LEKTI fragments specifically inhibit KLK5, KLK7, and KLK14 and control desquamation through a pH-dependent interaction

LEKTI is a 15-domain serine proteinase inhibitor whose defective expression underlies the severe autosomal recessive ichthyosiform skin disease, Netherton syndrome. Here, we show that LEKTI is produced as a precursor rapidly cleaved by furin, generating a variety of single or multidomain LEKTI fragments secreted in cultured keratinocytes and in the epidermis. The identity of these biological fragments (D1, D5, D6, D8-D11, and D9-D15) was inferred from biochemical analysis, using a panel of LEKTI antibodies. The functional inhibitory capacity of each fragment was tested on a panel of serine proteases. All LEKTI fragments, except D1, showed specific and differential inhibition of human kallikreins 5, 7, and 14. The strongest inhibition was observed with D8-D11, toward KLK5. Kinetics analysis revealed that this interaction is rapid and irreversible, reflecting an extremely tight binding complex. We demonstrated that pH variations govern this interaction, leading to the release of active KLK5 from the complex at acidic pH. These results identify KLK5, a key actor of the desquamation process, as the major target of LEKTI. They disclose a new mechanism of skin homeostasis by which the epidermal pH gradient allows precisely regulated KLK5 activity and corneodesmosomal cleavage in the most superficial layers of the stratum corneum.

The nuclear receptor co-repressor nrip1 (RIP140) is essential for female fertility

Ovulatory dysfunction is the commonest cause of female infertility. Here we show that the co-repressor nuclear-receptor-interacting protein 1 (Nrip1; encoded by the gene Nrip1) is essential for ovulation. Mice null for this protein are viable, but female mice are infertile because of complete failure of mature follicles to release the oocyte at ovulation. In contrast, luteinization proceeds normally, resulting in a phenotype closely resembling that of luteinized unruptured follicle syndrome, often associated with infertility in women. Therefore, whereas the pre-ovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone induces both ovulation and luteinization, the ability to suppress the action of nuclear receptors is essential for the coordinated control of ovarian function with the essential process of oocyte release dependent on the activity of the transcriptional co-repressor Nrip1 (RIP40).

Ovulation in plasminogen-deficient mice

Many different studies suggest that plasmin generated from plasminogen plays a crucial role in the degradation of the follicular wall at the time of ovulation. We have assessed the physiological relevance of plasmin on ovulation by studying plasminogen-deficient mice. Ovulation efficiency (mean number of ova released per mouse) was determined both in a standardized ovulation model in which 25-day-old immature mice were injected with finite amounts of gonadotropins to induce ovulation and during physiological ovulation using adult normally cycling mice. Our results revealed that the temporal onset of follicular wall rupture (first ova observed in bursa or oviduct) was not delayed in plasminogen-deficient mice during gonadotropin-induced ovulation. However, there was a trend toward slightly reduced ovulation efficiency in the plasminogen-deficient mice. This reduction was only 13% and not statistically significant (P = 0.084) and may be connected to a delayed maturation of these mice manifested in reduced body and ovary weights. During physiological ovulation adult plasminogen-deficient mice had normal ovulation efficiency compared with plasminogen wild-type mice. Taken together our results indicate that under the conditions used in this study plasmin is not required for efficient follicular rupture or for activation of other proteases involved in this process. Alternatively, the role of plasmin may be effectively compensated for by other mechanisms in the absence of plasmin.

Regulation and localization of matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in the mouse ovary during gonadotropin-induced ovulation

At the time of ovulation, proteolytic degradation of the follicular wall is required to release the mature oocyte. Extracellular proteases, such as serine proteases and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), are thought to play important roles in this process. In this study we have examined the regulation of 11 MMPs and 3 tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) during gonadotropin-induced ovulation in the mouse. Northern blot hybridization showed that messenger RNA for several MMPs and TIMPs, including gelatinase A, MT1-MMP, stromelysin-3, MMP-19, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, and TIMP-3, were present at detectable levels in the mouse ovary. In addition, ovarian extracts contained gelatinolytic activities corresponding to the inactive proforms of gelatinase A and gelatinase B. Most of the MMPs and TIMPs were expressed at a constitutive level throughout the periovulatory period. However, MMP-19 and TIMP-1 revealed a different expression pattern; they were both induced 5-10 times by hCG and reached their maximum levels at 12 h after hCG treatment, corresponding to the time of ovulation. At this time point, MMP-19 and TIMP-1 messenger RNA were localized to the granulosa and thecal-interstitial cells of large preovulatory and ovulating follicles. This temporal and spatial regulation pattern suggests that MMP-19 might be involved in the tissue degradation that occurs during follicular rupture and that TIMP-1 could have a role in terminating MMP activity after ovulation.

Characterisation of the rat tissue-type plasminogen activator gene promoter -- identification of a TAAT-containing promoter element

Tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) activates plasminogen to the active protease plasmin and is implicated in many biological processes that require extracellular proteolysis. In rat ovarian cells, gonadotropins induce the tPA gene by a cAMP-dependent pathway and this induction correlates with the time of follicular rupture. We have previously identified several promoter elements within the first 621 bp of the rat tPA promoter that are important for constitutive and cAMP-induced expression of the gene, including a cAMP responsive element (CRE), a nuclear factor 1 (NF1) element, a SP1-binding site and a G+C-rich box. In this report we have extended our study by analysing promoter constructs, ranging in size from 7.7 kb to 135 bp fused to the luciferase reporter gene. Transient transfection analysis of rat granulosa cells and human 293 cells, reveal that the proximal 268 bp of the promoter is enough to confer high basal and cAMP-induced expression of the gene. At position -162 to -172, between the previously identified CRE and NF1 sites, a novel TAAT-containing promoter element was identified. Mutational inactivation of the TAAT motif indicates that this element is important for both constitutive and cAMP-induced expression of the gene, and for the binding of a presumably novel nuclear factor that we have termed tPA promoter factor-1 (tPF-1).

Ovulation efficiency is reduced in mice that lack plasminogen activator gene function: functional redundancy among physiological plasminogen activators

Several lines of indirect evidence suggest that plasminogen activation plays a crucial role in degradation of the follicular wall during ovulation. However, single-deficient mice lacking tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), or PA inhibitor type 1(PAI-1) gene function were recently found to have normal reproduction, although mice with a combined deficiency of tPA and uPA were significantly less fertile. To investigate whether the reduced fertility of mice lacking PA gene function is due to a reduced ovulation mechanism, we have determined the ovulation efficiency in 25-day-old mice during gonadotropin-induced ovulation. Our results reveal that ovulation efficiency is normal in mice with a single deficiency of tPA or uPA but reduced by 26% in mice lacking both physiological PAs. This result suggests that plasminogen activation plays a role in ovulatory response, although neither tPA nor uPA individually or in combination is obligatory for ovulation. The loss of an individual PA seems to be functionally complemented by the remaining PA but this compensation does not appear to involve any compensatory up-regulation. Our data imply that a functionally redundant mechanism for plasmin formation operates during gonadotropin-induced ovulation and that PAs together with other proteases generate the proteolytic activity required for follicular wall degradation.

The species-specific differences in the cAMP regulation of the tissue-type plasminogen activator gene between rat, mouse and human is caused by a one-nucleotide substitution in the cAMP-responsive element of the promoters

In rat ovarian cells tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) is induced by gonadotropins, by a cAMP-dependent pathway and the induction correlates with the time of follicle rupture in vivo. However, in mice, gonadotropins induce the related but distinct protease urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Comparison of rat, mouse and human tPA genes reveal that there is a species-specific difference in the promoter that could explain the difference in regulation of the tPA gene between these species. At the position where the rat promoter contains a consensus cAMP-responsive element (CRE), the mouse and human counterparts contains a CRE variant with a one-nucleotide substitution. Transient transfection experiments of rat glial and granulosa cells demonstrated that reporter constructs driven by rat but not mouse or human tPA promoters were efficiently induced by the cAMP-inducing agents forskolin or follicle-stimulating hormone. Following the conversion of the mouse and human CRE-like sequences to rat consensus CRE these promoters became cAMP responsive. In contrast the rat promoter, following conversion of the consensus CRE to the corresponding mouse and human CRE-like sequence, lost the ability to efficiently respond to cAMP. Deoxyribonuclease I footprinting analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays were used to examine interactions of nuclear factors with the consensus and variant CRE. Compared to rat CRE, the mouse and human CRE-like sequences had a drastically reduced binding affinity for a nuclear factor identified as the cAMP-responsive element binding protein. Thus the inability of the mouse and human tPA promoters to respond efficiently to forskolin and follicle-stimulation hormone seem to be due to the inability of these CRE-like sequences to efficiently bind transcription factor CRE binding protein.

Transcriptional regulation of the rat tissue type plasminogen activator gene: localization of DNA elements and nuclear factors mediating constitutive and cyclic AMP-induced expression

We have characterized tissue type plasminogen activator (tPA) promoter elements and nuclear factors required for follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)-induced transcription of the rat tPA gene in granulosa cells and constitutive expression of the gene in the rat neuroblastoma cell line B103. Run-on transcription analysis of isolated nuclei revealed that B103 cells transcribe the tPA gene at a high and constitutive level, while FSH was found to induce tPA gene transcription in a rapid and transient manner in granulosa cells. The maximal FSH-induced transcription rate was obtained after 20 min and was similar in the absence or presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. However, in the presence of cycloheximide, tPA transcription was not turned off but continued at a high rate for several hours. This phenomenon may at least partly explain the earlier finding that tPA mRNA is superinduced by FSH in the presence of cycloheximide. DNase I footprinting analysis of the first 621 bp of the tPA promoter revealed a total of six regions that interact with nuclear factors from B103 and granulosa cells. Deletion of the promoter region from positions -269 to -621, a region that includes the two most-upstream footprints, had no effect on constitutive or FSH-induced transcription in transient expression experiments. Nuclear extracts from both granulosa cells and B103 cells showed strong binding to a consensus cyclic AMP-responsive element (CRE) at positions -178 to -185 and a neighboring binding site for nuclear factor 1 (NF1) at positions -145 to -158. The factors binding to these two regions were identified as members of the CRE-binding protein and NF1 families of transcription factors, respectively. Footprints were also obtained over two GC boxes at positions -64 to -71 and -41 to -49. These footprints were more pronounced with nuclear extracts from B103 cells than with extracts from untreated or FSH-treated granulosa cells, but gel shift assays indicate that similar amounts of two distinct factors bind to the two GC boxes in both cell types. Transfection experiments using promoter constructs with inactivated promoter elements indicate that both the CRE and NF1 sites contribute to the FSH responsiveness of the rat tPA gene in granulosa cells, while only the NF1 site is important for constitutive expression in B103 cells. The two GC boxes were found to be necessary both for constitutive expression in B103 cells and for FSH-induced expression in granulosa cells, and inactivation of both GC boxes essentially eliminated the tPA promoter activity in both cell types.

Cloning and characterization of a cDNA for rat tissue-type plasminogen activator

Two partly overlapping lambda gt11 cDNA clones coding for the 22S rat tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) mRNA were isolated. The cDNA sequences cover 2445 nucleotides of the mRNA, including a 5' untranslated region of 31 nucleotides, an open reading frame of 1677 nucleotides, a 3' untranslated region of 737 nucleotides, and a poly(A) tail. The open reading frame codes for a 17-amino-acid signal peptide, a propeptide with 12 amino acids, and the mature protein with 530 amino acids. Rat t-PA has 81% and 92% amino acid sequence identity with the human and mouse counterparts and an equal distribution of conserved amino acids, suggesting that the proteins can fold into identical three-dimensional structures. The rat t-PA sequence contains two putative N-glycosylation sites at Asn-120 and Asn-452, while human t-PA has an additional glycosylation site at Asn-187. The site at Asn-187 is glycosylated in the human protein, revealing a different glycosylation pattern between the human and rat proteins.