Purification and characterization of a collagenase inhibitor produced by bovine vascular smooth muscle cells

A potent polypeptide inhibitor of mammalian collagenases was purified to homogeneity from medium conditioned by bovine aortic smooth muscle cells maintained in culture. This inhibitor was purified by a series of molecular sieve and heparin-Sepharose chromatographic procedures; it had an apparent Mr of 28,500 and was a major protein secreted by the smooth muscle cells. It was found to be active against several mammalian collagenases including those obtained from rabbit and human fibroblasts and a tumor-specific type IV collagenase. In contrast, it had minimal inhibitory activity for bacterial collagenase and was inactive against the serine proteases plasmin and trypsin. The inhibitor shared many characteristics with tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases including the ability to irreversibly inhibit susceptible proteinases, heat and acid resistance, and sensitivity to trypsin degradation and reduction-alkylation. A polyclonal rabbit antiserum with blocking activity which recognized the Mr 28,500 protein was obtained. This inhibitor, which is likely produced by bovine vascular smooth muscle cells in vivo to protect the collagen matrix of blood vessels, may play an important role in pathological conditions associated with alteration of collagen metabolism in tissues.     

Some properties of latent collagenase from human synovial fluid

Latent collagenase has been isolated in pure form from the rheumatoid synovial fluid. The final preparation, activated by trypsin, yielded a collagenase of specific activity 2,227 units/mg. Electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels revealed a protein doublet of 54 and 50 kDa. Trypsin or HgCl2 activation resulted in disappearance of the doublet and emergence of a new doublet of 47 and 43 kDa. The latent collagenase could also be activated by leucocyte cathepsin G or plasmin. Neither the latent nor the active collagenase from synovial fluid showed any cross-reactivity with the antibodies against leucocyte collagenase. The trypsin activated collagenase degraded collagen type I, II, III giving typical cleavage products but did not degrade type IV and V collagen.     

Identification and partial characterization of an inhibitor of collagenase from rabbit bone

Bone explants from foetal and newborn rabbits synthesize and release a collagenase inhibitor into culture media. Inhibitor production in the early days of culture is followed first by latent collagenase and subsequently active collagenase in the culture media. A reciprocal relationship exists between the amounts of free inhibitor and latent collagenase in culture media, suggesting strongly that the inhibitor is a component of the latent form of the enzyme. Over 90% of the inhibitory activity of culture media is associated with a fraction of apparent mol.wt. 30000 when determined by gel filtration on Ultrogel AcA 44. The inhibitor blocks the action of rabbit collagenase on both reconstituted collagen fibrils and collagen in solution. It inhibits the action of either active collagenase or latent collagenase activated by 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate. Latent collagenase activated by trypsin is usually much less susceptible to inhibition. The activity of the inhibitor is destroyed by heat, by incubation with either trypsin or chymotrypsin and by 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate. Collagenase activity can be recovered from complexes of enzyme (activated with 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate) with free inhibitor by incubation with either trypsin or 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate, at concentrations similar to those that activate latent collagenase from culture media. The rabbit bone inhibitor does not affect the activity of bacterial collagenase, but blocks the action of collagenases not only from a variety of rabbit tissues but also from other mammalian species.     

Collagenase of human skin basal cell epithelioma.

Collagenase of human basal cell epithelioma was purified by sequential ammonium sulfate precipitation, Sephadex gel filtration and affinity chromatography on collagen-polyacrylamide gel. The collagenase, when partially purified, was found to have an approximate molecular weight of 50,000. The purified enzyme contained no caseinolytic activity. On polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the purified enzyme gave a single protein band. The purified collagenase cleaved native acid-soluble guinea pig skin collagen at 37 degrees C with a pH optimum of 8. The enzyme was inhibited by EDTA, cysteine, and human serum but not by soybean trypsin inhibitor. Heparin did not stimulate the enzyme activity. Purified collagenase reduced the specific viscosity of native acid-soluble guinea pig skin collagen to 50 per cent of its original value at 27 degrees C. Polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis of the reaction products showed bands corresponding to alphaA, betaA, and alphaB fragments. Electron microscopic examination of SLS aggregates of the reaction products showed that the cleavage site by the enzyme was at a point 75 per cent from the "A" end (TCA75) and 25 per cent from the "B" end (TCB25) of the collagen molecule.     

Purification of rabbit bone inhibitor of collagenase.

1. Rabbit bones in tissue culture synthesize an inhibitor of collagenase during the first 4 days of culture. 2. The inhibitor was purified by a combination of gel filtration, concanavalin A--Sepharose chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and zinc-chelate affinity chromatography. 3. The purified inhibitor migrated as a single band on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and had a mol.wt. of 28000. 4. The inhibitor blocked the activity of the metalloproteinases collagenase, gelatinase, neutral proteinase III (proteoglycanase), human leucocyte collagenase and gelatinase, but not thermolysin or bacterial collagenase. The serine proteinases plasmin and trypsin were not inhibited. 5. The inhibitor interacted with purified rabbit bone collagenase with 1:1 stoichiometry. 6. The inhibitory activity was lost after incubation for 1 h at 90 degrees C, after treatment with trypsin (250 micrograms/ml) at 37 degrees C for 30 min and after reduction and alkylation.     

Purification and characterization of a serine proteinase inhibitor from human articular cartilage

An inhibitor of serine proteinases from human articular cartilage was purified to homogeneity by sequential ultrafiltration and ion exchange chromatography on CM-Sephadex C-50. The apparent molecular weight of the cationic glycoprotein (pI > 10) was determined to be 16.5 · 10³ by SDS gel electrohoresis. The inhibitor blocked the activity of leukocyte elastase, cathepsin G and trypsin but not leukocyte collagenase. In kinetic studies for the interactions with leukocyte elastase a firm enzyme-inhibitor binding was obtained. Amino acid analyses did not reveal homologies with other serine proteinase inhibitors already purified from human tissues.     

Purification of a metalloproteinase inhibitor from human rheumatoid synovial fluid.

A metalloproteinase inhibitor present in human rheumatoid synovial fluid was purified by a combination of heparin-Sepharose chromatography, concanavalin A-Sepharose chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. The Mr of the purified inhibitor was 28000 by SDS/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis and 30000 by gel filtration. The inhibitor blocked the activity of the metalloproteinases collagenase, gelatinase and proteoglycanase, but not thermolysin or bacterial collagenase. The serine proteinase trypsin was not inhibited. The inhibitory activity was lost after treatment with trypsin (0.5 micrograms/ml) at 37 degrees C for 30 min, 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate (1 mM) at 37 degrees C for 3 h, after incubation for 30 min at 90 degrees C and by reduction and alkylation. These properties suggest that the inhibitor closely resembles the tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases ('TIMP') recently purified from connective-tissue culture medium.     

An irreversible tissue inhibitor of collagenase in human amniotic fluid: Characterization and separation from fibronectin

Soluble fibronectin isolated from human plasma and amniotic fluid by gelatin-Sepharose affinity chromatography was tested for inhibitory activity against specific collagenase secreted by human and rabbit fibroblasts. The fibronectin preparation derived from plasma showed little inhibition, but the one derived from amniotic fluid contained potent inhibitory activity against collagenase. This activity was separated from fibronectin on a DE-52 cellulose column and did not cross-react with antibodies to fibronectin. The inhitor was a glycoprotein that was partially purified from amniotic fluid by concanavalin A-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Inhibition was irreversible and enzyme activity was not recovered after reaction with latent or activated collagenase by either trypsin or organomercurial treatment.     

Purification and characterization of a bone metalloproteinase that degrades gelatin and types IV and V collagen

A third metalloendopeptidase activity, gelatinase, has been completely separated from the collagenase and proteoglycanase activities of rabbit bone culture medium. Although the proteinase could not be purified to homogeneity in large amounts, it was possible to obtain accurate molecular weight values and activity after electrophoresis on non-reduced SDS/polyacrylamide gels. The latent form had an Mr of 65 000 which could be activated with 4-aminophenylmercuric acetate, APMA, to a form of Mr 61 000; under reducing conditions the latent and active forms had Mr of 72 000 and 65 000, respectively. Trypsin was a very poor activator of the latent enzyme. Gelatinase degraded gelatins derived from the interstitial collagens and it also had low activity on native types IV and V collagen and on insoluble elastin. Gelatinase acted synergistically with collagenase in degrading insoluble interstitial collagen. The specific mammalian tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases inhibited gelatinase by forming a stable inactive complex. Comparison of the properties of gelatinase with those of collagenase and proteoglycanase suggest that the three proteinases form a family which together are capable of degrading all the major macromolecules of connective tissue matrices.     

Synthesis of a collagenase inhibitor by smooth muscle cells in culture.

Serum-free medium that was incubated for 24 hours with confluent cultures of smooth muscle cells contains a potent inhibitor of mammalian collagenase but not of bacterial collagenase. Synthesis of this inhibitor by these cultures is blocked by cycloheximide. The inhibitor is sensitive to trypsin but is stable to heating at 60° for 10 minutes and to acid treatment. Reduction with mercaptoethanol followed by alkylation destroys the inhibitory activity. This inhibitor may play a physiological role in the slow turnover of collagen that is observed in the vasculature.     

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.     

Purification and characterization of bovine dental pulp collagenase inhibitor

Root pulps from bovine unerupted wisdom teeth produce a potent collagenase inhibitor together with latent collagenase when cultured in Eagle's minimal essential medium (Biochem. Int. 5, 763, 1982). The inhibitor was purified more than 700-fold from the explant medium using Con A-Sepharose, Ultrogel AcA 44 and DE-52 cellulose columns. It showed a single band (MW = 36,000) on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but showed multiple bands on basic (pH 8.3) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and electrofocusing. The inhibitor is a sialo-glycoprotein containing approx. 20% carbohydrate by weight and its composition suggests that it contains complex-type oligosaccharides. The electrophoretic heterogeneity of the inhibitor was proved to be due to the attachment of different numbers of sialic acid residues. All the SH groups were demonstrated to exist as six disulfide linkages which might be involved in the inhibitory activity. The bovine pulp inhibitor does not combine with collagen. The addition of the inhibitor to activated collagenase resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of the enzyme activity, but the interaction between the inhibitor and activated collagenase is not tight enough for the complex to remain intact during gel filtration column chromatography. A rabbit antiserum was prepared against the inhibitor, and immunoglobulin purified from the antiserum can completely abolish the inhibitory activity of the inhibitor.     

Isolation, purification and properties of a factor from rheumatoid synovial fluid activating the latent forms of collagenolytic enzymes.

1. An activator catalysing specifically conversion of latent forms of human leucocyte collagenase and gelatin-specific protease into the active forms, has been isolated from rheumatoid synovial fluid and purified 55-fold with a yield of 16%. 2. Molecular weight of the activator is about 35 000. 3. The activator is thermolabile, and is irreversibly inactivated at pH below 5.5 or in the presence of low concentrations of trypsin or papain; it is resistant to the action of lysozyme, hyaluronidase, diisopropylfluorophosphate, soybean trypsin inhibitor, p-chloromercuribenzoate, iodoacetamide and dithiothreitol. 4. The activator did not show any activity towards collagen, gelatin, casein, haemoglobin, histones, elastin or p-phenylazobenzyloxycarbonyl-peptide.     

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.     

Synthesis of glycosaminoglycans by human skin fibroblasts cultured on collagen gels.

A comparison has been made of the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans by human skin fibroblasts cultured on plastic or collagen gel substrata. Confluent cultures were incubated with [3H]glucosamine and Na235SO4 for 48h. Radiolabelled glycosaminoglycans were then analysed in the spent media and trypsin extracts from cells on plastic and in the medium, trypsin and collagenase extracts from cells on collagen gels. All enzyme extracts and spent media contained hyaluronic acid, heparan sulphate and dermatan sulphate. Hyaluronic acid was the main 3H-labelled component in media and enzyme extracts from cells on both substrata, although it was distributed mainly to the media fractions. Heparan sulphate was the major [35S]sulphated glycosaminoglycan in trypsin extracts of cells on plastic, and dermatan sulphate was the minor component. In contrast, dermatan sulphate was the principal [35S]sulphated glycosaminoglycan in trypsin and collagenase extracts of cells on collagen gels. The culture substratum also influenced the amounts of [35S]sulphated glycosaminoglycans in media and enzyme extracts. With cells on plastic, the medium contained most of the heparan sulphate (75%) and dermatan sulphate (> 90%), whereas the collagenase extract was the main source of heparan sulphate (60%) and dermatan sulphate (80%) from cells on collagen gels; when cells were grown on collagen, the medium contained only 5-20% of the total [35S]sulphated glycosaminoglycans. Depletion of the medium pool was probably caused by binding of [35S]sulphated glycosaminoglycans to the network of native collagen fibres that formed the insoluble fraction of the collagen gel. Furthermore, cells on collagen showed a 3-fold increase in dermatan sulphate synthesis, which could be due to a positive-feedback mechanism activated by the accumulation of dermatan sulphate in the microenvironment of the cultured cells. For comparative structural analyses of glycosaminoglycans synthesized on different substrata labelling experiments were carried out by incubating cells on plastic with [3H]glucosamine, and cells on collagen gels with [14C]glucosamine. Co-chromatography on DEAE-cellulose of mixed media and enzyme extracts showed that heparan sulphate from cells on collagen gels eluted at a lower salt concentration than did heparan sulphate from cells on plastic, whereas with dermatan sulphate the opposite result was obtained, with dermatan sulphate from cells on collagen eluting at a higher salt concentration than dermatan sulphate from cells on plastic. These differences did not correspond to changes in the molecular size of the glycosaminoglycan chains, but they may be caused by alterations in polymer sulphation.     

The isolation of collagen-associated proteoglycan from bovine nasal cartilage and its preferential interaction with alpha2 chains of type I collagen.

A collagen complex from bovine nasal cartilage was prepared by extraction of the tissue with 3M-MgCl2 solutions, by using two different procedures. When it was compared with calf skin acid-soluble tropocollagen by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, the 3M-MgCl2-soluble cartilage collagen in the complex appeared to be predominantly type I in nature, consisting of both alpha1 and alpha2 chains. The soluble cartilage collagens were digested with purified bacterial collagenase, and the soluble digests were fractionated on Sepharose 4B. Hydroxyproline-free proteoglycan was isolated in the excluded volume of the column eluate, and this was found to be an aggregate which could be dissociated to link proteins and proteoglycan subunit by equilibrium-density-gradient centrifugation in a CsCl-4M-guanidinium chloride gradient. Interaction with calf skin-soluble tropocollagen was studied by CM-cellulose chromatography. The link-protein system did not interact, but proteoglycan from the bottom of the gradient did interact. In addition, when proteoglycan subunit was allowed to interact with collagen, there was a preferential binding to the alpha2 and beta12 components, and this effect was also observed with the proteoglycan material obtained from the collagenase digests of 3M-MgCl2-soluble cartilage collagen complexes. However, specificity for alpha2 and beta12 chains was not exhibited by chondroitin sulphate glycosaminoglycan, and it is therefore concluded that preference for alpha2 and beta12 chains is a function of the intact proteoglycan structure.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Effect of cartilage proteoglycans on human collagenase activities.

No significant inhibition of purified rheumatoid synovial collagenase was found when this enzyme was assayed in the presence of porcine or human cartilage proteoglycans. Reaction mixtures containing up to twice the amount of proteoglycan compared to that of collagen, w/w, had little effect on collagen degradation as judged by the reconstituted [4C]collagen fibril assay and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Proteoglycans were not degraded by the synovial collagenase preparation. Although the human collagenases derived from rheumatoid synoviam, gastric mucosa, skin and granulocytes showed some reduction in activity when exposed to aggregated proteoglycans at high concentrations, disaggregated proteoglycans had no inhibitory effect. It is concluded that cartilage proteoglycans do not directly inhibit human collagenases in vitro, but in vivo they may provide some physical barriers which might limit the accessibility of the enzyme to its collagen substrate.