Increased lysine hydroxylation in rat bone and tendon collagen and localization of the additional residues

Developmental Stage-dependent Regulation of Prolyl 3-Hydroxylation in Tendon Type I Collagen

3-Hydroxyproline (3-Hyp), which is unique to collagen, is a fairly rare post-translational modification. Recent studies have suggested a function of prolyl 3-hydroxylation in fibril assembly and its relationships with certain disorders, including recessive osteogenesis imperfecta and high myopia. However, no direct evidence for the physiological and pathological roles of 3-Hyp has been presented. In this study, we first estimated the overall alterations in prolyl hydroxylation in collagens purified from skin, bone, and tail tendon of 0.5-18-month-old rats by LC-MS analysis with stable isotope-labeled collagen, which was recently developed as an internal standard for highly accurate collagen analyses. 3-Hyp was found to significantly increase in tendon collagen until 3 months after birth and then remain constant, whereas increased prolyl 3-hydroxylation was not observed in skin and bone collagen. Site-specific analysis further revealed that 3-Hyp was increased in tendon type I collagen in a specific sequence region, including a previously known modification site at Pro(707) and newly identified sites at Pro(716) and Pro(719), at the early ages. The site-specific alterations in prolyl 3-hydroxylation with aging were also observed in bovine Achilles tendon. We postulate that significant increases in 3-Hyp at the consecutive modification sites are correlated with tissue development in tendon. The present findings suggest that prolyl 3-hydroxylation incrementally regulates collagen fibril diameter in tendon.

Growth hormone stimulates bone formation and strength of cortical bone in aged rats

The influence of growth hormone on bone formation, mechanical strength, and composition has been investigated in femur middiaphyseal cortical bone from 2-year-old male rats. The rats were given biosynthetic human growth hormone (bhGH) at 2.7 mg/kg/day in two daily injections for 20, 40, or 80 days, and all animals were killed 80 days after the start of bhGH administration. Control animals were given saline. All animals were labeled with tetracycline on days 41 and 69. Only in the bhGH-80-day group was subperiosteal tetracycline double labeling seen all around the femur diaphysis, and this pattern was found in all animals of the group. Double labeling subperiosteally at the posteromedial aspect was found in all animals of the experiment, but compared with the control group, a 400% and an 800% increase in mineral apposition rate was seen in the bhGH-40-day and bhGH-80-day groups, respectively. Light microscopy and polarization microscopy showed that this newly deposited bone was organized in the same concentric lammellae and had the same direction of the collagen fibers when compared with the surrounding bone formed before the start of bhGH injections. The cortical bone cross-sectional area was increased in the bhGH-40-day and bhGH-80-day groups. At the endosteum, scattered labeling was found in animals from all groups, and no differences in medullary cross-sectional areas were seen. The mechanical analysis revealed an increased mechanical strength of the whole diaphyseal bone after bhGH administration. When the data were corrected for dimensions of the diaphyseal bone, no differences in intrinsic mechanical properties of the bone tissue were found. No differences in apparent density of dry defatted bone, ash, and collagen were seen, whereas apparent density of dry defatted bone minus ash was decreased in all groups given bhGH. Correspondingly, a slight increase in ash concentrations of the bhGH-injected animals was seen. bhGH administration also increased the body weight, muscle mass, and total serum IGF-I and thyroxine concentrations.

Thermal stability of cortical bone collagen in relation to age in normal individuals and in individuals with osteopetrosis

The thermal stability of cortical bone collagen was determined in iliac crest biopsies obtained from 41 normal individuals (21 women aged 20-96 years and 20 men aged 21-84 years) and 8 individuals with autosomal dominant osteopetrosis type I (4 women and 4 men aged 17-63 years). The cortical bone was decalcified and the bone matrix was cut into 80-microns-thick freeze sections parallel to the bone surface. Circular specimens punched out from the sections were used for determination of area shrinkage during gradual heating and shrinkage temperature, Ts (representing the temperature for 50% of the area shrinkage). In normal men, Ts was not found to decrease until the age of 60-65 years, but was markedly decreased in the elderly individuals. In normal women, Ts varied considerably throughout the age range tested, without relationship to age. In contrast to age-matched controls, Ts decreased with age in men with osteopetrosis, whereas Ts in affected women was neither related to age nor different from the highly variable values found in age-matched normal women. Previous findings in rats indicate that Ts decreases with the chronological age of the bone collagen. The present results agree with these findings, which imply that a reduction in turnover rate of bone results in an increasing age and a reduced Ts of the constituent collagen. Following this assumption, the turnover rate of bone seems to be more variable in women than in men and reduced in osteopetrotic men.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Comparative study on the thermostability of collagen I of skin and bone: influence of posttranslational hydroxylation of prolyl and lysyl residues

Pepsin-solubilized collagen I from skin and bone was analyzed with regard to its thermal stability as a triple helical molecule in solution and after in vitro fibril formation. Collagen I from human control bone was compared with samples showing deficiencies or surplus in the degree of hydroxylation of lysine. The helix to coil transitions were studied by circular-dichroism measurements and limited trypsin digestion. Melting of fibrils from standardized in vitro self-assembly was investigated turbidimetrically. Human control bone collagen I has a maximum transition rate (Tm) at 43.3 degrees C in 0.05% acetic acid. This is 1.9 degrees C above control skin (Tm = 41.4 degrees C), most likely, due to a higher degree of prolyl hydroxylation--0.48 in bone vs. 0.41 in skin collagen I. Lysyl overhydroxylation of human and mouse bone collagen I appears to reduce the Tm slightly (approximately 1 degree C). Underhydroxylated bone collagen has a Tm which is 2 degrees C below control. Melting temperatures of in vitro formed fibrils are an indication for higher thermostability in parallel with an increase of lysyl hydroxylation. Accordingly, the melting temperature of such fibrils from human control skin, 49.3 degrees C, exceeds control bone by 1.4 degrees C. The degree of lysyl hydroxylation in these samples is 0.14 and 0.10, respectively. Further underhydroxylation (0.06) reduced it down to 45.4 degrees C, while extensive overhydroxylation did not continue to increase the thermal stability of fibrils.

Age-related thermal stability and susceptibility to proteolysis of rat bone collagen

The shrinkage temperature (Ts) and the pepsin-solubilizability of collagen fibrils in bone matrix obtained from decalcified femur diaphysis from 2-, 5-, 15- and 25-month-old rats were found to decrease with age. Digestion with human fibroblast collagenase dissolved less than half of the collagen, whereas sequential treatment by pepsin followed by collagenase resulted in its complete dissolution. This result shows that collagenase and a telopeptide-cleaving enzyme, when acting in an appropriate sequence, have a great potential for the degradation of bone collagen. The 'melting' profile of the pepsin-solubilized collagen showed a biphasic transition with transition peak at 35.9 degrees C and 40.8 degrees C. With increasing age an increasing proportion of the collagen 'melted' in the transition peak at 35.9 degrees C (pre-transition), and the 'melting' temperature (Tm) of the collagen decreased in parallel with Ts in relation to age. Both Ts and Tm decreased by 3 degrees C in the age span investigated. The age-related change in Ts could therefore be accounted for by the decrease in molecular stability. The collagenase-cleavage products of the bone collagen obtained by the sequential treatment with pepsin and collagenase showed only one peak transition (at 35.1 degrees C), and the Tm for the products was independent of age. The results indicate that the pre-transition for the pepsin-solubilized collagen is due to an age-related decrease in thermal stability may have implications for the mechanical strength and turnover of the bone collagen. In contrast with bone collagen, soft-tissue collagen showed neither the age-dependency of thermal stability nor the characteristic biphasic 'melting' profile.

Mechanical properties of collagen from decalcified rat femur in relation to age and in vitro maturation

Cortical bone collagen was obtained by decalcifying femoral bones from 2-, 5-, 15-, and 25-month-old male rats. Collagen specimens were cut longitudinal to the long axis of the femur and tested mechanically. The maximum load (ultimate strength) and maximum slope of the load-strain curve (maximum stiffness) were found to decrease with age. The age-related reduction in the mechanical parameters resulted from a change in the mechanical strength of the constituent collagen and a change in the morphology of the bone tissue. In vitro aging, produced by incubating for 0-5 months, did not change the mechanical strength of bone collagen specimens obtained from 2-month-old rats. The changes in the mechanical characteristics of bone collagen, accompanying in vivo and in vitro aging are the opposite of those observed in soft tissue collagen. In the latter there is an increase in the mechanical strength during in vivo and in vitro aging.

Lethal osteogenesis imperfecta with amniotic band lesions: collagen studies

An infant was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and died after 7 days. In addition, there were amniotic constriction bands and amputations of several digits of the upper and lower limbs. The radiologic picture was suggestive of type III OI. Histomorphometric analysis of the bone showed a trabecular bone volume of 15.1% compared to 26.9% for age-matched controls. This was due to a decreased apposition of matrix by the osteoblasts. Because abnormal collagen synthesis has been suggested as the underlying defect in most forms of OI, collagen studies were undertaken using intact tissues. Bone and skin collagen solubilities were strikingly reduced. Shortened type I collagen molecules, representing 25% of the total type I collagen, were produced by pepsin digestion of the demineralized bone matrix. The molecular weight of the shortened collagen, was 10 kd lower than normal for both the alpha 1 and alpha 2 chains as determined by gel electrophoresis. The bone acetic acid-soluble collagen showed few shortened alpha-chains. Twenty-five percent of the acid-soluble bone collagen was cleaved into shortened molecules by a pepsin digestion. The shortened alpha 1 chain was purified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and digested with CNBr. The analysis of the resulting fragments by HPLC and by gel electrophoresis unequivocally demonstrated that the shortened alpha 1 chain was derived from the alpha 1(I) chains and that the pepsin sensitivity extends from the amino terminal end of the chain to the alpha 1(I) CB5 peptide, approximately 120 residues inside the triple helix. These studies show a distinct structural abnormality of type I collagen in the bone matrix of this patient resulting in an increased sensitivity of the collagen to general enzymatic proteolysis. The importance of correlating clinical and biochemical information in OI is emphasized; classification and genetic counseling based only on clinical observations are inaccurate.

Thermal stability of collagen in relation to non-enzymatic glycosylation and browning in vitro

Thermal stability measured by isometric contraction-relaxation force was examined in rat tail tendons after incubation in vitro in glucose or hydroxymethylfurfurale solutions at pH 7.4 using buffer systems of either phosphate or tris (hydroxymethyl)aminomethan. In the phosphate system, incubation with glucose (170 mmol/l) for 12 days was found to increase the thermal stability of the tendons by a factor 3. At the same time, glucose was found to be attached to the lysine and hydroxylysine residues of collagen, and reactive carbonyl compounds were formed in the solution. In the tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethan system containing reactive amino groups (pK 8.1), glucose was also attached to the lysine and hydroxylysine residues, but only very small amounts of reactive carbonyl compounds were formed in the solutions and no changes in thermal stability were recorded. Incubation with hydroxymethylfurfurale itself was found to increase the thermal stability rapidly and markedly in the phosphate buffer systems. This effect was inhibited when the tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethan buffer system was used. Buffer solutions with tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethan, containing large amounts of free amino groups compared to the free amino groups of collagen, might interfere with the formation of cross-links formed by carbonyl groups derived from metabolic glucose and amino groups of collagen. The non-enzymatic glycosylation of lysine and hydroxylysine itself does not influence the thermal stability. Additional reactions appeared to be transformation into reactive carbonyl compounds, such as hydroxymethylfurfurale, with subsequent formation of thermally stable cross-links between the collagen molecules.

Chemical nature of collagen in the placoid-scale dentine of the blue shark, Prionace glauca L

The dentine fraction was obtained from powdered placoid scales by differential density-flotation, and demineralized with 0.5 M EDTA. Monomeric alpha 1 and alpha 2 chains of collagen were extracted from the residual organic matrix, and the two alpha chains purified by chromatography. The two alpha chains were also isolated from shark-skin collagen. The corresponding alpha chains from shark dentine and skin collagens resembled each other closely in chromatographic and electrophoretic behaviour and in their CNBr-peptide maps but differed from calf-skin alpha chains. The differences in the chemical composition between shark dentine and skin were due only to post-translational modification (hydroxylation and phosphorylation), indicating that the collagens are of the same type. The hydroxylation of prolyl and lysyl residues occurred more in the dentine alpha chains than in the skin chains. Among the four alpha chains, the phosphate content was the highest in the alpha 2 chain of the dentine collagen. These differences in hydroxylation and phosphorylation have been observed among alpha chains of mammalian mineralized and unmineralized tissues. The preferential dimerization to form alpha 1-alpha 2, characteristic of shark-skin collagen, was not observed in the dentine collagen. Other dimers were hardly detectable in the latter.

Collagen synthesis by human amniotic fluid cells in culture: characterization of a procollagen with three identical proalpha1(I) chains

Second trimester human amniotic fluid cells synthesize and secrete a variety of collagenous proteins in culture. F cells (amniotic fluid fibroblasts) are the most active biosynthetically and synthesize predominantly type I with smaller amounts of type III procollagen. Epithelioid AF cells (the predominating clonable cell type) synthesize a type IV-like procollagen and a procollagen with three identical proalpha chains, structurally and immunologically related to the proalpha1 chains of type I procollagen. The latter procollagen, when cleaved with pepsin and denatured, yields a single non-disulfide-bonded alpha chain that migrates more slowly than F cell or human skin alpha1(I) on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis but coelutes with these chains from carboxymethyl-cellulose. The major cyanogen bromide produced peptides demonstrate a similar behavior relative to peptides derived from alpha1(I). The collagen is characterized by an increased solubility at neutral pH and high ionic strength, relative to type I collagen. The amino acid composition of the pepsin-resistant alpha chain is essentially identical with that of human alpha1(I), except for marked increases in the content of 3- and 4-hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine. Preliminary experiments suggest that these increased posttranslational modifications are responsible for the unusually slow migration of this collagen and its cyanogen bromide peptides on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The procollagen has, therefore, been assigned the chain composition [proalpha1(I)]3. Like type I procollagen, [proalpha1(I)]3 undergoes a time-dependent conversion, in the medium and cell layer, to procollagen intermediates and alpha chains. The production of [proalpha1(I)]3 probably reflects the state of differentiation and/or embryologic derivation of AF cells rather than a characteristic of the fetal phenotype, since F cells do not synthesize significant amounts of the procollagen.

The collagen of heart valve

A hydroxylysine-rich type I collagen has been isolated from pepsin-digested porcine heart valve. The ratio of alpha1 to alpha2 in the isolated molecule was 2:1. The component alpha chains exhibited unusual chromatographic behavior in comparison to corresponding chains from human dermis and lathyritic rat skin collagen. The composition of component cyanogen bromide peptides identified the alpha chains as authentic type I chains and demonstrated hydroxylysine enrichment throughout the length of the chain. delta6-Dehydro-5,5'dihydroxylysinonorleucine, a collagen cross-link derived from two hydroxylysyl residues and ordinarily found in hard tissue collagens was found to be the predominant cross-link in heart valve.

Procollagen and collagen produced by a teratocarcinoma-derived cell line, TSD4: evidence for a new molecular form of collagen

Procollagen and collagen were isolated from the culture medium and cell layer of line TSD4 (obtained from mouse teratocarcinoma OTT6050). SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the highly purified procollagen fraction demonstrated that the fraction is composed of theta chains (150,000 daltons), pro alpha chains (130,000 daltons), and alpha chains (100,000 daltons). Limited pepsin digestion of this fraction yielded a single species of collagen molecules having a chain composition (alpha1)3, as did collagen isolated from the cell layer. Each alpha1 chain appears to be slightly larger than alpha1 chains from calf or human type I and type III collagen. Amino acid analysis and cyanogen bromide peptide profiles of pepsin-treated TSD4 collagen demonstrated significant differences from those of other collagens (II, III, IV) of the type alpha1(X)3, although similar to that of the alpha1 chain of type I collagen, [alpha1(1)]2alpha2. Taken together, acrylamide gel electrophoresis, amino acid composition, electron microscopy, and cyanogen bromide peptide analysis indicate that this material represents a new molecular species of collagen not previously characterized, probably related to [alpha1(I)]3.

Biochemical characteristics and biological significance of the genetically-distinct collagens

In recent years it has become evident that genetic polymorphism is dramatically expressed in the structural protein, collagen. Current information on the biochemical properties, biosynthesis, and tissue distribution of Type I, II, and III collagens is summarized with special reference to possible unique functional roles fulfilled by each of these collagens.

Age-related variations in hydroxylation of lysine and proline in collagen

The effect of age on the extent of hydroxylation of lysine and proline both generally and at certain specific sites in collagens from bone, skin and tendon was examined in the chick from the 14-day embryo to the 18-month-old adult. For all collagens there was a marked fall in the overall extent of hydroxylation of lysine with increasing age in both alpha(1) and alpha(2) chains, this fall occurring mostly in a relatively short period immediately after hatching. Hydroxylation of lysine declined to a constant value which, as expected, differed appreciably for each collagen and was considered to be characteristic of the collagen according to its tissue of origin. Hydroxylation of lysine in the N-terminal, non-helical telopeptide region of both alpha(1) and alpha(2) chains, which is important with regard to cross-linking, was relatively high in embryonic collagens. There was, however, a rapid loss of hydroxylation at these sites in skin collagen, occurring both during development of the embryo and in the period immediately after hatching. In contrast some hydroxylation at these sites persisted in bone and tendon collagens and, as judged by examination of peptide alpha(1)-CB1, appeared to reach a constant value in time of about 33% in bone and about 15% in tendon collagen. The actual extent of hydroxylation of lysine in the N-terminal telopeptides and the size of the changes in these values with age appeared to be unrelated to the corresponding whole-chain values, and it is suggested therefore that hydroxylation of telopeptidyl lysine may be under separate enzymic control. The increased hydroxylation of lysine in the embryo was accompanied by only minimal changes in proline hydroxylation, which was very slightly increased in embryonic bone and tendon collagens. Increased hydroxylation of proline in the embryo was, however, readily observed in peptide alpha(1)-CB2 from the helical region of tendon collagen. This hydroxylation was close to the theoretical maximum, in contrast with that observed in post-embryonic tendon, where hydroxylation was incomplete, as in rat tendon (Bornstein, 1967), only four on average, of the six susceptible proline residues being hydroxylated.