scholarly journals Characterization of the activation of latent TGF-beta by co-cultures of endothelial cells and pericytes or smooth muscle cells: a self-regulating system.

1990 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 757-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Sato ◽  
R Tsuboi ◽  
R Lyons ◽  
H Moses ◽  
D B Rifkin

The conversion of latent transforming growth factor beta (LTGF-beta) to the active species, transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), has been characterized in heterotypic cultures of bovine aortic endothelial (BAE) cells and bovine smooth muscle cells (SMCs). The formation of TGF-beta in co-cultures of BAE cells and SMCs was documented by a specific radioreceptor competition assay, while medium from homotypic cultures of BAE cells or SMCs contained no active TGF-beta as determined by this assay. The concentration of TGF-beta in the conditioned medium of heterotypic co-cultures was estimated to be 400-1,200 pg/ml using the inhibition of BAE cell migration as an assay. Northern blotting of poly A+ RNA extracted from both homotypic and heterotypic cultures of BAE cells and SMCs revealed that BAE cells produced both TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2, while SMCs produced primarily TGF-beta 1. No change in the expression of these two forms of TGF-beta was apparent after 24 h in heterotypic cultures. Time course studies on the appearance of TGF-beta indicated that most of the active TGF-beta was generated within the first 12 h after the establishment of co-cultures. The generation of TGF-beta in co-cultures stimulated the production of the protease inhibitor plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). The inclusion of neutralizing antibodies to TGF-beta in the co-culture medium blocked the observed increase in PAI-1 levels. The increased expression of PAI-1 subsequent to TGF-beta formation blocked the activation of the protease required for conversion of LTGF-beta to TGF-beta as the inclusion of neutralizing antibodies to PAI-1 in the co-culture medium resulted in prolonged production of TGF-beta. This effect was lost upon removal of the PAI-1 antibodies. Thus, the activation of LTGF-beta appears to be a self-regulating system.

1989 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Sato ◽  
D B Rifkin

When a confluent monolayer of bovine aortic endothelial (BAE) cells is wounded with a razor blade, endothelial cells (ECs) spontaneously move into the denuded area. If bovine pericytes or smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are plated into the denuded area at low density, they block the movement of the ECs. This effect is dependent upon the number of cells plated into the wound area and contact between ECs and the plated cells. Antibodies to transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) abrogate the inhibition of BAE cell movement by pericytes or SMCs. TGF-beta 1, if added to wounded BAE cell monolayers, also inhibits cell movement. When cultured separately, BAE cells, pericytes, and SMCs each produce an inactive TGF-beta 1-like molecule which is activated in BAE cell-pericyte or BAE cell-SMC co-cultures. The activation appears to be mediated by plasmin as the inhibitory effect on cell movement in co-cultures of BAE cells and pericytes is blocked by the inclusion of inhibitors of plasmin in the culture medium.


1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (6) ◽  
pp. 1439-1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Kojima ◽  
P C Harpel ◽  
D B Rifkin

Conditioned medium (CM) derived from co-cultures of bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs) and bovine smooth muscle cells (BSMCs) contains transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) formed via a plasmin-dependent activation of latent TGF-beta (LTGF beta), which occurs in heterotypic but not in homotypic cultures (Sato, Y., and D. B. Rifkin. 1989. J. Cell Biol. 107: 1199-1205). The TGF-beta formed is able to block the migration of BSMCs or BAECs. We have found that the simultaneous addition to heterotypic culture medium of plasminogen and the atherogenic lipoprotein, lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), which contains plasminogen-like kringles, inhibits the activation of LTGF-beta in a dose-dependent manner. The inclusion of LDL in the culture medium did not show such an effect. Control experiments indicated that Lp(a) does not interfere with the basal level of cell migration, the activity of exogenous added TGF-beta, the release of LTGF-beta from cells, the activation of LTGF-beta either by plasmin or by transient acidification, or the activity of plasminogen activator. The addition of Lp(a) to the culture medium decreased the amount of plasmin found in BAECs/BSMCs cultures. Similar results were obtained using CM derived from cocultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells and human foreskin fibroblasts. These results suggest that Lp(a) can inhibit the activation of LTGF-beta by competing with the binding of plasminogen to cell or matrix surfaces. Therefore, high plasma levels of Lp(a) might enhance smooth muscle cell migration by decreasing the levels of the migration inhibitor TGF-beta thus contributing to generation of the atheromatous lesions.


1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
T A McCaffrey ◽  
D J Falcone

Previous studies have indicated that aged animals show an increased intimal hyperplasia after arterial injury. The present studies examined the hypothesis that the increased serum-free proliferation of aged smooth muscle cells (SMC), in vitro, was due to a loss of an antiproliferative signal, such as transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1). Northern blot analysis of the mRNA derived from old (> 19 mo) or young (3-4 mo) rat aortic SMC indicated that both groups had an equivalent level of the 2.5 kB TGF-beta 1 message. Metabolic labeling with 35S-methionine and immunoprecipitation for TGF-beta 1 confirmed the de novo synthesis of TGF-beta 1 in rat SMC. Old and young SMC supernatants showed equal levels of active or latent (acid-activated) TGF-beta activity. Despite the similarities in the production of TGF-beta 1, old SMC were refractory to inhibition by TGF-beta 1, whereas young SMC were markedly inhibited (80%) by low levels of TGF-beta 1 (IC50 < 5 pg/ml). Binding studies at 4 degrees C indicated that old SMC exhibited reduced binding capacity for 125I-TGF-beta 1. Cross-linking studies confirmed that old SMC showed reduced binding of 125I-TGF-beta 1 to membrane sites corresponding to the high molecular weight type III receptor, as well as the 85-kDa type II and 65-kDa type I receptor. However, at 37 degrees C, old SMC degraded 125I-TGF-beta 1 more rapidly than young SMC. Combined, this data suggests that SMC derived from older animals are capable of normal production of TGF-beta 1 but fail to respond to the autocrine growth inhibitory effects of this agent, thereby leading to enhanced proliferation.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4952-4958
Author(s):  
A Zentella ◽  
F M Weis ◽  
D A Ralph ◽  
M Laiho ◽  
J Massagué

The growth-suppressive function of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene product, RB, has been implicated in the mediation of growth inhibition and negative regulation of certain proliferation related genes by transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1). Early gene responses to TGF-beta 1 were examined in order to determine their dependence on the cell cycle and on the growth-suppressive function of RB. TGF-beta 1, which rapidly elevates the steady-state level of junB and PAI-1 mRNAs and decreases that of c-myc mRNA, induces these responses in S-phase populations of Mv1Lu lung epithelial cells containing RB in a phosphorylated state. Since in this state RB is presumed to lack growth-suppressive activity, the response to TGF-beta 1 was also examined in DU145 human prostate carcinoma cells whose mutant RB product lacks growth-suppressive function. In these cells, TGF-beta 1 also decreases c-myc expression at the transcription initiation level. These results suggests that the c-myc, junB, and PAI-1 responses to TGF-beta 1 are not restricted to the G1 phase of the cell cycle and that down-regulation of c-myc expression by TGF-beta 1 can occur through a mechanism independent from the growth-suppressive function of RB.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 4952-4958 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Zentella ◽  
F M Weis ◽  
D A Ralph ◽  
M Laiho ◽  
J Massagué

The growth-suppressive function of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene product, RB, has been implicated in the mediation of growth inhibition and negative regulation of certain proliferation related genes by transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1). Early gene responses to TGF-beta 1 were examined in order to determine their dependence on the cell cycle and on the growth-suppressive function of RB. TGF-beta 1, which rapidly elevates the steady-state level of junB and PAI-1 mRNAs and decreases that of c-myc mRNA, induces these responses in S-phase populations of Mv1Lu lung epithelial cells containing RB in a phosphorylated state. Since in this state RB is presumed to lack growth-suppressive activity, the response to TGF-beta 1 was also examined in DU145 human prostate carcinoma cells whose mutant RB product lacks growth-suppressive function. In these cells, TGF-beta 1 also decreases c-myc expression at the transcription initiation level. These results suggests that the c-myc, junB, and PAI-1 responses to TGF-beta 1 are not restricted to the G1 phase of the cell cycle and that down-regulation of c-myc expression by TGF-beta 1 can occur through a mechanism independent from the growth-suppressive function of RB.


1993 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 995-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Flaumenhaft ◽  
M Abe ◽  
Y Sato ◽  
K Miyazono ◽  
J Harpel ◽  
...  

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) is released from cells in a latent form consisting of the mature growth factor associated with an aminoterminal propeptide and latent TGF-beta binding protein (LTBP). The endogenous activation of latent TGF-beta has been described in co-cultures of endothelial and smooth muscle cells. However, the mechanism of this activation remains unknown. Antibodies to native platelet LTBP and to a peptide fragment of LTBP inhibit in a dose-dependent manner the activation of latent TGF-beta normally observed when endothelial cells are cocultured with smooth muscle cells. Inhibition of latent TGF-beta activation was also observed when cells were co-cultured in the presence of an excess of free LTBP. These data represent the first demonstration of a function for the LTBP in the extracellular regulation of TGF-beta activity and indicate that LTBP participates in the activation of latent TGF-beta, perhaps by concentrating the latent growth factor on the cell surface where activation occurs.


1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 2403-2410 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Laiho ◽  
O Saksela ◽  
P A Andreasen ◽  
J Keski-Oja

Cultured human embryonic lung fibroblasts were used as a model to study the effects of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) on the plasminogen activator (PA) activity released by nontumorigenic cells into the culture medium. The cells were exposed to TGF beta under serum-free conditions, and the changes in PA activity and protein metabolism were analyzed by caseinolysis-in-agar assays, zymography, and polypeptide analysis. Treatment of the cells with TGF beta caused a significant decrease in the PA activity of the culture medium as analyzed by the caseinolysis-in-agar assays. The quantitatively most prominent effect of TGF beta on confluent cultures of cells was the induction of an Mr 47,000 protein, as detected by metabolic labeling. The Mr 47,000 protein was a PA inhibitor as judged by reverse zymography. It was antigenically related to a PA inhibitor secreted by HT-1080 tumor cells as demonstrated with monoclonal antibodies. The induced Mr 47,000 inhibitor was deposited into the growth substratum of the cells, as detected by metabolic labeling, immunoblotting analysis, and reverse zymography assays of extracellular matrix preparations. TGF beta also decreased the amounts of urokinase-type and tissue-type PAs accumulated in the conditioned medium, as detected by zymography. Epidermal growth factor antagonized the inhibitory effects of TGF beta by enhancing the amounts of the PAs. These results indicate that growth factors modulate the proteolytic balance of cultured cells by altering the amounts of PAs and their inhibitors.


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