Reduction of Type V Collagen Using a Dominant-Negative
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by PubMed Central Reduction of Type V Collagen Using a Dominant-negative Strategy Alters the Regulation of Fibrillogenesis and Results in the Loss of Corneal-Specific Fibril Morphology Jeffrey K. Marchant, Rita A. Hahn, Thomas F. Linsenmayer, and David E. Birk Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111 Abstract. A number of factors have been implicated in synthesized the truncated or(V) protein, and this was the regulation of tissue-specific collagen fibril diameter. detectable only intracellularly, in a distribution that Previous data suggest that assembly of heterotypic colocalized with lysosomes. To assess endogenous fibrils composed of two different fibrillar collagens rep- etl(V) protein levels, infected cell cultures were as- resents a general mechanism regulating fibril diameter. sayed, and these consistently demonstrated reductions Specifically, we hypothesize that type V collagen is re- relative to control virus-infected or uninfected cultures. quired for the assembly of the small diameter fibrils ob- Analyses of corneal fibril morphology demonstrated served in the cornea. To test this, we used a dominant- that the reduction in type V collagen resulted in the as- negative retroviral strategy to decrease the levels of sembly of large-diameter fibrils with a broad size distri- type V collagen secreted by chicken corneal fibroblasts. bution, characteristics similar to fibrils produced in The chicken or(V) collagen gene was cloned, and ret- connective tissues with low type V concentrations. Im- roviral vectors that expressed a polycistronic mRNA munoelectron microscopy demonstrated the amino- encoding a truncated otl(V) minigene and the reporter terminal domain of type V collagen was associated with gene LacZ were constructed. The efficiency of viral in- the small-diameter fibrils, but not the large fibrils. fection was 30--40%, as determined by assaying I~-galac- These data indicate that type V collagen levels regulate tosidase activity. To assess the expression from the re- corneal fibril diameter and that the reduction of type V combinant provirus, Northern analysis was performed collagen is sufficient to alter fibril assembly so that ab- and indicated that infected fibroblasts expressed high normally large-diameter fibrils are deposited into the steady-state levels of retroviral mRNA. Infected cells matrix. HE characteristics of different extracellular matrices form collagen-proteoglycan heteropolymers (33, 39), or by derive in large part from the synthesis, assembly, the addition of fibril-associated collagens to fibrils (19). T and deposition of collagen molecules and their or- Alternative splicing of collagens also can occur in a tissue- ganization into unique macromolecular structures. These specific manner and confer different properties to fibrils collagen assemblies confer specialized properties to the (27, 32, 35, 37). Tissue-specific variations in all these extracellular matrix in which they are found. The cornea, events contribute to the diversity of collagen structures for example, has small, uniform diameter fibrils organized observed in different extracellular matrices. into orthogonal lamellae; these characteristics permit this Fibril assembly is a multistep process and, as such, there tissue to be strong yet transparent. are numerous points where fibril characteristics, i.e., diam- The synthesis of collagen molecules and their associa- eter, may be regulated. Propeptide processing represents tion to form fibrils requires a number of sequential post- one such checkpoint. The C-propeptides of procollagen translational events that are common to all fibrillar col- molecules are cleaved in the extracellular matrix before lagens (19). These include intracellular processes such as incorporation of collagen monomers into fibrils, and hydroxylation and glycosylation, and extracellular ones therefore C-propeptidase activity provides an early rate- such as procollagen processing and cross-linking (14, 19, limiting step in fibril formation (14, 30). N-propeptidase 30). Fibril assembly may be modified through the associa- activity varies with collagen substrates, being rapid with tion of different fibrillar collagens to form heterotypic type I collagen yet limited with type III (28, 31). A unique fibrils (3, 5, 15, 18, 24), the addition of proteoglycans to example of this propeptidase regulation exists with hetero- typic type I/V fibrils. Type I collagen in these fibrils is fully Please address all correspondence to David E. Birk, Department of Anat- processed while type V is only partially processed, using a omy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Har- distal cleavage site that leaves the bulk of the noncollage- rison Ave., Boston, MA 02111. Tel.: (617) 636-0301; Fax: (617) 636-8577. nous amino-terminal domain intact (20). © The Rockefeller University Press, 0021-9525/96/12/1415/12 $2.00 The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 135, Number 5, December 1996 1415-1426 1415 Type V collagen is copolymerized into heterotypic type primer was used in the initial reverse-transcription reaction to generate I/V fibrils in a molecular arrangement that leaves the eDNA. This was followed by PCR amplification using the same 3' primer amino-terminal domain exposed on the surface and the and a 5' primer specific to a region within the triple-helical domain of the al (V) mRNA (5' GGGAAGACAGGCCCAATCGGCC 3'). PCR-ampli- major triple-helical portion of the molecule located within lied eDNA was cloned into the TA vector (Invitrogen, San Diego, CA), the fibril (20). Between the major triple helix and this and purified DNA was subjected to sequence analysis using the dsDNA amino-terminal domain lies a "hinge region" and three Cycle Sequencing System (GIBCO BRL, Gaithersburg, MD). small triple-helical domains that we have previously sug- gested permit the extension of the amino-propeptide Replication-defective Retroviral Vectors through the hole zone and onto the fibril surface (20). This Retroviral vectors were kindly provided by Dr. Takashi Mikawa (Cornell structural arrangement observed in heterotypic type I/V University Medical College, New York, NY). These vectors are derived fibrils exists with other fibrils as well. Type II collagen from spleen necrosis virus (SNV) 1, a member of the avian reticuloendo- fibrils, for example, contain type XI collagen molecules, theliosis virus group. The vectors are replication defective and, to produce infectious particles, must obtain missing proteins in trans from packaging and these are positioned in a way that the amino-terminal cells (10, 25). Once assembled in these cells, this virus is capable of infect- domains project onto the fibril surface. As with type V col- ing a wide variety of host cells. Since horizontal transmission of the virus is lagen, the triple-helical domains are within the fibril (24, not possible in nonpaekaging cells, only progeny of infected cells will ex- 29, 42). The similarities between collagen types V and XI press the proviral transcripts. The pCXIZ vector contains the SNV pro- moter as well as sequences required for encapsidation of viral transcripts, extend beyond a structural resemblance: in certain tissues reverse transcription, and proviral integration (26). In addition, this vector (e.g., vitreous, bone) type V collagen molecules can be contains an internal ribosome entry sequence followed by the bacterial comprised of both type V and type XI a chains, suggesting LacZ gene. For efficient expression of this reporter gene in eukaryotic that type XI chains are able to substitute for type V chains cells, a translation initiation sequence derived from the murine leukemia (12). Given these structural and functional similarities, it virus gag gene is present in the 5' flanking sequence. A cloning site is present upstream of the internal ribosome entry sequence region and was has been suggested that these two collagens comprise part used for insertion of the al(V) collagen eDNA. The pCXL vector is simi- of a larger fibrillar collagen family, one that has a predom- lar to pCXIZ, but lacks the internal ribosome-binding sequence (25). This inantly regulatory rather than structural function (12, 22). vector was used as a control. Fibril diameter is related to the concentration of type V collagen within heterotypic type I/V fibrils, and it is the Constructs amino-terminal domain that appears to confer this regula- PCR splicing by overlap extension was used to add myc and signal se- tory property. Previous self-assembly studies have demon- quences in frame to the al(V) carboxyl terminus. The myc sequence was strated that in vitro, the levels of type V collagen incorpo- also obtained from Dr. Takashi Mikawa. The al(V) signal sequence rated into type IN fibrils is inversely proportional to fibril was obtained from the published chicken pro-~l(V) sequence (20). To add the myc sequence, a 5' 93-mer was made that encoded a SpeI site, the diameter: the higher the concentration of type V, the myc sequence, and the sequence overlapping the 5' end of the al(V) smaller the diameter. It also was shown that if the amino- eDNA (5'TCGATCACTAGTGC'ITGGGCGACCTCACCATGGAGC terminal domain is removed, diameter regulation is abol- AAAAGCTCAITrCTGAAGAGGACTTGAATGCCCITCCAGGA- ished. It is hypothesized that the presence of the amino- TCCCCTGGCCCAGATG 3'). A poly(T)a0 primer was used at the 3' end of the otl(V) eDNA, and PCR amplification