Altered trabecular bone structure and delayed cartilage degeneration in the knees of collagen VI null mice

Mutation or loss of collagen VI has been linked to a variety of musculoskeletal abnormalities, particularly muscular dystrophies, tissue ossification and/or fibrosis, and hip osteoarthritis. However, the role of collagen VI in bone and cartilage structure and function in the knee is unknown. In this study, we examined the role of collagen VI in the morphology and physical properties of bone and cartilage in the knee joint of Col6a1(-/-) mice by micro-computed tomography (microCT), histology, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning microphotolysis (SCAMP). Col6a1(-/-) mice showed significant differences in trabecular bone structure, with lower bone volume, connectivity density, trabecular number, and trabecular thickness but higher structure model index and trabecular separation compared to Col6a1(+/+) mice. Subchondral bone thickness and mineral content increased significantly with age in Col6a1(+/+) mice, but not in Col6a1(-/-) mice. Col6a1(-/-) mice had lower cartilage degradation scores, but developed early, severe osteophytes compared to Col6a1(+/+) mice. In both groups, cartilage roughness increased with age, but neither the frictional coefficient nor compressive modulus of the cartilage changed with age or genotype, as measured by AFM. Cartilage diffusivity, measured via SCAMP, varied minimally with age or genotype. The absence of type VI collagen has profound effects on knee joint structure and morphometry, yet minimal influences on the physical properties of the cartilage. Together with previous studies showing accelerated hip osteoarthritis in Col6a1(-/-) mice, these findings suggest different roles for collagen VI at different sites in the body, consistent with clinical data.     

Col6a1 Null Mice as a Model to Study Skin Phenotypes in Patients with Collagen VI Related Myopathies: Expression of Classical and Novel Collagen VI Variants during Wound Healing

Patients suffering from collagen VI related myopathies caused by mutations in COL6A1, COL6A2 and COL6A3 often also display skin abnormalities, like formation of keloids or “cigarette paper” scars, dry skin, striae rubrae and keratosis pilaris (follicular keratosis). Here we evaluated if Col6a1 null mice, an established animal model for the muscle changes in collagen VI related myopathies, are also suitable for the study of mechanisms leading to the skin pathology. We performed a comprehensive study of the expression of all six collagen VI chains in unwounded and challenged skin of wild type and Col6a1 null mice. Expression of collagen VI chains is regulated in both skin wounds and bleomycin-induced fibrosis and the collagen VI α3 chain is proteolytically processed in both wild type and Col6a1 null mice. Interestingly, we detected a decreased tensile strength of the skin and an altered collagen fibril and basement membrane architecture in Col6a1 null mice, the latter being features that are also found in collagen VI myopathy patients. Although Col6a1 null mice do not display an overt wound healing defect, these mice are a relevant animal model to study the skin pathology in collagen VI related disease.     

PPARα信号通路激活抵抗高脂和Leptin缺失诱导的肥胖和脂肪肝

脂肪酰基辅酶A氧化酶1(acyl-coenzyme A oxidase 1,Acox1)缺失可通过内源性配体激活过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体α(peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α,PPARα)及其调控的信号通路,从而减轻肥胖基因leptin突变型(ob/ob)小鼠的肥胖和脂肪肝症状,但提高了其肝癌发生率.为进一步研究PPARα信号通路在高脂日粮和leptin缺失诱导的脂肪肝形成过程中的作用,本研究以野生型、Acox1-/-、ob/ob和Acox1Δob/ob小鼠为模型,用正常日粮或60%高脂日粮饲喂10个月.结果显示,正常日粮或高脂日粮饲喂情况下,Acox1-/-和Acox1Δob/ob小鼠的体重、白色脂肪细胞体积、棕色脂肪组织含量及肝脏脂肪含量均分别显著低于WT和ob/ob小鼠.溴化脱氧尿嘧啶核苷(Brdurd)及烯酰辅酶A水合酶(L-PBE)免疫组化染色结果显示Acox1-/-和Acox1Δob/ob小鼠肝脏内肝细胞增殖及L-PBE活性、肝脏重量及其占体重的百分比均显著高于WT和ob/ob小鼠.正常日粮饲喂的WT、Acox1-/-、ob/ob和Acox1Δob/ob小鼠肝癌发生率分别为0%、100%、0%和4%,高脂日粮饲喂后,其肝癌发生率分别为0%、100%、2.9%和100%.Q-PCR结果显示Acox1-/-和Acox1Δob/ob小鼠肝脏内L-PBE、Cyp4a3、Akr1b10、ap2等基因的表达水平显著高于WT和ob/ob小鼠.综上所述,PPARα信号通路激活可以抵抗高脂日粮和leptin缺失诱导的肥胖和脂肪肝,但脂质过氧化反应可能通过Nrf2-Akr1b10信号通路促进了肝癌发生.     

Collagen VI myopathies: From the animal model to the clinical trial

Collagen VI is an ECM protein which forms a prominent microfibrillar network in the endomysium of skeletal muscle. Mutations in the genes coding for the three chains of collagen VI cause skeletal muscle diseases; the severe wasting Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD) normally present at birth, and the milder Bethlem myopathy (BM). The pathogenesis of both collagen VI myopathies was unknown until 2003. Our group, utilizing Col6a1 deficient mice, discovered a latent mitochondrial dysfunction that caused increased apoptosis in muscle cells. These effects could be reverted by incubating Col6a1 null muscle fibres with cyclosporin A (CsA), an inhibitor of the mitochondrial permeability pore; more interestingly, the treatment of Col6a1 null mice with CoA rescued the muscle phenotype in vivo.These findings demonstrated an unexpected collagen VI/mitochondrial connection as the basis for the UCMD and BM pathogenesis and suggested a strategy for a possible pharmacological treatment of the diseases. This was assessed by demonstrating that muscle biopsies from patients with UCMD showed an abnormal mitochondrial depolarization and that treatment with CsA normalized the mitochondrial phenotype.In this study we report the results of an open pilot trial of four UCMD and one BM patients, representing a range of collagen VI deficiency and having mutations in three of the collagen VI genes. As determined in muscle biopsies prior to treatment, all patients displayed mitochondrial dysfunction and muscle fibres showed an increased frequency of apoptosis. When patients were treated for 1 month with a low daily dose of CsA, primary muscle cell cultures of biopsies obtained at the end of the treatment showed a decreased apoptosis and increased immunohistochemical signs of muscle fibre regeneration. These results confirm that the pathogenic mechanism found in Col6a1 deficient mice also plays a crucial role in hereditary muscle diseases in human, and suggest that targeted treatment of these mitochondrial defects in patients with UCMD and BM may be effective in preventing and/or reverting muscle alterations.It is also important to consider that desensitization of the permeability transition pore by CsA occurs independently of calcineurin inhibition; because a CsA derivative that has no immunosuppressive activity appears to be as effective as the parent molecule, long-term trials should be designed to prevent irreversible muscle damages in young patients affected by collagen VI myopathies, without exposing them to infective risks.     

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta-activated kinase 1 mimics and mediates TGF-beta-induced stimulation of type II collagen synthesis in chondrocytes independent of Col2a1 transcription and Smad3 signaling

Transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), and interleukin-1beta activate TGF-beta-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), which lies upstream of the p38 MAPK, JNK, and NF-kappaB pathways. Our knowledge remains incomplete of TAK1 target genes, requirement for cooperative signaling, and capacity for shared or segregated ligand-dependent responses. We show that adenoviral overexpression of TAK1a in articular chondrocytes stimulated type II collagen protein synthesis 3-6-fold and mimicked the response to TGF-beta1 and BMP2. Both factors activated endogenous TAK1 and its activating protein, TAB1, and the collagen response was inhibited by dominant-negative TAK1a. Isoform-specific antibodies to TGF-beta blocked the response to endogenous and exogenous TGF-beta but not the response to TAK1a. Expression of Smad3 did not stimulate type II collagen synthesis or enhance that caused by TGF-beta1 or TAK1a, in contrast to its effects on its endogenous targets, CTGF and plasminogen-activated inhibitor-1. TAK1a, overexpressed alone and immunoprecipitated, phosphorylated MKK6 and stimulated the plasminogen-activated inhibitor-1 promoter following transient transfection; both effects were enhanced by TAB1 coexpression, but type II collagen synthesis was not. Stimulation by TAK1a or TGF-beta did not require increased Col2a1 mRNA, and TAK1 actually reduced Col2a1 mRNA in parallel with the cartilage markers, SRY-type HMG box 9 (Sox9) and aggrecan. Thus, TAK1 increased target gene expression (Col2a1) by translational or posttranslational mechanisms as a Smad3-independent response shared by TGF-beta1 and BMP2.     

脆性X相关蛋白Ⅰ的研究进展

脆性X相关基因I(FXR1)发现于1995年,位于3号染色体3q28。其产物脆性X相关蛋白1(FXR1P)与脆性X智障蛋白1 (FMR1P)、脆性X相关蛋白2(FXR2P)形成一个RNA结合蛋白家族。目前认为这三种蛋白能输送mRNA分子并调控其翻译过程。FXR1的翻译产物(FXR1P)分子中存在两个KH结构域和一个RGG结构域,这两种结构域与FXR1P分子的RNA结合作用有关。FXR1P的表达具有较高的组织特意性,在横纹肌中表达最高。合适的动物模型对于一种蛋白的功能研究具有十分重要的意义,目前,FXR1敲除的各种动物模型如小鼠、斑马鱼、非洲爪蟾的近亲Xenopus tropicalis已经在不同的实验室建立。本文主要介绍了FXR1P的结构特点、功能及其实验动物模型。     

氟中毒及补钙干预大鼠骨骼差异蛋白的分离与鉴定

为从蛋白水平探索钙缓解氟中毒的作用机制,本试验建立氟中毒和补钙干预动物模型进行骨骼差异蛋白的分离鉴定。通过双向凝胶电泳技术(Two-dimensional electrophoresis,2-DE)和基质辅助质量飞行时间质谱技术(MALDI-TOF MS)鉴定骨骼中的差异蛋白质,并通过gene ontology (GO)注释、pathway富集和互作网络对差异蛋白进行分析。结果表明,与对照组(C)相比,在氟中毒组(F)和氟中毒补钙组(F+Ca)中有17种差异性的蛋白,包括Ⅰ型胶原蛋白(Col1a1)、肌动蛋白(Actb)、蛋白质谷氨酰胺转移酶2 (Tgm2)等。这些差异蛋白富集到黏着斑(Focal adhesion)、PI3K-Akt信号通路、AMPK信号通路等38条骨代谢通路。并且这些蛋白的功能主要与细胞骨架、能量代谢、物质转运、离子通道、细胞凋亡有关。因此推测,钙可能通过调控黏着斑、PI3K-Akt、AMPK等信号通路进而缓解氟对骨骼带来的损伤,具体作用机制还需要进一步验证。     

Autophagy induction rescues muscular dystrophy

Collagen VI is an extracellular matrix protein forming a microfibrillar network in the endomysium of skeletal muscles. In humans, mutations in any of the three genes coding for collagen VI cause several skeletal muscle diseases, including Bethlem myopathy (BM) and Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD). Collagen VI null (Col6a1(-/-)) mice display a myopathic phenotype resembling that of BM and UCMD patients. Muscles lacking collagen VI are characterized by the presence of dilated sarcoplasmic reticulum and dysfunctional mitochondria, which triggers apoptosis and leads to muscle wasting. We have found that accumulation of abnormal organelles is due to an impairment of autophagy. Reactivation of the autophagic flux by either nutritional approaches or by pharmacological and genetics tools removes dysfunctional organelles and greatly ameliorates the dystrophic phenotype.     

Autophagy induction rescues muscular dystrophy

Collagen VI is an extracellular matrix protein forming a microfibrillar network in the endomysium of skeletal muscles. In humans, mutations in any of the three genes coding for collagen VI cause several skeletal muscle diseases, including Bethlem myopathy (BM) and Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy (UCMD). Collagen VI null (Col6a1^–/–) mice display a myopathic phenotype resembling that of BM and UCMD patients. Muscles lacking collagen VI are characterized by the presence of dilated sarcoplasmic reticulum and dysfunctional mitochondria, which triggers apoptosis and leads to muscle wasting. We have found that accumulation of abnormal organelles is due to an impairment of autophagy. Reactivation of the autophagic flux by either nutritional approaches or by pharmacological and genetics tools removes dysfunctional organelles and greatly ameliorates the dystrophic phenotype.     

Adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) is a fine-tune regulator of the collagen1:collagen3 balance

Adenosine is a potent endogenous anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive metabolite that is a potent modulator of tissue repair. However, the adenosine A_2A receptor (A_2AR)-mediated promotion of collagen synthesis is detrimental in settings such as scarring and scleroderma. The signaling cascade from A_2AR stimulation to increased collagen production is complex and obscure, not least because cAMP and its downstream molecules PKA and Epac1 have been reported to inhibit collagen production. We therefore examined A_2AR-stimulated signaling for collagen production by normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF). Collagen1 (Col1) and collagen3 (Col3) content after A_2AR activation by CGS21680 was studied by western blotting. Contribution of PKA and Epac was analyzed by the PKA inhibitor PKI and by knockdowns of the PKA-Cα, -Cβ, -Cγ, Epac1, and Epac2. CGS21680 stimulates Col1 expression at significantly lower concentrations than those required to stimulate Col3 expression. A_2AR stimulates Col1 expression by a PKA-dependent mechanism since PKA inhibition or PKA-Cα and -Cβ knockdown prevents A_2AR-mediated Col1 increase. In contrast, A_2AR represses Col3 via PKA but stimulates both Col1 and Col3 via an Epac2-dependent mechanism. A_2AR stimulation with CGS21680 at 0.1 μM increased Col3 expression only upon PKA blockade. A_2AR activation downstream signaling for Col1 and Col3 expression proceeds via two distinct pathways with varying sensitivity to cAMP activation; more highly cAMP-sensitive PKA activation stimulates Col1 expression, and less cAMP-sensitive Epac activation promotes both Col1 and Col3 expression. These observations may explain the dramatic change in Col1:Col3 ratio in hypertrophic and immature scars, where adenosine is present in higher concentrations than in normal skin.     

Autophagy is defective in collagen VI muscular dystrophies, and its reactivation rescues myofiber degeneration

Autophagy is crucial in the turnover of cell components, and clearance of damaged organelles by the autophagic-lysosomal pathway is essential for tissue homeostasis. Defects of this degradative system have a role in various diseases, but little is known about autophagy in muscular dystrophies. We have previously found that muscular dystrophies linked to collagen VI deficiency show dysfunctional mitochondria and spontaneous apoptosis, leading to myofiber degeneration. Here we demonstrate that this persistence of abnormal organelles and apoptosis are caused by defective autophagy. Skeletal muscles of collagen VI-knockout (Col6a1(-/-)) mice had impaired autophagic flux, which matched the lower induction of beclin-1 and BCL-2/adenovirus E1B-interacting protein-3 (Bnip3) and the lack of autophagosomes after starvation. Forced activation of autophagy by genetic, dietary and pharmacological approaches restored myofiber survival and ameliorated the dystrophic phenotype of Col6a1(-/-) mice. Furthermore, muscle biopsies from subjects with Bethlem myopathy or Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy had reduced protein amounts of beclin-1 and Bnip3. These findings indicate that defective activation of the autophagic machinery is pathogenic in some congenital muscular dystrophies.     

Dysfunctional tendon collagen fibrillogenesis in collagen VI null mice

Tendons are composed of fibroblasts and collagen fibrils. The fibrils are organized uniaxially and grouped together into fibers. Collagen VI is a non-fibrillar collagen expressed in developing and adult tendons. Human collagen VI mutations result in muscular dystrophy, joint hyperlaxity and contractures. The purpose of this study is to determine the functional roles of collagen VI in tendon matrix assembly. During tendon development, collagen VI was expressed throughout the extracellular matrix, but enriched around fibroblasts and their processes. To analyze the functional roles of collagen VI a mouse model with a targeted inactivation of Col6a1 gene was utilized. Ultrastructural analysis of Col6a1−/− versus wild type tendons demonstrated disorganized extracellular micro-domains and associated collagen fibers in the Col6a1−/− tendon. In Col6a1−/− tendons, fibril structure and diameter distribution were abnormal compared to wild type controls. The diameter distributions were shifted significantly toward the smaller diameters in Col6a1−/− tendons compared to controls. An analysis of fibril density (number/μm²) demonstrated a ~ 2.5 fold increase in the Col6a1−/− versus wild type tendons. In addition, the fibril arrangement and structure were aberrant in the peri-cellular regions of Col6a1−/− tendons with frequent very large fibrils and twisted fibrils observed restricted to this region. The biomechanical properties were analyzed in mature tendons. A significant decrease in cross-sectional area was observed. The percent relaxation, maximum load, maximum stress, stiffness and modulus were analyzed and Col6a1−/− tendons demonstrated a significant reduction in maximum load and stiffness compared to wild type tendons. An increase in matrix metalloproteinase activity was suggested in the absence of collagen VI. This suggests alterations in tenocyte expression due to disruption of cell-matrix interactions. The changes in expression may result in alterations in the peri-cellular environment. In addition, the absence of collagen VI may alter the sequestering of regulatory molecules such as leucine rich proteoglycans. These changes would result in dysfunctional regulation of tendon fibrillogenesis indirectly mediated by collagen VI.     

Structure and binding properties of collagen type XIV isolated from human placenta

Collagen XIV was isolated from neutral salt extracts of human placenta and purified by several chromatographic steps including affinity binding to heparin. The same procedures also led to the purification of a tissue form of fibronectin. Collagen XIV was demonstrated by partial sequence analysis of its Col1 and Col2 domains and by electron microscopy to be a disulphide-linked molecule with a characteristic cross-shape. The individual chains had a size of approximately 210 kD, which was reduced to approximately 180 kD (domain NC3) after treatment with bacterial collagenase. Specific antibodies mainly to NC3 epitopes were obtained by affinity chromatography and used in tissue and cell analyses by immunoblotting and radioimmunoassays. Two sequences from NC3 were identified on fragments obtained after trypsin cleavage. They were identical to cDNA-derived sequences of undulin, a noncollagenous extracellular matrix protein. This suggests that collagen XIV and undulin may be different splice variants from the same gene. Heparin binding was confirmed in ligand assays with a large basement membrane heparan sulphate proteoglycan. This binding could be inhibited by heparin and heparan sulphate but not by chondroitin sulphate. In addition, collagen XIV bound to the triple helical domain of collagen VI. The interactions with heparin sulphate proteoglycan and collagen VI were not shared by the NC3 domain, or by reduced and alkylated collagen XIV. No or only low binding was observed for collagens I-V, pN- collagens I and III, and several noncollagenous matrix proteins, including laminin, recombinant nidogen, BM-40/osteonectin, plasma and tissue fibronectin, vitronectin, and von Willebrand factor. Insignificant activity was also shown in cell attachment assays with nine established cell lines.