Histopathology atlas of animal model systems - overview of guiding principles.

Animal model systems represent an important adjunct and surrogate for studies of osteoarthritis (OA) in humans. They provide a means to study OA pathophysiology as well as aid in the development of therapeutic agents and biological markers for diagnosing and prognosing the disease. Thus, it is of great importance for the OA scientific community, both in academic as well as industrial research, to standardize scoring systems for evaluating the OA disease process and to make results between different studies comparable. The task of the histopathology initiative of OARSI was to achieve a consensus of scoring systems for the most important species used in OA animal model research (dog, guinea pig, horse, mouse, rabbit, rat, and sheep/goat), which are presented in the various chapters in this special volume of Osteoarthritis & Cartilage together with extra chapters on basic methodology (histochemistry, statistics, morphometry), the specific terminology and a general discussion of animal models in OA research. Standardized definitions are suggested for basic but essential terms such as "grading" and "staging" in order to promote their consistent use and thereby promote improved understanding and data interpretation across all model systems. Thus, this introductory chapter presents an overview of the guiding principles for assessment of important OA animal model systems. Use of such systems, independently or in conjunction with other systems in parallel, should facilitate comparability of results across animal model studies.

The OARSI histopathology initiative - recommendations for histological assessments of osteoarthritis in the rat.

OBJECTIVE: During the development of disease-modifying osteoarthritis (OA) drugs, rat models of OA are frequently used for a first assessment of in vivo efficacy. The most efficacious compound in the rat model may then be tested in a larger animal model before entering human trials. The aim of this study was to describe a histologic scoring system for use in different models of OA in rats that allows standardization and comparison of results obtained by different investigators. METHODS: The experience of the authors with current scoring systems and the range of lesions observed in rat and human OA studies were considered in recommending this common paradigm for rat histologic scoring. Considerations were made for reproducibility and ease of use for new scorers. Additional scoring paradigms may be employed to further identify specific effects of some disease-modifying drugs. RESULTS: Although the described scoring system is more complex than the modified Mankin scores, which are recommended for some other species, the reliability study showed that it is easily understood and can be reproducibly used, even by inexperienced scorers. CONCLUSIONS: The scoring paradigm described here has been found to be sufficiently sensitive to discriminate between treatments and to have high reproducibility. Therefore we recommend its use for evaluation of different rat OA models as well as assessment of disease-modifying effects of treatments in these models.

Growth plate cartilage as developmental model in osteoarthritis research--potentials and limitations.

Gene expression analysis including large scale gene expression profiling has become a very basic tool for investigating the pathogenesis of degenerative joint diseases as well as for the search of new drug targets. However, gene expression analysis so far revealed very complex expression patterns rather than a clear picture of molecular changes occurring during the initiation and progression of the disease. To elucidate the molecular changes in osteoarthritis the analysis of the fetal growth plate as a developmental model for phenotypic changes in chondrocytes occurring in osteoarthritis can help in three ways: it allows to interpret gene expression patterns in the context of disease-relevant processes also occurring in developing cartilage (e.g. cell differentiation, proliferation, matrix synthesis, catabolism and calcification), it offers the chance to investigate gene function in these functional contexts by knocking out or overexpressing genes in animals, and it provides a suitable model for testing the effect of therapeutic compounds on these processes within the growing cartilage.

Pralnacasan, an inhibitor of interleukin-1beta converting enzyme, reduces joint damage in two murine models of osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of pralnacasan, the orally bioavailable pro-drug of a potent, non-peptide inhibitor of interleukin-1beta converting enzyme (ICE), RU 36384/VRT-18858, on joint damage in two mouse models of knee osteoarthritis (OA). DESIGN: In a collagenase-induced OA model, pralnacasan was given orally by gavage to female Balb/c mice at 0, 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg twice a day. In the second study, pralnacasan was tested in male STR/1N mice, which develop OA spontaneously, by administering food-drug mixtures ad libitum at concentrations of 0, 700 and 4200 ppm (mg/kg food). OA joint damage was assessed by a semi-quantitative histopathological score in both studies. In the STR/1N mouse study, urinary levels of collagen cross-links hydroxylysylpyridinoline (HP) and lysylpyridinoline (LP) were determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography at baseline, after 3 and 6 weeks of treatment and RU 36384/VRT-18858 plasma concentrations was measured after 6 weeks. RESULTS: In both studies, the mice developed moderate to severe knee joint OA in the medial joint compartments (tibial plateau and femoral condyle), the non-treated control groups showing median histopathological scores from 18 to 21 of a maximal score of 32. Pralnacasan was well tolerated. At the doses of 12.5 and 50 mg/kg in collagenase-induced OA and at the high dose of 4200 ppm in STR/1N mice pralnacasan treatment significantly reduced OA by 13-22%. In the STR/1N mice, urinary levels of HP cross-links and the ratio of HP/LP, which are indicators of joint damage in OA, were significantly reduced in the high dose group by 59 and 84%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The ICE inhibitor pralnacasan reduced joint damage in two experimental models of OA and has the potential to become a disease-modifying drug for the treatment of OA.

Prolonged eosinophil accumulation in allergic lung interstitium of ICAM-2 deficient mice results in extended hyperresponsiveness.

ICAM-2-deficient mice exhibit prolonged accumulation of eosinophils in lung interstitium concomitant with a delayed increase in eosinophil numbers in the airway lumen during the development of allergic lung inflammation. The ICAM-2-dependent increased and prolonged accumulation of eosinophils in lung interstitium results in prolonged, heightened airway hyperresponsiveness. These findings reveal an essential role for ICAM-2 in the development of the inflammatory and respiratory components of allergic lung disease. This phenotype is caused by the lack of ICAM-2 expression on non-hematopoietic cells. ICAM-2 deficiency on endothelial cells causes reduced eosinophil transmigration in vitro. ICAM-2 is not essential for lymphocyte homing or the development of leukocytes, with the exception of megakaryocyte progenitors, which are significantly reduced.

Cloning, expression analysis, and functional characterization of PKL12, a member of a new subfamily of ser/thr kinases.

We report the cloning of the full-length cDNA of a new murine protein kinase, mPKL12. The sequence reveals a 305-amino-acid protein that contains the characteristic subdomains of the kinase superfamily and particular homology indicating a ser/thr specificity. We have also identified its human homologue gene (94% identical) and the putative homologue proteins from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Arabidoposis thaliana. These four sequences appear to form a new subfamily of protein kinases, close in size to the theoretical minimal catalytic domain, therefore suggesting that they could be the catalytic unit of a more complex holoenzyme. Using Escherichia coli-purified protein, we have demonstrated that the mPKL12 enzyme possesses an intrinsic kinase activity, capable of phosphorylating enolase and also of promoting autophosphorylation, with a ser/thr specificity. Tissue expression analysis of mPKL12 showed that it is ubiquitously expressed, although at very low levels. RT-PCR analysis of several cell lines also supports this view, therefore suggesting that PKL12 may play a role in a very general cellular function, probably related with the secretory pathway.

CD44 regulates hematopoietic progenitor distribution, granuloma formation, and tumorigenicity.

CD44 is expressed in various isoforms on numerous cell types and tissues during embryogenesis and in the mature organism. CD44 may also be involved in tumor growth. To study the multiple roles of CD44, we abolished expression of all known isoforms of CD44 in mice by targeting exons encoding the invariant N-terminus region of the molecule. Surprisingly, mice were born in Mendelian ratio without any obvious developmental or neurological deficits. Hematological impairment was evidenced by altered tissue distribution of myeloid progenitors with increased levels of colony-forming unit-granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM) in bone marrow and reduced numbers of CFU-GM in spleen. Fetal liver colony-forming unit-spleen and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor mobilization assays, together with reduced CFU-GM in peripheral blood, suggested that progenitor egress from bone marrow was defective. In what was either a compensatory response to CD44 deficiency or an immunoregulatory defect, mice also developed exaggerated granuloma responses to Cryotosporidium parvum infection. Finally, tumor studies showed that SV40-transformed CD44-deficient fibroblasts were highly tumorigenic in nude mice, whereas reintroduction of CD44s expression into these fibroblasts resulted in a dramatic inhibition of tumor growth.

Multiple antigens are altered on T and B lymphocytes from peripheral blood and spleen of patients with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

The gene for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) has been recently identified and cloned, but our knowledge of downstream events affected in WAS is limited to a few leucocyte cell surface molecules. To identify cell surface molecules whose abnormal expression could contribute to the functional impairment observed in WAS B and T lymphocytes, we studied the expression of a large panel of antigens on peripheral blood lymphoid cells (PBLC) and on isolated lymphocyte subpopulations from the spleen of WAS patients. WAS T lymphocytes from peripheral blood express increased levels of the activation antigens 4F2, CD49d, CD49e, CD53 and the activation/ memory marker CD45RO. In the spleen, however, WAS patients have more CD45RA CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes than normal individuals, suggesting the selective accumulation of presumably naive cells in the WAS spleen. Interestingly, the naive phenotype of the lymphocytes that seem to accumulate in the WAS spleen is confirmed by the absence of increased expression of several activation antigens on their surface, and this correlated with their increased expression of CD43. These lymphocyte abnormalities were accompanied by an abnormal distribution of lymphocyte subsets within the spleen architecture, in particular by the lack of well developed germinal centres and T cell areas. We also found abnormal expression of CD43 and other sialylated proteins such as CDw75 and CD76, whose expression requires the action of specific sialyltransferases. This study shows that the combined impairment in cellular and humoral immunity observed in WAS is the result of multiple molecular abnormalities on the surface of WAS lymphocytes, that in turn might result in recirculation/migration anomalies.

CD34-deficient mice have reduced eosinophil accumulation after allergen exposure and show a novel crossreactive 90-kD protein.

CD34 is expressed on the surface of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, stromal cells, and on the surface of high-endothelial venules (HEV). CD34 binds L-selectin, an adhesion molecule important for leukocyte rolling on venules and lymphocyte homing to peripheral lymph nodes (PLN). We generated CD34-deficient mutant animals through the use of homologous recombination. Wild-type and mutant animals showed no differences in lymphocyte binding to PLN HEV, in leukocyte rolling on venules or homing to PLN, in neutrophil extravasation into peritoneum in response to inflammatory stimulus, nor in delayed type hypersensitivity. Anti-L-selectin monoclonal antibody (MEL-14) also inhibited these immune responses similarly in both CD34-deficient and wild-type mice. However, eosinophil accumulation in the lung after inhalation of a model allergen, ovalbumin, is several-fold lower in mutant mice. We found no abnormalities in hematopoiesis in adult mice and interactions between mutant progenitor cells and a stromal cell line in vitro were normal. No differences existed in the recovery of progenitor cells after 5-fluorouracil treatment, nor in the mobilization of progenitor cells after granulocyte colony-stimulating factor treatment compared with wild-type animals. Surprisingly, although CD34 was not expressed in these mice, a portion of its 90-kD band crossreactive with MECA79 remained after Western blot. Thus, we have identified an additional molecule(s) that might be involved in leukocyte trafficking. These results indicate that CD34 plays an important role in eosinophil trafficking into the lung.

Interleukin gene expression in mouse preimplantation development.

Control of growth and differentiation during mammalian embryogenesis is regulated by growth factors from embryonic and/or maternal sources. Cytokines are polypeptide growth factors that are released by a variety of activated immune and nonimmune cells. To identify novel members of the cytokine family that could be involved in the growth and differentiation of the preimplantation embryo, we studied the expression pattern of several genes encoding cytokines and their receptors during mouse preimplantation development in vitro. We found that poly(A)+ mRNAs for IL-1, IL-3, IL-6, IL-7, and TNF alpha are differentially expressed at several stages of mouse preimplantation development, including unfertilized oocytes. Immunostaining of preimplantation embryos using monoclonal antibodies specific for several cytokines and their receptors revealed that at least some of these mRNAs are translated into mature proteins during preimplantation development (IL-1, IL-6, and TNF alpha). Positive staining for IL-1 and IL-6 receptors was also detected at these stages of development. The controlled expression of these "inflammatory-type" cytokines and their receptors suggests a role for these growth factors during the early phases of mouse ontogeny.

Functional and conserved domains of the Drosophila transcription factor encoded by the segmentation gene knirps.

The Drosophila gap gene knirps (kni) is required for abdominal segmentation. It encodes a steroid/thyroid orphan receptor-type transcription factor which is distributed in a broad band of nuclei in the posterior region of the blastoderm. To identify essential domains of the kni protein (KNI), we cloned and sequenced the DNA encompassing the coding region of nine kni mutant alleles of different strength and kni-homologous genes of related insect species. We also examined in vitro-modified versions of KNI in various assay systems both in vitro and in tissue culture. The results show that KNI contains several functional domains which are arranged in a modular fashion. The N-terminal 185-amino-acid region which includes the DNA-binding domain and a functional nuclear location signal fails to provide kni activity to the embryo. However, a truncated KNI protein that contains additional 47 amino acids exerts rather strong kni activity which is functionally defined by a weak kni mutant phenotype of the embryo. The additional 47-amino-acid stretch includes a transcriptional repressor domain which acts in the context of a heterologous DNA-binding domain of the yeast transcriptional activator GAL4. The different domains of KNI as defined by functional studies are conserved during insect evolution.

Competition for overlapping sites in the regulatory region of the Drosophila gene Krüppel.

A 730-base pair element regulates expression of the Drosophila gap gene Krüppel (Kr) in response to the fly anterior morphogen bicoid (bcd). Two hormone receptor-like proteins, encoded by the genes knirps (kni) and tailless (tll), bind specifically to the element. In vitro, kni protein competes with the homeodomain-containing bcd protein in binding to a 16-base pair target sequence. In vivo experiments suggest that both kni and tll act as competitive repressors of bcd-mediated activation of Kr. These results suggest a mechanism by which developmental genes can be regulated in response to an activating morphogen gradient antagonized by repressors.

Transcriptional control by Drosophila gap genes.

The segmented body pattern along the longitudinal axis of the Drosophila embryo is established by a cascade of specific transcription factor activities. This cascade is initiated by maternal gene products that are localized at the polar regions of the egg. The initial long-range positional information of the maternal factors, which are transcription factors (or are factors which activate or localize transcription factors), is transferred through the activity of the zygotic segmentation genes. The gap genes act at the top of this regulatory hierarchy. Expression of the gap genes occurs in discrete domains along the longitudinal axis of the preblastoderm and defines specific, overlapping sets of segment primordia. Their protein products, which are DNA-binding transcription factors mostly of the zinc finger type, form broad and overlapping concentration gradients which are controlled by maternal factors and by mutual interactions between the gap genes themselves. Once established, these overlapping gap protein gradients provide spatial cues which generate the repeated pattern of the subordinate pair-rule gene expression, thereby blue-printing the pattern of segmental units in the blastoderm embryo. Our results show different strategies by which maternal gene products, in combination with various gap gene proteins, provide position-dependent sets of transcriptional activator/repressor systems which regulate the spatial pattern of specific gap gene expression. Region-specific combinations of different transcription factors that derive from localized gap gene expression eventually generate the periodic pattern of pair-rule gene expression by the direct interaction with individual cis-acting "stripe elements" of particular pair-rule gene promoters. Thus, the developmental fate of blastoderm cells is programmed according to their position within the anterior-posterior axis of the embryo: maternal transcription factors regulate the region-specific expression of first zygotic transcription factors which, by their specific and unique combinations, control subordinate zygotic transcription factors, thereby subdividing the embryo into increasingly smaller units later seen in the larva.

Gradients of Krüppel and knirps gene products direct pair-rule gene stripe patterning in the posterior region of the Drosophila embryo.

Abdominal segmentation of the Drosophila embryo requires the activities of the gap genes Krüppel (Kr), knirps (kni), and tailless (tll). They control the expression of the pair-rule gene hairy (h) by activating or repressing independent cis-acting units that generate individual stripes. Kr activates stripe 5 and represses stripe 6, kni activates stripe 6 and represses stripe 7, and tll activates stripe 7. Kr and kni proteins bind strongly to h control units that generate stripes in areas of low concentration of the respective gap gene products and weakly to those that generate stripes in areas of high gap gene expression. These results indicate that Kr and kni proteins form overlapping concentration gradients that generate the periodic pair-rule expression pattern.

[Pattern formation in Drosophila]. / Musterbildung bei Drosophila.

Drosophila proved an excellent system to study molecular processes in establishing the body pattern of an embryo. Genes which are active during oogenesis provide localized cues which regulate a cascade of zygotic genes that determines the developmental fate of the blastoderm cells along the longitudinal axis of the embryo.