ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Two major functions of thrombin observed in the cornea are activation of thrombin-sensitive, proteinase-activated receptors and cleavage of fibrinogen to fibrin. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the normal human cornea itself is competent to convert prothrombin to thrombin and synthesizes the mRNA for the proteins required. METHODS: Human corneas were processed for immunolocalization studies or separated into epithelial, stromal, and endothelial layers for proteins and RNA isolation. The protein extracts were used for Western blots, prothrombin time, and activated partial thromboplastin time assays and fibrinopeptide A generation tests. RNA was used for RT-PCR. Apoptosis of cultured human corneal cells was induced with sodium nitroprusside or camptothecin and activation of prothrombin tested. RESULTS: Prothrombin and its mRNA were present in all three layers of human donor cornea. It was found to be associated with the cells and the extracellular matrix at similar levels across the cornea. With corneal stromal extracts, activation of either the intrinsic or extrinsic coagulation pathways resulted in thrombin activation and fibrin formation with fibrinopeptide A release. Detection of key components of the coagulation cascades confirmed noninjured human corneas contain factors required for prothrombin activation. In addition, mRNAs for representative factors and inhibitors were detected by RT-PCR and confirmed by sequencing. Apoptotic corneal stromal cells provide a surface for prothrombin activation. CONCLUSIONS: These studies suggest that the normal avascular human cornea contains and synthesizes the components required for thrombin generation and that this process does not depend on a breech in the limbal vascular endothelium.
Subject(s)
Blood Coagulation Factors/physiology , Cornea/physiology , Prothrombin/metabolism , Thrombin/biosynthesis , Blotting, Western , Camptothecin/pharmacology , Capillary Permeability , Cells, Cultured , Corneal Stroma/drug effects , Corneal Stroma/metabolism , Corneal Stroma/pathology , Endothelium, Vascular/metabolism , Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Epithelium, Corneal/drug effects , Epithelium, Corneal/metabolism , Epithelium, Corneal/pathology , Fibrinopeptide A/metabolism , Humans , Immunoenzyme Techniques , Limbus Corneae/blood supply , Nitroprusside/pharmacology , Partial Thromboplastin Time , Prothrombin/genetics , Prothrombin Time , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
Collagen XVII/BP180 is a transmembrane constituent of the epidermal anchoring complex. To study the role of its non-collagenous linker domain, NC16A, in protein assembly and stability, we analyzed the following recombinant proteins: the collagen XVII extracellular domain with or without NC16A, and a pair of truncated proteins comprising the COL15-NC15 stretch expressed with or without NC16A. All four proteins were found to exist as stable collagen triple helices; however, the two missing NC16A exhibited melting temperatures significantly lower than their NC16A-containing counterparts. Protein refolding experiments revealed that the rate of triple helix assembly of the collagen model peptide GPP(10) is greatly increased by the addition of an upstream NC16A domain. In summary, the NC16A linker domain of collagen XVII exhibits a positive effect on both the rate of assembly and the stability of the adjoining collagen structure.
Subject(s)
Autoantigens/chemistry , Non-Fibrillar Collagens/chemistry , Binding Sites , Protein Binding , Protein Conformation , Protein Structure, Tertiary , Collagen Type XVIIABSTRACT
Linear IgA bullous disease (LABD) is an autoimmune skin disease characterized by subepidermal blisters and IgA autoantibodies directed against the epidermal basement membrane zone (BMZ) of the skin. Various antigens have been identified as targets of IgA autoantibodies including BP180, a type II glycoprotein that spans the BMZ and lamina lucida. Previously, we have identified a subset of LABD patients whose sera contained IgA antibodies against the 16th noncollagenous (NC16A) domain of BP180. NC16A was previously shown to harbor epitopes that are recognized by both autoantibodies and T cells from patients with bullous pemphigoid and herpes gestationis and is thought to be associated with the development of these immunobullous diseases. The aim of this study was to determine whether T lymphocytes from LABD patients with anti-NC16A IgA autoantibodies respond to epitopes in the same region of the BP180 protein. Indeed, of the four LABD patients in our study, all had T cells that specifically proliferated in response to NC16A. Moreover, two subfragments of NC16A were identified as the predominant targets of LABD T cells. Further analysis of T cell lines and clones derived from these patients revealed that these cells express a CD4 memory T cell phenotype and secrete a Th1/Th2 mixed-cytokine profile, characteristics similar to those of T cells in bullous pemphigoid patients. Our data suggest that the BP180 protein, typically the NC16A region, is the common target of both cellular and humoral immune responses in some LABD patients. This information helps to further elucidate the autoimmune mechanisms in this disease.
