Monoclonal antibodies against synthesized short peptides corresponding to human AA amyloid protein

Monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) were raised against the synthesized short peptides corresponding to 37-47 residues in amino acid sequence of human AA protein. The McAbs reacted immunohistochemically to amyloid tissues from cow, mouse, swan, and human AA amyloidosis. We concluded that the McAbs were useful for identification of AA type amyloidosis of various species, and that the 37-47 residues were effective antigenic sites in AA protein.     

Experimental amyloidosis in the hamster: correlation between hamster female protein levels and amyloid deposition.

Reactive systemic AA amyloidosis was induced in female, male and castrated male hamsters either by repeated injection of casein or by injection of amyloid enhancing factor (AEF) followed by casein. The circulating concentrations of serum amyloid A protein (SAA), the putative precursor of the AA amyloid fibril protein, and of female protein (FP), the pentraxin homologue of serum amyloid P component (SAP) of other species, were measured and correlated with the speed and extent of amyloid deposition. The SAA responses of the three groups of hamsters were indistinguishable in both experiments but, in confirmation of previous reports, castrated males had FP levels higher than those of control males though still lower than in females. No differences were seen between groups in amyloid induction by casein injection alone. However, in the accelerated model using AEF, amyloid deposition occurred sooner and was more extensive in both females and castrated males than in unoperated males. These results strengthen the association between SAP, of which FP is the hamster counterpart, and the pathogenesis of amyloidosis.     

Inactivation of amyloid-enhancing factor (AEF): study on experimental murine AA amyloidosis

It is known that amyloid-enhancing factor (AEF) shortens the preamyloid phase in experimentally induced AA amyloidosis in mice. Because it is reported that AEF serves as both a nidus and a template for amyloid formation, AA amyloidosis may have transmissibility by a prion-like mechanism. It has been shown that amyloid fibrils also have AEF activity, and amyloid fibrils with AEF activity were named fibril-amyloid enhancing factor (F-AEF). In this study, we investigated methods to inactivate the AEF activity. AEF was extracted from the thyroid gland obtained at autopsy of a patient with AA amyloidosis. Before injection into mice, AEF was treated with several methods for inactivation. Of all the tested treatments, 1 N NaOH, 0.1 N NaOH, and autoclaving consistently demonstrated complete inactivation of AEF. Heat treatment led to incomplete inactivation, but 0.01 N NaOH, 0.001 N NaOH, pepsin, trypsin, pronase, and proteinase K treatment had no effect on AEF activity. By analysis with transmission electron microscopy, the AEF preparation contains amyloid fibrils, and a change of ultrastructure was shown after 1 N NaOH, 0.1 N NaOH, and autoclaving treatment. Furthermore, immunoblotting of AEF with antihuman AA antibody revealed that the protein band was scarcely found after autoclaving, 1 N NaOH, and 0.1 N NaOH treatment. Our results suggest that, similar to Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), amyloidosis may require chemical or autoclaving decontamination.     

Serum amyloid A gene expression and AA amyloid formation in A/J and SJL/J mice.

Serum amyloid A (SAA) gene expression and AA amyloid fibril formation were studied in A/J and SJL/J mice, two strains which have been reported to possess defects in AA fibril formation. Four types of inflammatory stimulation were employed: acute inflammation stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), chronic inflammation with casein in complete Freund''s adjuvant, amyloidosis with injection of amyloid enhancing factor (AEF) together with casein in complete Freund''s adjuvant, and non-amyloidogenic inflammation in the presence of AEF with injection of AEF together with LPS. Both A/J and SJL/J mice developed splenic amyloidosis 1 day after initiation of chronic inflammation in the presence of AEF. No amyloid deposits were detected during any of the other types of inflammation. Amyloidotic mice exhibited decreased amounts of SAA mRNA in liver and spleen concomitant with decreased amounts of SAA in serum. Alpha-I-acid glycoprotein mRNA was present in liver throughout the course of AEF accelerated amyloidosis, indicating that decreased SAA gene expression and AA fibril formation is not part of a general inhibitory effect of AEF on protein synthesis.     

Activities of lysosomal enzymes and levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) in blood plasma of hamsters during casein induction of AA-amyloidosis.

Casein-induced amyloidosis in hamsters was found to be of the AA-type, as shown by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and amino acid analysis of the major low-molecular weight component of the amyloid fibrils. Levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) and the activities of cathepsin D, beta-N-glucosaminidase, serine esterase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) were measured in the blood plasma during induction of amyloidosis. During the pre-amyloid phase an increase was observed in all these parameters. During the deposition of amyloid, an increase was observed in the activities of the lysosomal enzymes cathepsin D and beta-N-glucosaminidase, which was significantly correlated with amyloid deposition. Serine esterase activities did not show any relationship to amyloid deposition. LDH and GGT activities were normal in the amyloid phase. SAA levels were lower during amyloid deposition than during the pre-amyloid phase. These findings indicate that a specific release of lysosomal contents from mononuclear phagocytic cells is involved in the pathogenesis of AA-amyloidosis. Amyloid deposition may be the result of: (i) extrusion of intralysosomal protein AA or pre-amyloid, followed by extracellular formation of amyloid fibrils; (ii) secretion of lysosomal enzymes, followed by extracellular cleavage of SAA and subsequent aggregation of protein AA with other components.     

Activities of lysosomal enzymes and levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) in blood plasma of hamsters during casein induction of AA-amyloidosis

Casein-induced amyloidosis in hamsters was found to be of the AA-type, as shown by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and amino acid analysis of the major low-molecular weight component of the amyloid fibrils. Levels of serum amyloid A (SAA) and the activities of cathepsin D, beta-N-glucosaminidase, serine esterase, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) were measured in the blood plasma during induction of amyloidosis. During the pre-amyloid phase an increase was observed in all these parameters. During the deposition of amyloid, an increase was observed in the activities of the lysosomal enzymes cathepsin D and beta-N-glucosaminidase, which was significantly correlated with amyloid deposition. Serine esterase activities did not show any relationship to amyloid deposition. LDH and GGT activities were normal in the amyloid phase. SAA levels were lower during amyloid deposition than during the pre-amyloid phase. These findings indicate that a specific release of lysosomal contents from mononuclear phagocytic cells is involved in the pathogenesis of AA-amyloidosis. Amyloid deposition may be the result of: (i) extrusion of intralysosomal protein AA or pre-amyloid, followed by extracellular formation of amyloid fibrils; (ii) secretion of lysosomal enzymes, followed by extracellular cleavage of SAA and subsequent aggregation of protein AA with other components.     

Ubiquitin profile in inflammatory leukocytes and binding of ubiquitin to murine AA amyloid: Immunocytochemical and immunogold electron microscopic studies

Lysosomes in activated murine monocytoid cells have been implicated in AA amyloid formation. The pathophysiology of this process is not well understood. Previous studies into the nature of the relationship between ubiquitin (UB), possessing intrinsic amyloid enhancing factor (AEF) activity; serum amyloid A (SAA), the precursor protein of AA amyloid; and activated monocytoid cells have indicated a temporal and spatial relationship between these proteins and tissue AA amyloid deposits. To extend these findings, we have examined murine peritoneal leukocytes and splenic tissues during the early amyloid deposition phase by immunocytochemical and immunogold electron microscopic methods using monospecific anti-ubiquitin and anti-mouse AA amyloid antibodies. We show here enrichment of endosome–lysosome-like (EL) vesicles in the activated monocytoid cells with UB and SAA, and the presence of UB-bound AA amyloid fibrils in the EL vesicles, perikarya, and interstitial spaces. The importance of these findings is emphasized by the fact that activated monocytoid cells, containing UB in the EL vesicles, sequester and eventually localize SAA in their EL vesicles, and that UB binds to the EL-contained AA amyloid fibrils. These findings may also have functional consequences for studies on the role of EL and UB in amyloidogenesis.     

Serum amyloid A gene expression and AA amyloid formation in A/J and SJL/J mice

Serum amyloid A (SAA) gene expression and AA amyloid fibril formation were studied in A/J and SJL/J mice, two strains which have been reported to possess defects in AA fibril formation. Four types of inflammatory stimulation were employed: acute inflammation stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), chronic inflammation with casein in complete Freund's adjuvant, amyloidosis with injection of amyloid enhancing factor (AEF) together with casein in complete Freund's adjuvant, and non-amyloidogenic inflammation in the presence of AEF with injection of AEF together with LPS. Both A/J and SJL/J mice developed splenic amyloidosis 1 day after initiation of chronic inflammation in the presence of AEF. No amyloid deposits were detected during any of the other types of inflammation. Amyloidotic mice exhibited decreased amounts of SAA mRNA in liver and spleen concomitant with decreased amounts of SAA in serum. Alpha-I-acid glycoprotein mRNA was present in liver throughout the course of AEF accelerated amyloidosis, indicating that decreased SAA gene expression and AA fibril formation is not part of a general inhibitory effect of AEF on protein synthesis.     

MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AGAINST SYNTHESIZED SHORT PEPTIDES CORRESPONDING TO HUMAN AA AMYLOID PROTEIN

Monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) were raised against the synthesized short peptides corresponding to37–47 residues in amino acid sequence of human AA protein. The McAbs reacted immunohistochemically to amyloid tissues from cow, mouse, swan, and human AA amyloidosis. We concluded that the McAbs were useful for identification of AA type amyloidosis of various species, and that the37–47 residues were effective antigenic sites in AA protein. ACTA PATHOL. JPN. 37:1135–1142, 1987.     

Morphologic and chemical variation of the kidney lesions in amyloidosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis

The kidneys of 20 patients who died of secondary systemic amyloidosis due to rheumatoid arthritis were studied histologically, and four of these were shown to have an uncommon pattern of deposition with almost no glomerular involvement but heavy deposits in the outer zone of the medulla. In three of the four patients frozen tissue was available. Immunochemical characterization of amyloid fibrils from these three cases showed that the major subunit amyloid fibril protein was protein AA, typical of secondary amyloidosis. Gel chromatography of fibrils revealed an uncommon elution pattern with two retarded major protein peaks. Both these proteins showed immunologic identity with protein AA and had N-terminal amino acid sequences identical with that protein but differed in size obviously due to a shortening of the C-terminal in one of the proteins. The reason for the correlation between the pattern of deposition of amyloid and alterations in protein AA is unclear but might be due to variations in enzymes responsible for the cleavage of the amyloid fibril subunit precursor protein SAA.     

Characterization of Bovine Amyloid Proteins SAA and AA

The bovine serum amyloid A (SAA) and tissue amyloid A (AA) proteins were isolated and characterized. SAA was isolated from acute phase high density lipoprotein (HDL) of a cow suffering from acute mastitis, and was identified by amino acid sequence analysis. No AA-like protein was found in complex with HDL in serum. Amyloid fibrils isolated from a bovine kidney contained a 9 kDa AA protein and a considerable amount of a 14 kDa protein. Amino acid sequence analysis showed that the largest protein probably represents undegraded SAA. This is an interesting observation which confirms previous works indicating that SAA can be incorporated in the amyloid fibrils without a prior degradation to AA. The partial amino acid sequences of bovine SAA and AA were strikingly homologous to the sequences of corresponding proteins in man and other species.     

Ubiquitin: its potential significance in murine AA amyloidogenesis.

Amyloid enhancing factor (AEF), which has recently been shown to have identity with ubiquitin (Ub), is believed to play a causative role in experimentally induced AA amyloidosis in mice. We have examined the profile of Ub in activated leukocytes and splenic reticulo-endothelial (RE) cells and its relationship with serum amyloid A protein (SAA) and AA amyloid deposits in an alveolar hydatid cyst (AHC)-infected mouse model of AA amyloidosis. Two monospecific antibodies, anti-ubiquitin (RABU) and anti-mouse AA amyloid, were used as immunological probes to localize Ub, SAA, and AA amyloid. In response to AHC infection, the dull and diffuse Ub immunoreactivity in normal mouse leukocytes and RE cells promptly changed to a discrete granular pattern suggesting an increase in the intracellular concentration of Ub and the formation of Ub-protein conjugates. This corresponded to an elevation in SAA levels, SAA uptake by RABU-positive phagocytic cells, co-localization of Ub-SAA immunoreactive splenocytes in the perifollicular areas, and deposition of Ub-bound AA amyloid in the splenic and hepatic tissues. These results suggest that Ub-loaded monocytoid cells may play an important role in the physiological processing of the sequestered SAA into AA amyloid. Aspects of AA amyloidogenesis are discussed in relation to other experimental models in which stress-induced Ub-protein conjugate formation and its transport to lysosomal vesicles have been studied.     

A serum AA-like protein as a common constituent of secondary amyloid fibrils

Amyloid fibrils, purified from the spleen of four patients with amyloidosis associated with rheumatoid arthritis, had protein AA as a major protein. Besides this protein, all four amyloid fibril preparations contained a protein which in size, amino acid composition and N-terminal amino acid sequence was the same as the postulated serum precursor of protein AA, serum AA (SAA). The SAA-like amyloid fibril protein had a tendency to aggregate in neutral conditions, a phenomenon which is also seen in SAA but not in protein AA.     

Is the serum amyloid A protein in acute phase plasma high density lipoprotein the precursor of AA amyloid fibrils?

Serum amyloid A protein (SAA), an apolipoprotein of high density lipoprotein (HDL), is generally considered to be the precursor of AA protein, which forms the fibrils in reactive systemic amyloidosis in man and animals. This view is based on amino acid sequence identity between AA and the amino-terminal portion of SAA. However, in extensive and well-controlled studies of experimentally induced murine AA amyloidosis, we were unable to demonstrate a direct precursor-product relationship between SAA, in SAA-rich HDL preparations from acute phase or amyloidotic mouse or human serum, and AA protein in the amyloid deposits. This raises the possibility that SAA in its usual form, as an apolipoprotein of HDL synthesized during the acute phase response, may not be the major precursor of AA fibrils. The amyloidogenic forms of circulating SAA molecules may not be isolated during the preparation of HDL. Alternatively, particularly in the light of recent evidence that SAA mRNA is expressed in many different tissues throughout the body of appropriately stimulated animals, amyloidogenic SAA may be derived from sources other than the liver cells in which SAA-rich HDL is synthesized.     

Recombinant Human Tumour Necrosis Factor-α (rhTNF-α) and rhTNF-α Analogue Enhance Amyloid Deposition in the Syrian Hamster

Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is one of the cytokines that stimulate the production of serum amyloid A (SAA), the precursor of AA amyloid. The role of TNF-α in amyloidogenesis was investigated in experimental hamsters using purified recombinant human TNF-α (rhTNF-α) and rhTNF-α analogue different from the normal molecule by two amino acid substitutions. Daily injections of 1 μ g rhTNF-α resulted in elevated SAA levels but even in the presence of amyloid enhancing factor (AEF) no amyloid was deposited, indicating that apart from the AEF and one particular SAA stimulating factor an additional factor is needed to result in amyloid deposition. This factor is generated by repeated injections of E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS).
A single intraperitoneal injection of 12,5 μg or more of rhTNF-ä followed by seven daily subcutaneous injections of LPS resulted in enhanced amyloid deposition. Heat denaturation of rhTNF-α did abolish its AEF activity. The rhTNF-α analogue, having one-fifth of the cytotoxic activity of the normal rhTNF-α, showed a similar reduction in its SAA-inducing capacity and its amyloidogenicity. This suggests the AEF activity to be closely related to TNF-α activity. However, poly(I)poly(C) (a potent inducer of IL-6) also showed AEF activity, suggesting that not a single cytokine but rather a certain combination of different cytokines could be decisive in AA amyloidogenesis.     

An Experimental Model in Mink for Studying the Relation Between Amyloid Fibril Protein AA and the Related Serum Protein, SAA

Experimental amyloidosis was induced in mink by repeated injections with endotoxin. Amyloid fibrils extracted from liver and spleen were fractionated by gel filtration after treatment with guanidine-hydrochloride and a reducing agent, dithiothreitol. An elution profile very similar to that of human amyloid fibrils, having protein AA as a major component, was obtained. The mink amyloid protein eluted at a position similar to that of human protein AA was by amino acid composition and partial sequence studies shown to be very similar to the latter protein and was called mink protein AA. In addition, a protein AA-related component (protein SAA) was found in increased amounts in serum of amyloidotic mink, providing further evidence of the homology with human amy-loidosis. Experimental amyloidosis in mink represents a suitable model for studying amyloid proteins and related serum components.     

An Experimental Model in Mink for Studying the Relation Between Amyloid Fibril Protein AA and the Related Serum Protein, SAA

Experimental amyloidosis was induced in mink by repeated injections with endotoxin. Amyloid fibrils extracted from liver and spleen were fractionated by gel filtration after treatment with guanidine-hydrochloride and a reducing agent, dithiothreitol. An elution profile very similar to that of human amyloid fibrils, having protein AA as a major component, was obtained. The mink amyloid protein eluted at a position similar to that of human protein AA was by amino acid composition and partial sequence studies shown to be very similar to the latter protein and was called mink protein AA. In addition, a protein AA-related component (protein SAA) was found in increased amounts in serum of amyloidotic mink, providing further evidence of the homology with human amyloids. Experimental amyloidosis in mink represents a suitable model for studying amyloid proteins and related serum components.     

Amyloid enhancing factor-loaded macrophages in amyloid fibril formation

Amyloid enhancing factor (AEF) is believed to be a key agent that triggers the second (deposition) phase of amyloidogenesis. However, the target cells of AEF activation and their function after the activation have not yet been clearly identified. We found that peritoneal resident cells from amyloidotic mice contained very high AEF activity. With a simultaneous subcutaneous injection of 1.0 ml of the casein-adjuvant emulsion, an intravenous injection of 10,000 cells was consistently capable of inducing amyloidosis in a recipient mouse in 72 hours. After 2-hour cultures, the major AEF activity was found in the adherent cells (macrophages). An intravenous injection of 5 to 10 million of the live macrophages with the casein-adjuvant injection caused amyloid deposits in the recipient not only in the spleen and the liver but also in the lung (an extremely rare site of AA amyloid deposition). We have interpreted this finding to indicate that the injected AEF-loaded macrophages, while still residing in the lung and exposed to the blood stream, processed SAA to form amyloid. We further tested this postulate in an in vitro system. In a 4-day culture of the AEF-loaded macrophages in a medium containing SAA-rich mouse serum, small masses (less than 15 microns in diameter) of Congo red positive substance were observed scattered adjacent to or surrounded by the macrophages. The present observations lend strong credence to the conclusion that AEF-loaded macrophages are fully capable of processing SAA to AA and further to amyloid fibrils, and that they indeed play a role in the second phase of amyloidogenesis in vivo.     

Effect of colchicine on experimental amyloidosis in two CBA/J mouse models. Chronic inflammatory stimulation and administration of amyloid-enhancing factor during acute inflammation

To investigate the mechanism of action of colchicine in blocking amyloid deposition, two model systems of amyloidosis in CBA/J mice were studied. In experimental chronic inflammation, daily injection of silver nitrate (AgNO3) resulted in the deposition of 667 +/- 68 ng of amyloid A protein (AA)/mg of spleen after 25 days. Treatment with 10 micrograms of colchicine daily decreased AgNO3-induced AA deposition to 12 +/- 1 ng of AA/mg of spleen (p less than 0.001). Colchicine diminished the acute phase serum amyloid A protein (SAA) response after 24 hours. Over a 25-day period, SAA concentrations declined and approached baseline both in colchicine-treated and (unexpectedly) in control mice. This suggested that suppression of SAA levels was not the primary event inhibiting amyloid deposition. In a model of accelerated amyloid deposition, injection of preformed amyloid-enhancing factor along with AgNO3 induced the deposition of 974 +/- 46 ng of AA/mg of spleen 48 hours later. Colchicine only partially decreased amyloid-enhancing factor-induced amyloid deposition to 578 +/- 91 ng of AA/mg of spleen, while blunting the acute phase SAA response. These results suggest that colchicine inhibits amyloidosis in the predeposition phase, possibly by blocking formation of amyloid-enhancing factor.     

Murine amyloid protein AA in casein-induced experimental amyloidosis.

Amyloidosis was induced in mice by 25 subcutaneous injections of casein. The splenic amyloid fibrils were identified by electron microscopy to be closely associated with reticular cells. After isolation of the fibrils by simple physical techniques, their ultrastructure revealed single filaments of 80 to 100 A width, which were rigid, nonbranching, and of indeterminate length. This is comparable to previous studies on human preparations. The amyloid fibrils were dissociated by solution in guanidine and chromatography. The resultant amyloid fibril protein was characterized as to its molecular weight, amino acid analysis, and amino-terminal sequence. It was thus definitely identified as protein AA, the major component of secondary amyloidosis. An antibody to this protein, murine AA, identified a cross-reacting mouse serum protein SAA and indicated a species specificity when tested against human preparations. A comparison is made with the AA protein in another murine model as well as AA proteins from human, guinea pig, monkey, and mink amyloidosis.