Lysyl oxidase and collagenase in experimental acute and chronic liver injury

Lysyl oxidase and collagenase activities were measured in experimental acute and chronic liver injury in mice and rats, and correlated with collagen synthesis and accumulation. Acute liver injury was induced in mice and rats by a single dose of carbon tetrachloride given by gavage, and also in mice by a single injection of murine hepatitis virus. Chronic liver injury was induced in rats by repeated injections of carbon tetrachloride. Elevated plasma glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase levels, increased hepatic prolyl hydroxylase activity, and increased synthesis of collagen-bound hepatic hydroxyproline occurred in animals with acute as well as with chronic liver injury. However, only chronic liver injury appeared to be associated with fibrosis, increased collagen-bound hydroxyproline content, increased hepatic lysyl oxidase and collagenase activities, as well as with increased serum lysyl oxidase activity. These data suggest that lysyl oxidase and collagenase may play an important role in the collagen accumulation associated with hepatic fibrosis.     

Serum lysyl oxidase activity in chronic liver disease in comparison with serum levels of prolyl hydroxylase and laminin.

Lysyl oxidase was partially purified from serum by a diethylaminoethyl batch procedure in the presence of 6 mol/L urea and dialyzed against 3 mol/L KSCN. Using this method, we determined serum lysyl oxidase activity in 52 patients with liver disease and in 14 healthy controls, and we examined usefulness of serum lysyl oxidase in assessing liver fibrogenesis. For this purpose, serum lysyl oxidase activity in chronic liver disease was compared with serum levels of prolyl hydroxylase and laminin P1. As compared with controls, serum lysyl oxidase activity increased 1.6-fold in chronic persistent hepatitis, 4.4-fold in chronic active hepatitis and 11.8-fold in cirrhosis, indicating an increase in concert with the development of liver fibrosis. In hepatocellular carcinoma, the serum activity, although significantly increased, was lower than that in cirrhosis. Serum prolyl hydroxylase was significantly increased in chronic active hepatitis, in liver cirrhosis and in hepatocellular carcinoma. Serum laminin P1 was significantly increased in chronic active hepatitis, in cirrhosis and in hepatocellular carcinoma. Serum lysyl oxidase activity did not correlate significantly with serum levels of prolyl hydroxylase and laminin P1 in any subject or in any subgroup. The magnitude of the increase and the abnormal percentage of serum lysyl oxidase activity were larger than those for serum prolyl hydroxylase and laminin P1. These results suggest that serum lysyl oxidase activity is a more sensitive indicator of liver fibrosis than serum prolyl hydroxylase and laminin P1.     

Lung lysyl oxidase and prolyl hydroxylase: increases induced by cadmium chloride inhalation and the effect of beta-aminopropionitrile in rats

Industrial workers who are accidentally exposed to cadmium fumes often develop severe lung damage leading to widespread peribronchiolar scarring. This study examined the effect of a single exposure of cadmium chloride aerosol on rat lung lysyl oxidase and prolyl hydroxylase, both markers of connective tissue biosynthesis. Rats were killed at 2, 4, 7, 10, and 21 days after a 2-h exposure to 0.1% Cdcl2 aerosol. Total lung lysyl oxidase was increased 14.8 times that a saline control animals by 4 days and returned to near normal values by 10 days. Interestingly, a small amount of lysyl oxidase activity was also detectable in the lung lavage of unexposed animals and was markedly elevated at the earlier times after cadmium exposure. Total lung prolyl hydroxylase activity paralleled that of lung lysyl oxidase and increased 7.4-fold by the fourth day. A significant increase in total lung hydroxyproline could be demonstrated. Administration of beta-aminopropionitrile, an irreversible inhibitor of lysyl oxidase, prevented much of the increase in lysyl oxidase activity and the accumulation of collagen. The altered tissue amounts of lysyl oxidase and prolyl hydroxylase after cadmium inhalation correlated well with the marked interstitial cell hyperplasia 4 to 5 days after exposure and suggested that connective tissue protein synthesis is activated in the interstitial cell fibroblasts soon after cadmium exposure.     

Stimulation of lung lysyl oxidase activity in hamsters with elastase-induced emphysema

Lysyl oxidase activity was measured in lung extracts of hamsters with elastase-induced emphysema 8 days after administration of the enzyme and again after 2, 3, and 4 wk. Levels of activity rose rapidly to 7 times the base values determined in the lungs of saline-injected control animals. In parallel with the increase in lysyl oxidase activity, the rate of 14C-lysine incorporation into desmosine and isodesmosine was at its maximum 1 wk after elastase administration, reflecting the lysyl-oxidase-mediated cross-link formation, which is the final step in the resynthesis of the pulmonary elastin destroyed by the elastolytic insult.     

Increased lysyl oxidase activity in culture medium of nonparenchymal cells from fibrotic livers

Lysyl oxidase, which plays an important role in collagen deposition in chronic liver diseases, was studied in nonparenchymal cell cultures from fibrotic human livers. Liver biopsy specimens were obtained from control patients without apparent hepatic disease, and from patients with chronic persistent hepatitis, chronic active hepatitis, or liver cirrhosis. Nonparenchymal cells from biopsy specimens were cultured. At the third passage of the culture, lysyl oxidase activity was measured in the culture medium and cell layer. Most of the activity in the culture medium of cirrhotic liver cells was significantly higher than that in the medium of liver cells from controls or from patients with chronic hepatitis, whereas no significant difference in activity was noted between chronic persistent hepatitis and chronic active hepatitis cells. In patients with chronic hepatitis, lysyl oxidase activity in the culture medium from liver cells of alcoholics was significantly higher than that in the medium from liver cells of nonalcoholics. Thus, increased lysyl oxidase activity was found in the medium of nonparenchymal cell cultures from patients with cirrhosis and from alcoholics with chronic hepatitis. This increased activity may be related to fibrotic processes in the liver.     

Correlations between age and rat dermis modifications. Ultrastructural-morphometric evaluations and lysyl oxidase activity

The extracellular matrix is a complex, integrated macromolecular system which plays a crucial role in the economy of each organ. In this study we focused our attention on the correlations between age and rat skin dermis. The latter was chosen as a model of the connective tissue, and was analyzed by means of electron microscopy and by measurement of the activity of lysyl oxidase, the enzyme involved in collagen and elastin crosslink formation. Ultrastructural and morphometric evaluations associated to body weight growth, showed a progressive increase in the amounts of extracellular components and a progressive reduction in the cell density. Skin from adult animals appeared characterized by a well organized matrix; by contrast, in old rats, we observed several degenerative features such as the disorganization of collagen bundles, the vacuolization of elastic fibers, and the atrophy of the mesenchimal cells. Morphometric evaluations in old animals showed a slight but significant reduction in the percentage of the total collagen measured, a fair stability in the area occupied by the elastin fibers, and an increase of the apparently non-structured matrix. The fact that lysyl oxidase activity was diminished in old rats does not corroborate the observation by several authors that increased collagen insolubility is a consequence of higher intra- and intermolecular crosslinking. This would suggest that other chemical modifications, such as crosslink oxidation or non enzymatic glycosylation, might be involved during the aging of connective tissue. The qualitative and quantitative modifications observed at all ages illustrate the correlation between connective tissue modifications and structural and/or functional properties of the skin.     

Human Lysyl Hydroxylase: Purification to Homogeneity,Partial Characterization and Comparison of Catalytic Properties with those of a Mutant Enzyme from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type VI Fibroblasts

Lysyl hydroxylase was isolated as an essentially homogeneous protein from human fetal tissues and as a homogeneous protein from placental tissue by a procedure involving ammonium sulfate fractionation, affinity chromatography on concanavalin A-agarose, affinity chromatography on collagen linked to agarose and gel filtration. The specific activity of the best enzyme preparations from human fetal tissues was about 80,000 times, and from human placenta about 63,000 times that in the 15,000 X g supernatant of the corresponding tissue homogenate. The molecular weight of lysyl hydroxylase from both sources was about 190,000 by gel filtration, and that of the enzyme subunit about 85,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The specific activity and molecular properties reported are very similar to those of pure chick-embryo lysyl hydroxylase, and the K_m values for type I proto collagen substrate, a synthetic peptide substrate and all the co-substrates of the human placenta enzyme are likewise very similar to those of the chick-embryo enzyme. No difference in the K_m values for type I protocollagen or any of the co-substrates was found between the human placenta enzyme and a crude lysyl hydroxylase from skin fibroblasts of a patient with the type VI variant of the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.     

Biosynthesis of Collagen Crosslinks: Increased Activity of Purified Lysyl Oxidase with Reconstituted Collagen Fibrils

Lysyl oxidase catalyzes the formation of crosslinking aldehydes in collagen and elastin. This report demonstrates that the enzyme has high activity with collagen precipitated as native fibrils, an apparent K(m) of 0.95 muM, and low activity toward either soluble forms such as denatured collagen, isolated alpha chain, or isolated alpha1-CBl peptide, or precipitated collagen fibrils after pepsin treatment. These results indicate that the biosynthesis of the aldehyde crosslink intermediate probably occurs primarily after the onset of fibril formation in vivo. Biosynthesis of aldehydes and subsequent crosslinks may be related to the rate of fibril formation as well as to the concentration of lysyl oxidase in vivo.     

Early changes in the arterial wall of chickens fed a cholesterol diet.

A total of 160 1-2 day old chickens were fed a 2% cholesterol diet for a period of 8 to 42 days and compared with an equal number of controls. Aortas were analyzed for various indexes of reactivity of connective tissue, cholesterol content and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characteristics of the endothelial lining. Cholesterol feeding for a period up to 6 weeks resulted in doubling the level of serum cholesterol. It was, however, without effect on the activity of prolyl hydroxylase, lysyl oxidase, collagenase and collagen content in the aortic wall. As early as 3 weeks of feeding significant changes occurred in total and esterified cholesterol content. At the same time endothelial cells were characteristically contracted with several long cytoplasmic elongations and protrusions. A significant decrease of activity of the above enzymes was found in aortic tissue with increased age of the chicken. Collagen content in aortas increased with age of chickens. It is concluded that cholesterol as an atherogenic agent induces marked changes in endothelial cells and lipids of chicken aorta at earlier periods, prior to the activation of connective tissue.     

Alteration of the connective tissue network of striated muscle in copper deficient rats

The connective tissue network in striated muscle, consisting principally of collagen is arranged in a three dimensional network and is intimately associated with muscle function. Previous studies have shown that animals maintained on a copper-deficient diet undergo myocardial hypertrophy and exhibit cardiovascular lesions such as ventricular aneurysms that eventually rupture. A deficiency of copper in the diet is known to inhibit lysyl oxidase, a metalloenzyme requiring copper as a cofactor and which is also responsible for collagen and elastin crosslinking. Examination by scanning and transmission electron microscopy of skeletal and cardiac muscle from rats maintained on copper-deficient diets showed both gross and microscopic lesions to the connective tissue network. Immunohistochemical staining by light microscopy with antibodies against lysyl oxidase showed that the enzyme was equally present in both control and experimental animals. Fluorescent staining for antibodies against collagen types I and III showed similar results. From these studies we concluded that the collagen secreted during hypertrophy was not crosslinked by lysyl oxidase due to the absence of the copper cofactor. This resulted in the failure of the connective tissue network to transmit and distribute the increased force associated with myocardial hypertrophy and resulted in myocardial aneurysms.     

Collagen proline hydroxylase activity and 35S sulphate uptake in human liver biopsies

In an effort to assess connective tissue biosynthetic activity in human liver disease, collagen proline hydroxylase (a key enzyme in collagen biosynthesis) and the uptake of (35)S sulphate (a precursor of sulphated mucopolysaccharides) were measured in hepatic tissue obtained mainly by percutaneous biopsy.A procedure is described for the quantitation of collagen proline hydroxylase in cryostat sections which allows for the simultaneous histopathological examination of the liver specimen. A three to eightfold increase in the activity of this enzyme was found in four cirrhotic livers compared with the mean value of four normal livers and two biopsies from patients with Gilbert's syndrome. Elevated hydroxylase levels were found also in five patients with hepatic dysfunction but without cirrhosis (four alcoholics and one patient with persistent hepatitis associated with serum smooth muscle antibody). It is suggested that the hepatic level of collagen proline hydroxylase may be a useful quantitative index of fibroblastic activity in human liver disease.Autoradiographic studies of radioactive sulphate uptake in biopsy specimens from patients with chronic liver disease showed an exaggerated incorporation of isotope not only at sites of established fibrogenesis but also in the walls of sinusoids throughout the liver.     

Copper-induced activation of aortic lysyl oxidase in vivo.

Raising day-old chicks on diets lacking copper severely depressed the activity of lysyl oxidase, a copper metalloenzyme in connective tissue. Administration of CuSO4 either through the diet or through intraperitoneal injections restored the lysyl oxidase activity in aortic tissue. Two hours after the chicks received CuSO4 (1 mg/kg) the activity of lysyl oxidase rose rapidly to attain, within 4-6 hr, a new steady-state level which was five to 20 times higher than the basal (saline-injected) activity. Twenty hours after copper administration, activity was still higher, in some experiments double that achieved at 6 hr. Very low amounts of cycloheximide injected intraperitoneally 45 min before and 3 hr after copper suppressed the activation response by two-thirds. Cycloheximide given 2 or 4 hr after the copper was only one-half as effective. Actinomycin D caused only a 10-15% inhibition of the copper-induced activation. The data suggest that copper is a key regulator of lysyl oxidase activity in aorta and may in fact be a major determinant of the steady-state levels of the enzyme in that tissue.     

Lung lysyl oxidase activity: relation to lung growth.

The activity of lysyl oxidase (LOX), the extracellular enzyme responsible for initiating crosslinking of collagen and elastin, was measured during 3 types of postnatal lung growth. Lung parenchymal and pleural LOX activity was high in the first 3 wk of of life, decreasing by 50 % to stable amounts by 4 to 10 wk. In contrast, airway and aortic LOX activity remained high during the first 10 wk of life, decreasing by 50 to 75 % thereafter. After pneumonectomy, lung LOX activity doubled within 24 h, decreasing to control values thereafter. Hypoxia (12 to 13 % O2) resulted in a prompt and sustained increase in lung but not pleural, airway, or aortic LOX activity. Thus, LOX activity can be controlled precisely within specific tissues and appears to be related to early phases of connective-tissue synthesis. Further studies of the synthesis and degradation of LOX should provide important information about the control of connective-tissue formation within the lungs.     

Increased lysyl oxidase activity in blood vessels of hypertensive rats and effect of beta-aminopropionitrile on arteriosclerosis.

The activity of lysyl oxidase which catalyzes the initial step of cross-linking of collagen and elastin polypeptides was measured in blood vessels of the hypertensive rat. The enzyme activity was increased in the aorta and mesenteric artery when hypertension was induced in 8-week-old rats with administration of deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) and 1% saline. Reserpine diminished this increase in vascular lysyl oxidase activity concomitant with reduction in blood pressure. When beta-aminopropionitrile, a specific inhibitor of lysyl oxidase, was administered before the onset of DOCA-salt hypertension, the aortic collagen content was reduced markedly. Concomitant with reduction in the aortic collagen content, the development of hypertension and arteriosclerotic changes in the kidney was partially prevented. These results would indicate that hypertension increases the amount and the degree of cross-linking of vascular collagen and that the deposition of excess collagen in the vascular wall contributes to the development of hypertension and arteriosclerosis.     

The effect of proteoglycans, collagen and lysyl oxidase on the metabolism of low density lipoprotein by macrophages

To study the interactions of lipoproteins, connective tissue components and cells, mouse peritoneal macrophages were incubated in the presence of human low density lipoproteins (LDL) that had been complexed with pig aortic proteoglycans (PG) or incubated in the presence of soluble collagen and/or lysyl oxidase, which catalyses the formation of cross-linkages in collagen and elastin by oxidising epsilon-amino groups of lysine residues to aldehydes. Soluble and insoluble PG-LDL complexes increased the incorporation of [3H]oleate into cellular cholesteryl esters (CE) 1.6- and 2.8-fold, respectively, while LDL incubated with collagen and lysyl oxidase had no effect compared to control LDL. As judged on the basis of incubations with fucoidin, spermine and 125I-labelled lipoproteins, the mechanism of internalisation of the PG-LDL complexes is different from that of acetylated LDL or dextran sulphate-LDL complexes. The formation of PG-LDL complexes in the arterial intima may lead to an increased uptake of lipoproteins by intimal macrophages during the early phase of atherogenesis.     

Alterations in collagen biosynthesis and in metallothionein in lungs of rats acutely or repeatedly exposed to cadmium chloride aerosol

Comparisons were made between morphologic and biochemical changes occurring in the lungs of rats receiving a single exposure or repeated 2-h exposures of aerosolized 0.1% cadmium chloride, simulating varied exposure conditions potentially experienced by humans. Lung lysyl oxidase activity increases in both models, although less so with repeated exposures. Pulsing lung tissue in vitro with 3H-proline indicated that rates of collagen biosynthesis were elevated preferentially over rates of noncollagen protein synthesis in both exposure models. Lung metallothionein increased nearly linearly over 21 days of repeated exposure. Histologic examination revealed scarred lesions distorting alveolar structure and bronchioles in both models. However, scarring and cell exudation into the airways and interstitium was less in the repeatedly exposed model. The results indicate the activation of a connective tissue repair reaction in both models. Increased levels of metallothionein after repeated exposure may both sequester cadmium and reduce pools of copper available for lysyl oxidase synthesis, thus limiting the fibrotic response.     

Collagen metabolism in experimental cardiac hypertrophy in the rat and the effect of digitoxin treatment.

It is generally agreed that cardiac hypertrophy is accompanied by the hyperplasia of connective tissue cells. In the present work, collagen metabolism was studied in the heart of nondigitalised and digitalised rats after the constriction of the aorta. The activity of prolyl hydroxylase was maximally increased 2 days after the operation. The incorporation of proline into collagen hydroxyproline increased without any increase in the specific radioactivity of free intracellular proline, the peak labelling of collagen occurring at 4 days. Although the treatment of the rats with digitoxin prevented the development of cardiac hypertrophy and an increase in collagen labelling, an increase in the activity of prolyl hydroxylase was observed. The intracellular free proline pool and its specific radioactivity were significantly lower in digitalised rats as compared with non-digitalised rats. The results indicate that constriction of the aorta is accompanied by an activation of connective tissue cells leading to increased synthesis of collagen. However, digitoxin treatment can prevent the increase in collagen labelling, possibly by inhibiting the amino acid transport, but it is unable to remove the stimulus for hypertrophy.     

Differential expression of lysyl oxidases LOXL1 and LOX during growth and aging suggests specific roles in elastin and collagen fiber remodeling in rat aorta

The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in vascular tissue structure, maintenance, and function. Lysyl oxidases catalyze a key step in the posttranslational cross-linking of elastin and collagens in the ECM. Gene knockout studies in mice suggested a role for lysyl oxidase-like (LOXL1) in adult elastin synthesis and a role for its isoform, lysyl oxidase (LOX), in the synthesis of both collagens and elastin during development. However, the relative expression of both isoforms as a function of age is not known and was therefore investigated here. LOX and LOXL1 immunohistochemistry and real-time RT-PCR were performed during development, growth and aging in the aorta of LOU and Brown-Norway (BN) rats, two inbred strains with different susceptibilities to arterial fragility. In addition, expression of genes encoding for elastic fiber proteins and type I collagen, together with elastin and collagen contents, was measured in adult and old rat aortas. High aortic LOX expression was observed early in the development (embryonic day 15), followed by a drastic reduction in adulthood, whereas LOXL1 was mainly detectable in the intima and media; its expression was maintained throughout life in the LOU rat. Expression of tropoelastin, type-I collagen, and LOXL1 genes was reduced in the aorta of 6-week-old BN rats. Aging is characterized by a decreased elastin/collagen ratio and a greatly decreased expression of LOX, tropoelastin, and type-I collagen. These findings indicate a different spatial and temporal expression of LOX and LOXL1 during growth and aging in the rat aorta and suggest specific roles for LOX and LOXL1 in the synthesis and remodeling of elastic and collagen fibers.     

Liver collagenase in murine schistosomiasis

Mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni represent a model for study of the most prevalent form of hepatic fibrosis in humans. In the present study, collagenase activity was measured in relation to collagen synthesis and accumulation in the livers of mice 6-11 wk after after infection. Total and latent collagenase and elastase activities and collagen synthesis were maximal 8 wk after infection and decreased thereafter, whereas collagen content progressively increased to the 11th wk. Maximal enzymatic activity coincided with the known peak of host cellular immune responses. Collagenase and elastase activities were isolated from liver homogenates. Isolated schistosome eggs did not contain collagenase or elastase activities. Collagenolytic activity had the characteristics of a tissue collagenase. These data show that marked increases in collagenase activity occur together with increased collagen synthesis in this animal model. Continued accumulation of liver collagen under these conditions suggests an imbalance between increased collagen synthesis and degradation.