Glomerular Extracellular Matrices Research Articles

Macrophage-derived MT1-MMP and increased MMP-2 activity are associated with glomerular damage in crescentic glomerulonephritis.

Membrane-type matrix metalloproteinases (MT-MMPs) have been shown to activate pro-MMP-2 on the cell surface and are suggested to be key enzymes in tissue remodelling under various physiological and pathological conditions. To investigate the role of MT-MMP in progressive renal injury, the gene expression and enzymatic activity of MT-MMP were examined in crescentic glomerulonephritis induced by anti-glomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibody in WKY rats. Isolated glomeruli were subjected to RNA and protein extraction 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, and 28 days after intravenous injection of rabbit anti-GBM antibody. Semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that among the three members of the MT-MMP family, mRNA expression of MT2-MMP remained unchanged and that of MT3-MMP was not observed in glomeruli during the development of nephritis. However, MT1-MMP gene expression increased from day 3 and reached maximum levels at day 7 (5.5+/-0.7-fold increase over day 0), closely associated with macrophage accumulation, crescent formation, and increased proteinuria. Gelatin zymography showed that the active from of MMP-2 emerged from day 7 and remained during the experimental period accompanied by increased proMMP-2, while no active form of MMP-2 was found in control rats. Using an antisense cRNA probe, intense signals of MT1-MMP mRNA were observed mostly in cells within the crescent and in some cells in the mesangial areas. Most of these cells were ED-1-positive macrophages, based on immunostaining of sequential sections. These results suggested that in the MT-MMP family, MT1-MMP was induced in infiltrating macrophages during the development of crescentic glomerulonephritis and possibly contributed to pathological degradation of glomerular extracellular matrices through the activation of proMMP-2.

Localization of fibril/microfibril and basement membrane collagens in diabetic glomerulosclerosis in type 2 diabetes.

Collagen is one of the major components of the extracellular matrices of the kidney. Basement membrane collagen, type IV collagen, is the major component in normal glomeruli. Fibril and interstitial collagen such as type III collagen, type V collagen, and type VI collagen are minor components of glomerular extracellular matrices and are localized mainly in the interstitium. Diabetic glomerulosclerosis is characterized by the expansion of the glomerular mesangial matrix as well as by thickening of the glomerular basement membrane. In order to clarify the roles of these various types of collagen in the development of diabetic glomerulosclerosis, immunohistochemical studies were performed in kidney specimens from patients with Type 2 diabetes. Early glomerulosclerosis is characterized by expansion of mesangial matrix with basement membrane collagen. However, in later stages glomerulosclerosis is characterized by an increase in the minor collagen components, such as type V and type VI collagen or collagens not normally present, such as type III collagen. Mesangial cells are known to synthesize all these types of collagen. In diabetes, phenotypic change in mesangial cells might produce excess amounts of fibril and interstitial collagen such as type III, type V, and type VI collagen, thus, leading to glomerulosclerosis.

Alterations in glomerular extracellular matrix components in glomerulonephritis.

We investigated alterations in the main components of glomerular extracellular matrices, including heparansulfate proteoglycan (HS-PG), laminin, type IV collagen and fibronectin in the renal tissues of 61 patients with various types of glomerulonephritis. Indirect immunofluorescence stainings with polyclonal antibodies of these extracellular matrix components were performed. In minimal change nephrotic syndrome, no remarkable changes were observed. In membranous glomerulonephritis, non-collagenous components, such as HS-PG and laminin altered in distribution, forming spikes in stage II and circles between or around the immune deposits in stage III. These changes were observed more clearly in HS-PG and laminin than in type IV collagen. These results suggested that non-collagenous components played an important role in repairing the GBM. In membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis and IgA nephropathy, type IV collagen and fibronectin expanded in the proliferated mesangial area. These findings showed that there was a close relationship between these extracellular matrix and the progression of glomerulosclerosis. In dense deposit disease, double contour of staining of HS-PG, laminin and type IV collagen was observed along the capillary wall. These findings suggested that there were no main extracellular matrix components within the dense materials.

Glomerular extracellular matrices in rat diabetic glomerulopathy by scanning electron microscopy.

Characteristic pathological changes in the glomeruli in diabetic nephropathy include expansion of the mesangial matrix and thickening of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM). Using an acellular digestion technique combined with scanning electron microscopy, the three-dimensional ultrastructural changes in glomerular extracellular matrices were studied in rats with diabetic glomerulopathy. Diabetes was induced by the intravenous injection of streptozotocin and morphological analyses were performed 3, 6 and 11 months after the injection. Expansion of mesangial area and GBM thickening became evident with time. After treatment with the series of detergents, all cellular components were completely removed leaving the extracellular matrices intact. In normal controls, the mesangial matrix appeared as fenestrated septa with oval or round stomata between the glomerular capillaries. In diabetic glomerulopathy, expansion of mesangial matrix and narrowing of the mesangial fenestrae were observed. These changes in the mesangial matrices seem to play a vital role in the progression of glomerulosclerosis in rat diabetes. A subendothelial thin layer of the GBM was continuous with the mesangial matrix. One cause of GBM thickening in streptozotocin diabetes may be expansion of the mesangial matrix into the peripheral GBM.

Heparan sulfate proteoglycans are lost in patients with diabetic nephropathy.

The pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy relative to the changes in the glomerular extracellular matrices was investigated. Renal tissues from 10 diabetic patients were immunostained with antibodies directed against heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HS-PGs), laminin, type IV collagen and fibronectin. Seven patients were nephrotic and had advanced glomerulosclerosis with nodular lesion, while the other 3 had no renal manifestations or minor glomerular tissue alterations. Controls included kidneys removed from patients with renal tumors and specimens obtained by renal biopsy from patients with IgA nephropathy. Relationships among proteinuria, intensity of fluorescence and glomerular changes were studied. In diabetes 3 patients with minor glomerular lesions were found to have no changes in various components of extracellular matrices. A marked reduction in the intensity of staining with anti-HS-PG antibodies was observed in renal specimens from patients with nodular glomerulosclerosis and proteinuria, while a mild decrease in the intensity of fluorescence was observed in tissues stained with antilaminin antibodies. An increase compared to normal control sample findings in type IV collagen and fibronectin was observed in the mesangium of sclerosing glomeruli. No loss of HS-PG was observed in patients with IgA nephropathy. These results indicate that glomerular extracellular matrix HS-PG is lost in association with diabetic nephropathy; this loss results in alteration of the charge-selective properties of glomerular capillaries. This alteration may, in part, be the cause of the proteinuria associated with diabetic nephropathy.

Changes in glomerular extracellular matrices components in diabetic nephropathy

The changes in glomerular extracellular matrices components in diabetic nephropathy were investigated. Indirect immunofluorescence staining, using polyclonal antibodies to heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HS-PG), laminin, type IV collagen, and fibronectin was carried out on renal specimens obtained by needle biopsy. Immunofluorescence intensity and distribution were observed. HS-PG and laminin decreased in the capillary walls; on the other hand, type IV collagen and fibronectin tended to increase in the mesangial area. HS-PG and laminin decreased in inverse proportion to sclerosis grades and proteinuria. These changes seemed to play an important role in progression of diabetic glomerulosclerosis.

Three-dimensional architecture of glomerular extracellular matrices in diabetic glomerulosclerosis

The three-dimensional ultrastructural changes of the glomerular extracellular matrices in diabetic glomerulosclerosis were studied in acellular rat and human diabetic glomeruli by scanning electron microscopy. The mesangial matrix appeared as fenestrated septa with oval stomata between the glomerular capillaries in normal control specimens. In diabetic glomerulosclerosis, both in humans and rats, expansion of mesangial matrix and narrowing of the mesangial fenestrae were observed. A thin layer of the mesangial matrix extended into the peripheral glomerular basement membrane (GBM) subendothelially. Thickening of the GBM in diabetic nephropathy might be due to expansion of the mesangial matrix into the peripheral GBM.

Release of Glomerular Heparan-35SO4 Proteoglycan by Heparin From Glomeruli of Streptozocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Abnormalities in the incorporation of heparan sulfate proteoglycan into the glomerular basement membrane have been implicated in the pathogenesis of various proteinuric states, including diabetes mellitus. To understand further the interactions between proteoglycans and glomerular extracellular matrices, glomeruli were isolated from normal and streptozocin-induced diabetic rats after in vivo exposure to 35S-labeled sulfate and were treated with heparin in vitro. Heparin treatment released a unique heparan sulfate proteoglycan from glomerular cell surface or extracellular matrix proteoglycan receptors. Another, smaller heparan sulfate proteoglycan was the most abundant proteoglycan released into medium and was released constitutively in medium with or without added heparin. While the two heparin-extracted proteoglycans copurified on anion-exchange and gel-filtration chromatographic columns, they were resolved by composite 0.6% agarose--1.8% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Glomeruli from diabetic rats contained decreased proportions of the heparin-releasable heparan sulfate proteoglycan and more constitutively released heparan sulfate proteoglycan. The apparent molecular weight and intrinsic charge of the heparin-released proteoglycan mixture and the apparent molecular weight and sulfation pattern of their 35S-labeled glycosaminoglycan chains after nitrous acid deaminative cleavage were similar in the two groups. A brief trypsin digestion of heparin-treated glomeruli released proportionately less integral membrane and extracellular matrix 35S-labeled proteoglycans and 35S-labeled glycopeptides from diabetic glomeruli than form control glomeruli. Elution of these 35S-labeled macromolecules from anion-exchange columns and migration in agarose-polyacrylamide gels were similar in the two groups. Abnormalities in proteoglycan-matrix interactions or proteoglycan processing may account for changes in the proportions of heparin- and trypsin-extracted proteoglycan compartments in diabetes.

De novo cellular synthesis of sulfated proteoglycans of the developing renal glomerulus in vivo.

The site of cellular synthesis of glomerular proteoglycans was investigated in developing glomeruli of 4- to 5-day-old rats. [35S]Sulfate was administered intravenously and animals were sacrificed 15 min to 12 hr later. The outermost layers of the kidney cortices were utilized for characterization of proteoglycans and electron microscopic autoradiography. Sepharose CL-6B chromatography and cellulose acetate electrophoresis revealed that most (approximately equal to 96%) of the radioactivity was associated with heparan sulfate-proteoglycan synthesized during maturation of glomerular capillaries. Tissue autoradiography revealed the following: (i) during the S-shaped body stage, there is rapid incorporation of [35S]sulfate by mesenchymal cells into the cleft region (site for development of future glomerular extracellular matrices); (ii) during the precapillary stage, mesenchyme-derived cells showed higher incorporation of radioisotope than did epithelial cells; and (iii) during the mature capillary stage, all glomerular cell types (mesangial, endothelial, and epithelial) incorporated [35S]sulfate, incorporation by mesangial cells being the greatest. Radiolabeling was also higher in the mesangial matrix than in the glomerular basement membrane of peripheral capillary loops. Synthesis of a single major species of sulfated glycosaminoglycan by cells of different embryologic origin may be unique to glomerular capillaries.

Effect of beta-D-xyloside on the glomerular proteoglycans. I. Biochemical studies.

The effect of p-nitrophenyl-beta-D-xylopyranoside on glomerular extracellular matrices (glomerular basement membrane and mesangial matrix) proteoglycans was studied. The proteoglycans of rat kidneys were labeled with [35S]sulfate in the presence or absence of beta-xyloside (2.5 mM) by using an isolated organ perfusion system. The proteoglycans from the glomeruli and perfusion medium were isolated and characterized by Sepharose CL-6B chromatography and by their behavior in CsCl density gradients. With xyloside treatment there was a twofold decrease in 35S-labeled macromolecules in the tissues but a twofold increase in those recovered in the medium as compared with the control. The labeled proteoglycans extracted from control kidneys eluted as a single peak with Kav = 0.25 (Mr = approximately 130,000), and approximately 95% of the radioactivity was associated with heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HS-PG), the remainder with chondroitin (or dermatan) sulfate proteoglycan (CS-PG). In the xyloside-treated kidneys, the proteoglycans extracted from the tissue eluted as two peaks, Kav = 0.25 (Mr = approximately 130,000) and 0.41 (Mr = approximately 46,000), which contained approximately 40 and approximately 60% of the total radioactivity, respectively. The first peak contained mostly the HS-PG (approximately 90%) while the second peak had a mixture of HS-PG (approximately 70%) and CS-PG (approximately 30%). In controls, approximately 90% of the radioactivity, mostly HS-PG, was confined to high density fractions of a CsCl density gradient. In contrast, in xyloside experiments, both HS-PG and CS-PG were distributed in variable proportions throughout the gradient. The incorporated 35S activity in the medium of xyloside-treated kidneys was twice that of the controls and had three to four times the amount of free chondroitin (or dermatan) sulfate glycosaminoglycan chains. The data suggest that beta-xyloside inhibits the addition of de novo synthesized glycosaminoglycan chains onto the core protein of proteoglycans and at the same time stimulates the synthesis of chondroitin or dermatan sulfate chains which are mainly discharged into the perfusion medium.

Decreased de novo synthesis of glomerular proteoglycans in diabetes: biochemical and autoradiographic evidence.

The experimental model of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats was utilized to determine the biosynthetic and biochemical alterations in the proteoglycans of the glomerular extracellular matrices (glomerular basement membrane and mesangial matrix) in diabetic nephropathy. Isolated kidneys from diabetic and control groups of animals were radiolabeled in an organ perfusion apparatus with [35S]sulfate of high specific activity (greater than 1,200 Ci/mmol; 1 Ci = 3.7 x 10(10) Bq) and processed for electron microscopic autoradiography, and the proteoglycans of the glomerular extracellular matrices were characterized. The results indicate that [35S]sulfate incorporation into glomerular extracellular matrices of diabetic animals was 30-40% less than that of the control group; however, no differences in the biochemical properties of the de novo synthesized proteoglycans from either group were observed. The relevance of the decreased de novo synthesis of sulfated proteoglycans of glomerular extracellular matrices is discussed in terms of increased glomerular permeability to plasma proteins and reduction in the glomerular filtration rate.