B1 degraded collagen in solution, the pH optimum being pH4.5-5.0. The initial action was cleavage of the non-helical region containing the cross-link; this was seen as a decrease in viscosity with no change in optical rotation. The enzyme also attacked the helical region of collagen by a mechanism different from that of mammalian neutral collagenase. No discrete intermediate products of a specific size were observed in segment-long-spacing crystalloids (measured as native collagen molecules aligned with N-termini together along the long axis) or as separate peaks on gel filtration chromatography. This suggests that once an alpha-chain was attacked it was rapidly degraded to low-molecular-weight peptides. 4. Cathepsin B1 degraded insoluble collagen with a pH optimum below 4; this value is lower than that found for the soluble substrate, and a possible explanation is given. 5. The lysosomal carboxyl proteinase, cathepsin D, had no action on collagen or gelatin at pH3.0. Neither cathepsin B1 nor D cleaved Pz-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-d-Arg. 6. Cathepsin B1 activity was shown to be essential for the degradation of collagen by lysosomal extracts. 7. Cathepsin B1 may provide an alternative route for collagen breakdown in physiological and pathological situations.     

The release of collagenase as an inactive proenzyme by bone explants in culture

1. A latent collagenase, activated only by limited proteolysis, was found in culture media of mouse bone explants. It could be activated by trypsin or, less efficiently, by chymo-trypsin. Skin explants also released latent collagenase. 2. Bone collagenase attacks native collagen at about neutral pH when it is in solution, in reconstituted fibrils or in insoluble fibres, producing two fragments representing 75 and 25% of the molecule. It requires calcium and is inhibited by EDTA, cysteine or serum. 3. Latent collagenase is not activated by trypsin-activated collagenase but by a distinct unidentified thermolabile agent present in a latent trypsin-activatable state in the culture media, or by purified liver lysosomes between pH5.5 and pH7.4. Trypsin activation decreases the molecular weight of latent collagenase from 105000 to 84000 as determined by gel filtration. 5. The latency of collagenase is unlikely to be due to an enzyme-inhibitor complex. Although some culture media contain a collagenase inhibitor, its presence is not constant and its molecular weight (at least 120000) is not compatible with the decrease in molecular weight accompanying activation; also combinations of collagenase with inhibitor are not reactivated by trypsin. Moreover, the latency remains after gel filtration, or treatment by high dilution, exposure to pH values between 2.5 and 10, or high ionic strength, urea or detergent. 6. It is proposed that latent collagenase represents an inactive precursor of the enzyme, a ;procollagenase', and that the extracellular activity of collagenase is controlled by another protease that activates procollagenase by a limited proteolysis of its molecule.     

Proteinases in human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Purification and characterization of an enzyme which cleaves denatured collagen and a synthetic peptide with a Gly-Ile sequence

Polymorphonuclear leukocytes have been shown to contain proteolytic enzymes which are capable of degrading connective tissue proteins such as native collagen. In this study, proteolytic enzymes were extracted from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and a neutral proteinase was extensively purified and characterized. The activity of this enzyme was monitored by degradation of denatured [ 3H ]proline-labeled type I collagen or by cleavage of a synthetic dinitrophenylated peptide with a Gly-Ile sequence. The enzyme was readily separated from leukocyte collagenase by concanavalin-A--Sepharose affinity chromatography and further purified by QAE-Sephadex ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration on Sephacryl S-200. The purified enzyme had a molecular weight of approximately 105000, its pH optimum was about 7.8, and it was inhibited by Na2EDTA and dithiothreitol, but not by fetal calf serum. The enzyme degraded genetically distinct type I, II, III, IV and V collagens, when in a non-helical form, but not when in native triple-helical conformation. Dansyl-monitored end-group analyses, combined with digestion by carboxypeptidase A, indicated that the enzyme cleaved denaturated type I collagen at Gly-Xaa sequences, in which Xaa can be leucine, isoleucine, valine, phenylalanine, lysine, or methionine. Thus, the purified enzyme referred to here as Gly-Xaa proteinase, is a neutral proteinase, which may be of importance in inflammatory disease processes by degrading further collagen peptides which have been rendered non-helical as a result of collagenase cleavage.     

Purification, characterization and inhibition of human skin collagenase

1. The neutral collagenase released into the culture medium by explants of human skin tissue was purified by ultrafiltration and column chromatography. The final enzyme preparation had a specific activity against thermally reconstituted collagen fibrils of 32mug of collagen degraded/min per mg of enzyme protein, representing a 266-fold increase over that of the culture medium. Electrophoresis in polyacrylamide disc gels showed it to migrate as a single protein band from which enzyme activity could be eluted. Chromatographic and polyacrylamide-gel-elution experiments provided no evidence for the existence of more than one active collagenase. 2. The molecular weight of the enzyme estimated from gel filtration and sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis was approx. 60000. The purified collagenase, having a pH optimum of 7.5-8.5, did not hydrolyse the synthetic collagen peptide 4-phenylazobenzyloxycarbonyl-Pro-Leu-Gly-Pro-d-Arg-OH and had no non-specific proteinase activity when examined against non-collagenous proteins. 3. It attacked undenatured collagen in solution at 25 degrees C, producing the two characteristic products TC(A)((3/4)) and TC(B)((1/4)). Collagen types I, II and III were all cleaved in a similar manner by the enzyme at 25 degrees C, but under similar conditions basement-membrane collagen appeared not to be susceptible to collagenase attack. At 37 degrees C the enzyme attacked gelatin, producing initially three-quarter and one-quarter fragments of the alpha-chains, which were degraded further at a lower rate. As judged by the release of soluble hydroxyproline peptides and electron microscopy, the purified enzyme degraded insoluble collagen derived from human skin at 37 degrees C, but at a rate much lower than that for reconstituted collagen fibrils. 4. Inhibition of the skin collagenase was obtained with EDTA, 1,10-phenanthroline, cysteine, dithiothreitol and sodium aurothiomaleate. Cartilage proteoglycans did not inhibit the enzyme. The serum proteins alpha(2)-macroglobulin and beta(1)-anti-collagenase both inhibited the enzyme, but alpha(1)-anti-trypsin did not. 5. The physicochemical and enzymic properties of the skin enzyme are discussed in relation to those of other human collagenases.     

A modified collagenase assay method based on the use of p-dioxane.

Radioactive collagen synthesized by human skin fibroblasts in monolayer culture was used as a substrate for collagenase. The high specific activity of this substrate (75,000 cpm/μg) and the use of p-dioxane as a precipitant of the undigested collagen permit this enzyme to be assayed with collagen in solution at 35°C and pH 7.5. The dilutions used are sufficient to prevent the collagen molecules from aggregating, thus precluding the use of inhibitors of gel formation which tend to decrease the activity of the enzyme. Using a 1-h incubation, the procedure is reproducible (SD ± 2.3%) and linear over the range from 10 to 100 ng of bacterial collagenase. Vertebrate collagenase activity is also easily measured with this method.     

Purification and physico-chemical properties of collagenase synthesized by a bacterium of the type Acinetobacter sp.]

The Acinetobacter spec collagenase has been almost completely purified. This enzyme is a true collagenase the activity of which is high on collagen. The enzyme is active on insoluble collagen, gelatin and the synthetic Pz-peptide, but has no proteolytic activity on casein or bovine serum-albumin. The collagenase was obtained on a simple medium with gelatin and yeast extract. The enzyme was purified by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation. DEAE cellulose column chromatography, Sephadex G 200 gel-filtration. The molecular weight of the enzyme was found to be 102 000 daltons, and its isoelectric point was found to be 7,7 +/- 0,2. The optimum pH and temperature for insoluble collagen hydrolysis were 7.6 and 37 degrees C, respectively; so, this collagenase corresponds to true collagenase. Hydrolysis of Pz-peptide is activated by Ca2+ and inhibited by metal ions (Cu2+, Fe3+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Hg2+). EDTA and o-phenanthroline induced a very significant reduction in enzyme activity. Iodoacetate and p-CMB induced a slight reduction in enzyme activity only at high concentrations (10-2M). The collagenase is most stable for temperatures less than or equal to 50 degrees C.     

Synthesis and release of procollagenase by cultured fibroblasts.

An inactive collagenase was harvested from both serum-free and serum-supplemented fibroblast monolayer cultures in periods of active collagen synthesis. The latent collagenase did not hydrolyze collagen and did not bind the potent collagenase inhibitor alpha2-macroglobulin. Activation with trypsin imparted to the enzyme the ability to hydrolyze collagen at neutral pH in a typical manner and to form an inhibited complex with alpha2-macroglobulin. The molecular weights, determined by calibrated gel filtration, were 78,000 and 60,000 for the latent and active enzymes, respectively. The data indicate that collagenase is released from the cells in inactive form, as a zymogen.     

Serine proteinase activation of latent human skin collagenase

Latent and active collagenase were demonstrated following direct extraction from normal skin homogenates with 0.1M calcium chloride at 60 degrees C. 83% of the collagenase activity was in latent form and could be maximally activated with trypsin. Partial activation of the latent enzyme could also be demonstrated by incubation of the skin extract without added trypsin. This endogenous activation was inhibited by the addition of soya bean trypsin inhibitor, trasylol, di-isopropylphosphofluoridate and phenylmethanesulphonylfluoride, none of which inhibited collagenase directly. This suggests that the skin extracts contain a collagenase activating enzyme with the inhibition profile of a serine proteinase. A chymotryptic proteinase with a similar inhibition profile was extracted from normal human skin and partially purified. This enzyme activated fibroblast procollagenase derived from tissue culture of normal skin. The procollagenase was also partially activated by plasmin and chymotrypsin. This is the first demonstration of a collagenase activating enzyme in human skin and raises the possibility that collagenase activation by this mechanism may be responsible for collagen degradation in some disease processes.     

Production and properties of two collagenases from bacteria and their application for collagen extraction

Two collagenolytic protease (collagenase) producing bacteria, a Gram positive Bacillus cereus CNA1 and a Gram negative Klebsiella pneumoniae CNL3, were isolated under alkaline and acidic conditions, respectively. The production of collagenase by these two bacteria was optimized. Glycerol was the suitable carbon source for collagenase production by both strains. The optimal initial pH values for collagenase production by CNA1 and CNL3 were 7.5 and 6.0, respectively, and the optimal temperature was 37°C for both strains. The maximum activity of the partially purified collagenase from CNA1 was at pH 7.0 and 45°C. Its pH and thermal stability were in the range of 6-8 and below 40°C, respectively. The maximum activity of the partially purified collagenase from CNL3 was at pH 6.0 and 40°C. Its pH and thermal stability were in the range of 5-7 and below 37°C, respectively. The collagenase from CNL3 was more stable at a low pH compared with that from CNA1. Collagenases from both strains were used to extract collagen from salmon fish skin. The use of collagenases from CNA1 and CNL3 combined with acid treatment yielded a high collagen extraction of 54.6% and 53.0%, of the fish skin dry weight, respectively.     

Possible role and mechanism of action of dissolved calcium in the degradation of bone collagen by lysosomal cathepsins and collagenase.

Equilibrium experiments with bone powder, at pH values ranging from 6.3 to 3.5, show a linear relation between log([Ca2+]/[Ca2+]0) (where [Ca2+]0 = 1 M-Ca2+) and pH, indicating that [Ca2+] could reach levels of 25 mM at pH 5 and 90 mM at pH 4. These elevated Ca2+ concentrations stimulated the lysis of insoluble bone collagen in vitro by purified lysosomes and by mouse bone collagenase, whose activities were additive at acid pH. At neutral pH, the addition of 10-100 mM-CaCl2 did not influence the susceptibility of acid-soluble skin collagen in solution towards bone collagenase, but increased it markedly towards collagen in the fibrillar form. Increasing the [Ca2+] did not influence the susceptibility of collagen to trypsin. Elevated [Ca2+] and a co-operation between lysosomal cysteine proteinases and matrix collagenase could thus participate in the osteoclastic breakdown of bone collagen.     

A latent collagenase from rheumatoid synovial fluid. Purification and partial characterization

1. A latent collagenase (EC 3.4.24.3) has been isolated from rheumatoid synovial fluids and purified by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation and column chromatography, utilising Sephadex G-150, DEAE Sephadex A-50 and Sephadex G-100 superfine grade. 2. The final preparation activated by trypsin (EC 3.4.21.4) had a specific activity against thermally reconstituted collagen fibrils of 259 micrograms collagen degraded/min per mg enzyme protein, representing a nearly 800-fold increase over that of the original rheumatoid synovial fluid. 3. The latent collagenase preparation can be activated by trypsin and to some extent by HgCl2 but not by 3 M NaSCN, 3.5 M NaCl, 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) or p-chloromercuribenzoate. 4. Inhibition studies and the acrylamide gel electrophoretic pattern of collagen degradation products showed that the trypsin-activated enzyme has the essential features of a neutral collagenase. 5. The molecular weights, determined by calibrated gel filtration, were 52 000 and 43 000 for the latent and the activated enzyme, respectively. 6. The nature of the latency of synovial fluid collagenase is discussed.     

Characterization and serum inhibition of neutral collagenase from cultured dog gingival tissue.

1. Explants of dog gingiva, maintained in culture for 9 days in the absence of serum, released a collagenase (EC 3.4.24.3) into the medium. The yield of active enzyme reached a maximum after 5-8 days with concomitant release of collagen degradation products from the explants. 2. The enzyme attacked undenatured collagen in solution at 25 degrees C resulting in a 58% loss of specific viscosity and producing the two characteristic products TCA(3/4) and TCB(1/4). Electron microscopy of segment-long-spacing crystallites of these reaction products showed the cleavage locus of the collagen molecule at interband 40. 3. Optimal enzyme activity was observed over the pH range 7.5-8.5 and a molecular weight of approximately 35,000 was derived from gel filtration studies. EDTA, 1,10-phenanthroline, cysteine and dithiothreitol all inhibited collagenase activity. Proteoglycan derived from porcine and human cartilage did not inhibit the enzyme. 4. The enzyme was inhibited by the dog serum proteins alpha2-macroglobulin and a smaller component of molecular weight approximately 40,000. This small component was purified by column chromatography utilising Sephadex G-200, DEAE A-50, and G-100 (superfine grade). Agarose electrophoresis of the purified component showed it to represent a beta-serum protein. alpha1-Antitrypsin did not inhibit the enzyme. 5. The physiological importance of the natural serum inhibitors and gingival collagenase are discussed in relation to latent enzyme and periodontal disease.     

In vitro refolding process of urea-denatured microbial transglutaminase without pro-peptide sequence

Efficient refolding process of denatured mature microbial transglutaminase (MTG) without pro-peptide sequence was studied in the model system using urea-denatured pure MTG. Recombinant MTG, produced and purified to homogeneity according to the protocol previously reported, was denatured with 8M urea at neutral pH and rapidly diluted using various buffers. Rapid dilution with neutral pH buffers yielded low protein recovery. Reduction of protein concentration in the refolding solution did not improve protein recovery. Rapid dilution with alkaline buffers also yielded low protein recovery. However, dilution with mildly acidic buffers showed quantitative protein recovery with partial enzymatic activity, indicating that recovered protein was still arrested in the partially refolded state. Therefore, we further investigated the efficient refolding procedures of partially refolded MTG formed in the acidic buffers at low temperature (5 degrees C). Although enzymatic activity remained constant at pH 4, its hydrodynamic properties changed drastically during the 2h after the dilution. Titration of partially refolded MTG to pH 6 after 2h of incubation at pH 4.0 improved the enzymatic activity to a level comparable with that of the native enzyme. The same pH titration with incubation shorter than 2h yielded less enzymatic activity. Refolding trials performed at room temperature led to aggregation, with almost half of the activity yield obtained at 5 degrees C. We conclude that rapid dilution of urea denatured MTG under acidic pH at low temperature results in specific conformations that can then be converted to the native state by titration to physiological pH.     

Purification and characterization of a collagenase extracted from rabbit tumours.

A collagenase was purified from homogenates of V2 ascites-cell carcinoma growing in rabbit muscle. (NH4)2SO4 precipitation, ion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatography, and affinity chromatography (by using the CB7 CNBr) cleavage fragment of alpha 1(I) collagen linked to agarose) gave a 268000-fold purification and a sevenfold increase in total enzyme units recovered. The specific activity, defined as mumol of collagen in solution cleaved/h per mg of enzyme at 35 degrees C, WAS 1.74.2. The collagenase had a broad pH optimum from pH7.0 to 9.5, and a mol.wt. of between 33000 and 35000. It was inhibited by dithiothreitol, L-cysteine, D-penicillamine, EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline, and by both rabbit and human serum. 3. Removal of cations by a chelating resin (Chelex 100) produced as inactive enzyme that could be reactiviated by the addition of Ca2+ ions at concentrations as low as 1muM. Other bivalent cations were not effective. 4. The purified collagenase cleaved peptides alpha2 and alpha1-CB7 (denatured polypeptides of collagen) at 37 degrees C at one site only. [alpha1 (I)]2alpha2 and [alpha1(III)]3 collagens in solution were cleaved at the same site approximately five times more rapidly than [alpha1 (II)]3. 5. An inhibitor of the enzyme in the tumour extracts, which was dissociable from the enzyme at the (NH4) 2SO4 precipitation step of purification, had a mol. wt. of between 40000 and 50000 but was distinct from the alpha1 trypsin inhibitor. 6. Studies with zonal density-gradient centrifugation suggested that the enzyme was bound to fibrillar substrate (collagen) extracellularly, but that it was not associated with enzymes originating in cell mitochondria, microsomal preparations or lysosomes.     

Collagenase activity in cultures of rat prostate carcinoma.

A specific collagenase (EC 3.4.24.3) has been found and purified from serum-free culture medium of 11095 epidermoid carcinoma of rat prostate. The molecular weight of this collagenase was estimated at 71 000 and the pH optimum was approx. 7. At 26 degrees C, the collagenase cleaved collagen at a site 3/4 the length from the N-terminus. At 37 degrees C, this collagenase degraded collagen to smaller peptides. The enzyme activity was inhibited by serum, cysteine and EDTA, but not by protease inhibitors. The presence of collagenase in rat tumor tissue suggests that this enzyme might play a significant role in tissue invasion by cancer cells.