Arterial Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans Research Articles

ATHERIN: A NEWLY IDENTIFIED LDL-BINDING PROTEIN IN HUMAN ATHEROSCLEROTIC LESIONS

The characteristics of an arterial wall chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CS-PG) subfraction that binds avidly to low-density lipoproteins (LDL) was studied. A large CS-PG was extracted from bovine aorta intima-media under dissociative conditions, purified by density-gradient centrifugation and gel filtration chromatography, and further subfractionated by affinity chromatography on LDL-agarose. A proteoglycan subfraction, representing 25% of the CS-PG, showed an elution profile (with dissociation from LDL-agarose occurring between 0.5 and 1.0 M NaCl) corresponding to that of heparin, heretofore considered to be the most strongly binding glycosaminoglycan with LDL. The proteoglycan subfraction which migrated as a single band on composite agarose-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis contained chondroitin 6-sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate and dermant sulfate in a proportion of 70:22:8. The core protein of the proteoglycan had an apparent molecular weight of 245 000, and contained approx. 33 glycosaminoglycan chains with an average molecular weight of 32 000. The CS-PG subfraction, like heparin, formed insoluble complexes in the presence of 30 mM Ca2+. Complexing of LDL with proteoglycan resulted in two classes of interactions with 0.1 and 0.3 proteoglycan monomer bound per LDL particle characterized by an apparent Kd of 4 and 21 nM, respectively. This indicates that multiple LDL particles bind to single proteoglycan monomers even at saturation. In contrast, LDL-heparin interactions showed a major component characterized by an apparent Kd of 151 nM and a Bmax of 9 heparin molecules per LDL particle. The occurrence of a potent LDL-binding proteoglycan subfraction within the family of arterial CS-PG may be of importance in terms of lipid accumulation in atherogenesis.

Lipoprotein lipase enhances the interaction of low density lipoproteins with artery-derived extracellular matrix proteoglycans

The association of plasma low density lipoproteins (LDL) with arterial proteoglycans (PG) is of key importance in LDL retention and modification in the artery wall. Lipoprotein lipase (LpL), the rate-limiting enzyme for hydrolysis of lipoprotein triglyceride, is known to bind both LDL and arterial PG. In the presence of LpL, cellular internalization and degradation of LDL is enhanced by a pathway initiated by interaction of LDL with a cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycan. To determine whether LpL enhances the binding of LDL to arterial chondroitin sulfate (CS)PG and dermatan sulfate (DS)PG, the major extracellular PG of the artery wall, a microtiter plate assay was used to study LpL-PG-LDL interactions. Binding of LDL to both CSPG and DSPG was increased in the presence of LpL but differential effects were seen for the two PG. LpL enhanced the binding of LDL to CSPG a maximum of 20% and to DSPG a maximum of 40%. Heparin displacement of PG binding suggested a greater binding strength for DSPG-LpL-LDL with 0.25 micrograms heparin required to displace 50% of DSPG compared to 0.01 micrograms to displace 50% of CSPG. The greater enhancement of DSPG-LDL interaction by LpL is of particular interest since increases in DSPG correlate with the accumulation of aortic cholesterol. These data suggest that lipoprotein lipase may enhance the interaction of plasma low density lipoprotein with arterial chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan and dermatan sulfate proteoglycan and thus facilitate low density lipoprotein retention in the artery wall.

Effect of arterial proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans on low density lipoprotein oxidation and its uptake by human macrophages and arterial smooth muscle cells.

The reversible interaction of low density lipoprotein (LDL) with arterial chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) or glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) selects LDL particles with a high affinity for sulfated GAGs and also induces modifications in apolipoprotein B (apo B) and the lipid organization of the lipoprotein. In the present work we studied the effect that the reversible interaction with sulfated polysaccharides has on the susceptibility of LDL to in vitro oxidation. For this purpose soluble, nonaggregated CSPG- or GAG-treated LDL was subjected to oxidation in the presence of 5 microM CuSO4 for as long as 48 hours. The rate of formation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, the decrease in isoelectric point, the increase in relative electrophoretic mobility of LDL, the higher degradation rate by human macrophages, and the lower degradation rate by human arterial smooth muscle cells showed that LDLs exposed to CSPGs and GAGs were significantly more susceptible to oxidation than native LDL. Results from competition experiments indicate that C6S-treated LDL after 4 hours of oxidation is taken up via the acetylated LDL receptor in human macrophages. Coincubation of lipoproteins with human macrophages or human arterial smooth muscle cells for 24 hours also indicated that C6S-treated LDL was more susceptible to cell-induced modifications than native LDL. The occurrence in vivo of similar processes may contribute to focal retention, increased rate oxidation of LDL in the arterial intima, and foam cell formation during atherogenesis.

Modification of copper-catalyzed oxidation of low density lipoprotein by proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans.

Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPG) appear to contribute to retention of low density lipoproteins (LDL) in atherosclerotic lesions. In vitro, CSPG and glycosaminoglycans (GAG) modify LDL structure and increase its uptake by macrophages. This latter effect appears related to increased exposure of arginine- and lysine-rich segments of apoB-100. We explored whether alterations of LDL induced by human arterial CSPG and purified GAG alter the lipoprotein susceptibility to transition metals-catalyzed oxidation. Human LDL was complexed with human arterial CSPG and dissociated by raising the ionic strength. The nonaggregated, CSPG- and GAG-treated LDL was subjected to oxidation by micromolar amounts of Cu+, Cu2+, Fe2+, and Fe3+. This treatment increased LDL susceptibility to Cu2+ oxidation 3- to 5-times, as indicated by the degradation rate of phospholipids and cholesteryl esters and formation rates of dienes and thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances (TBARS). Also, human macrophages degraded the CSPG-treated, Cu2+-oxidized LDL 3- to 6-times faster than native LDL similarly treated. No enhancement of oxidation was observed with Fe2+, Fe3+, and Cu+. Quenching of the LDL intrinsic fluorescence by Cu2+ showed that heparin, CSPG, and chondroitin-6-SO4 pretreatment increased the access of Cu2+ to hydrophobic chromophores, probably tryptophan, 6- to 7-, 3- to 4-, and 2- to 3-fold, respectively. Also, the affinity constant (Ka) of LDL for Cu2+ was increased from 0.12 microM to 0.20 microM by the treatment with CSPG and GAG. These results and evaluation of the fraction of surface-accessible LDL chromophores to acrylamide quenching suggest that the increased susceptibility to oxidation may be associated with an increase in the access of Cu2+ to hydrophobic regions in LDL caused by treatment with CSPG and GAG. This effect was not detected with Cu+, Fe2+, or Fe3+. The phenomenon may contribute to acceleration of the oxidative modifications of LDL in cell culture models and in vivo.

Modifications of low-density lipoprotein induced by arterial proteoglycans and chondroitin-6-sulfate

Association of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) with arterial chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPG) appears to contribute to their deposition in the extracellular intimal compartment and to its internalization by macrophages. CSPG and LDL interact by ionic bridges with formation of soluble and insoluble complexes. We studied the alterations on LDL structure induced by its association with arterial CSPG and other glycosaminoglycans (GAG). In soluble complexes, at low and physiological ionic strength, arterial CSPG and sulfated GAG modify the kinetics of apoB-100 proteolysis by trypsin. However, less marked alterations in the peptide patterns were observed with proteinase V8 and almost none with thermolysin. This is indirect evidence that the presence of CSPG and GAG modified the exposure of polar regions of apoB-100 in LDL. Competitive binding experiments with agarose-bound heparin and soluble GAG also suggest that after formation of insoluble complexes with arterial CSPG and resolubilization the exposure of Lys, Arg-rich segments of apoB-100 is increased. Results from differential scanning calorimetry and differential thermal spectrophotometry showed that the CSPG and GAG-induced modifications reduced the thermal stability of the surface and core in LDL. If present in vivo, the structural alterations of polar segments of the LDL protein moiety may influence the outcome of its alteration with the arterial mesenchyma.

Differential uptake of proteoglycan-selected subfractions of low density lipoprotein by human macrophages.

Macrophages and arterial chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPG) are probably associated with extracellular and intracellular lipoprotein deposition during atherogenesis. We found that human arterial CSPG can be used to select subclasses from low density lipoprotein (LDL) with different structural properties and capacities to interact with human monocyte-derived macrophages (HMDM). Four subclasses, LDL(PG)1 to LDL(PG)4, in order of decreasing CSPG-complexing capacity, were prepared and characterized in terms of their ability to interact with HMDM. The LDL subclasses with highest avidity for CSPG, LDL(PG)1 and LDL(PG)2, were bound, internalized, and degraded more efficiently than those of lower avidity for CSPG. From LDL(PG)1 to LDL(PG)4, the gradual decrease in uptake by HMDM and decreasing avidity for CSPG were associated with a gradual decrease in isoelectric point (from 5.93 to 5.68) and an augmented ratio of surface polar lipid to core nonpolar components (from 0.35 to 0.54). Competition experiments indicated that the proteoglycan-selected subfractions shared the binding sites and uptake mechanisms of native LDL. The results suggest the existence of a structurally related gradation in the avidity of LDL subpopulations for cells and matrix components. The presence within LDL subpopulations of a differential capacity to interact with intimal extracellular and cellular elements could be associated with a similar heterogeneity in their atherogenic potential.

Low-density lipoprotein binding affinity of arterial wall proteoglycans: characteristics of a chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan subfraction

The characteristics of an arterial wall chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CS-PG) subfraction that binds avidly to low-density lipoproteins (LDL) was studied. A large CS-PG was extracted from bovine aorta intima-media under dissociative conditions, purified by density-gradient centrifugation and gel filtration chromatography, and further subfractionated by affinity chromatography on LDL-agarose. A proteoglycan subfraction, representing 25% of the CS-PG, showed an elution profile (with dissociation from LDL-agarose occurring between 0.5 and 1.0 M NaCl) corresponding to that of heparin, heretofore considered to be the most strongly binding glycosaminoglycan with LDL. The proteoglycan subfraction which migrated as a single band on composite agarose-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis contained chondroitin 6-sulfate, chondroitin 4-sulfate and dermatan sulfate in a proportion of 70:22:8. The core protein of the proteoglycan had an apparent molecular weight of 245,000, and contained approx. 33 glycosaminoglycan chains with an average molecular weight of 32,000. The CS-PG subfraction, like heparin, formed insoluble complexes in the presence of 30 mM Ca2+. Complexing of LDL with proteoglycan resulted in two classes of interactions with 0.1 and 0.3 proteoglycan monomer bound per LDL particle characterized by an apparent Kd of 4 and 21 nM, respectively. This indicates that multiple LDL particles bind to single proteoglycan monomers even at saturation. In contrast, LDL-heparin interactions showed a major component characterized by an apparent Kd of 151 nM and a Bmax of 9 heparin molecules per LDL particle. The occurrence of a potent LDL-binding proteoglycan subfraction within the family of arterial CS-PG may be of importance in terms of lipid accumulation in atherogenesis.

Binding parameters and concentration modulate formation of complexes between LDL and arterial proteoglycans in serum

The interactions of LDL with extracellular matrix proteoglycans apparently contribute to the accumulation of apo B-lipoproteins in atherogenesis. Serum LDL forms insoluble complexes with human arterial chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPG). While the amount of insolubilized LDL varies, serum from survivors of myocardial infarcts and ischaemic subjects shows higher values of CSPG-insolubilized LDL than serum from controls. In this study, we explored the relationship between the formation of LDL-CSPG complexes in serum and some LDL properties, using binding isotherms and characterization of isolated LDL from 12 healthy controls and 12 young myocardial infarct survivors. The amount of LDL insolubilized in serum from solutions of CSPG was found to be a function of the product Bt (total binding) x the amount of serum LDL-cholesterol. Furthermore, the Bt values for the isolated LDL from controls and patients could be predicted with more than 70% certainty by using a multiple regression model which included the cholesterol/protein ratio, protein/triglyceride ratio, isoelectric point and the affinity coefficient of the lipoprotein for CSPG. The results indicate that LDL-CSPG measurements in serum are dependent upon both LDL concentration and structural properties which are related to its tendency to form complexes with arterial CSPG.

Arterial chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan: localization with a monoclonal antibody.

We generated a monoclonal antibody (Mab) against a large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) isolated from bovine aorta. This Mab (941) immunoprecipitates a CSPG synthesized by cultured monkey arterial smooth muscle cells. The immunoprecipitated CSPG is totally susceptible to chondroitinase ABC digestion and possesses a core glycoprotein of Mr approximately 400-500 KD. By use of immunofluorescence light microscopy and immunogold electron microscopy, the PG recognized by this Mab was shown to be deposited in the extracellular matrix of monkey arterial smooth muscle cell cultures in clusters which were not part of other fibrous matrix components and not associated with the cell's plasma membrane. With similar immunolocalization techniques, the CSPG antigen was found enriched in the intima and present in the medial portions of normal blood vessels, as well as in the interstitial matrix of thickened intimal lesions of atherosclerotic vessels. Immunoelectron microscopy revealed that this CSPG was confined principally to the space within the extracellular matrix not occupied by other matrix components, such as collagen and elastic fibers. These results indicate that this particular proteoglycan has a specific but restricted distribution in the extracellular matrix of arterial tissue.