Altered expression of small proteoglycans, collagen, and transforming growth factor-beta 1 in developing bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats.

The development of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats was studied over a period of 21 d after an intratracheal instillation of bleomycin. The expression of three small proteoglycans (biglycan, decorin, and fibromodulin), collagen III and TGF-beta 1 was studied by RNA-transfer blot analysis. The proteoglycans were also studied by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blots. TGF-beta 1 mRNA increased threefold already on day 3 and remained elevated until day 10. After the increase of TGF-beta 1 mRNA the messages for biglycan and collagen III steadily increased to reach a maximum 10 d after bleomycin instillation. The mRNA for biglycan increased maximally fourfold and that of collagen III 2.5-fold. Decorin mRNA, in contrast to biglycan decreased and reached 20% of control on day 10. The message for fibromodulin remained constant throughout the study period. The amounts of biglycan and decorin in the tissue changed in accordance with the mRNA levels. The results corroborate and extend previous in vitro studies concerning the effect of TGF-beta 1 on the metabolism of small proteoglycans and show that these macromolecules are regulated differently also in vivo. The marked alterations of biglycan and decorin during the development of fibrosis suggests that these proteoglycans have a regulating role in this process.

Eosinophil cationic protein alters proteoglycan metabolism in human lung fibroblast cultures.

Eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), a highly basic protein secreted from eosinophilic granulocytes, has been shown to take part in the inflammatory reaction. The involvement of ECP in fibroblast activation was therefore investigated in cell culture. Production of proteoglycans, hyaluronan and collagen in the presence of ECP was measured after incorporation of radioactive precursors and separation into different proteoglycan classes using gel and ion exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Proteoglycan accumulation in the cell layer was increased two- to fivefold at an ECP-concentration of 10 micrograms/ml. No effect on collagen, other proteins or hyaluronan was noted. Furthermore, no effect was observed on cell proliferation. The increased proteoglycan accumulation could be inhibited by addition of heparin or of antibodies to ECP. The effect could not be mimicked by the two basic peptides protamine and poly-L-lysine, speaking in favor of specificity. The increase in proteoglycan material was seen exclusively in the intracellular pool. No change of proteoglycans in the medium or the cell surface-associated pool was noted. The increase in the cell layer was accounted for by a two- to fivefold increase in free chains of heparan sulfate and dermatan sulfate. No change was seen in the proteoglycan pattern. No effect on proteoglycan synthesis or on endocytosis was noted. The increased accumulation of polysaccharide was caused by inhibited degradation of glycosaminoglycans. The half-lives of large and small heparan sulfate proteoglycans/glycosaminoglycans and dermatan sulfate proteoglycans/glycosaminoglycans in the cell layer are increased four- to sevenfold. We conclude that ECP inhibits proteoglycan degradation in fibroblasts, which indicates a role for the eosinophil in generation of fibrosis.

Alveolar accumulation of fibronectin and hyaluronan precedes bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in the rat.

The development of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats was studied over a period of 30 days after an intratracheal instillation of bleomycin. Fibronectin was visualized in histological sections and quantified in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and related to simultaneous measurements of hyaluronan, collagen and albumin in BALF and/or lung tissue extracts. An increase in BALF fibronectin levels was noted after 3 days and the peak value a sixty fold increase was noted at day 7. Thereafter, the fibronectin levels declined and reached control values on day 21. A pronounced, patchily distributed staining for fibronectin appeared in the injured alveolar tissue parallel to the increased lavage fluid fibronectin levels on days 3-7. A fainter, streakily distributed fibronectin staining remained within the alveolar walls in areas with proliferating fibroblasts on days 14-30. Albumin in BALF increased to a peak level, 20 times control values, after 3 days and then rapidly declined. Thus, the ratio of fibronectin to albumin increased to a peak value of 43 times control values on day 7, indicating that plasma leakage cannot be the only source of the observed increase in lavage fibronectin. Lung tissue hydroxyproline increased between days 7 and 30, whereas extractable hyaluronan in lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid peaked on days 3-7 and then gradually declined towards normal values on days 21-30. These data demonstrate that fibronectin accumulates in the alveolar tissue during the early inflammatory phase of the bleomycin-induced lung injury, parallelling hyaluronan accumulation and preceding the development of pulmonary fibrosis.

Biosynthesis of dermatan sulphate proteoglycans. The effect of beta-D-xyloside addition on the polymer-modification process in fibroblast cultures.

Incubation of cultured fibroblasts with p-nitrophenyl beta-D-xyloside resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in galactosaminoglycan synthesis. At low concentration of added xyloside large and small radiolabelled proteoglycans and xyloside-bound polysaccharides were recovered from the medium, whereas at high concentrations only xyloside-bound polysaccharides were found. In the cell layer proteoglycans and xyloside-bound polysaccharides were found at all concentrations tested. Only galactosaminoglycan chains were polymerized on the xyloside primer. At low concentrations of added xyloside the structure of the galactosaminoglycans formed on the xyloside was similar to that of the small dermatan sulphate proteoglycan, i.e. mainly composed of L-iduronic acid-containing 4-sulphated disaccharides. With increasing concentration of added xyloside the co-polymeric structure of the small dermatan sulphate proteoglycan and the xyloside-bound polysaccharide was changed to contain a larger proportion of D-glucuronosyl residues with only slight changes in the sulphation pattern. No structural change in the polysaccharide chains of the large glucuronic acid-rich proteoglycans occurred. At 1 mM-xyloside, where no proteoglycans were formed, the polysaccharide was shorter and composed mainly of D-glucuronosyl-containing disaccharides with a ratio of 4-sulphate to 6-sulphate substituents of 1:2. This is similar to the structure of the large glucuronic acid-rich proteoglycan synthesized by these cells. Thus the main difference induced by the xyloside treatment was changed polymer modification at high xyloside concentrations. The specific activities of the polymer-modifying enzymes, uronosyl C-5-epimerase and 4-sulphotransferase, were therefore measured and found to be decreased by 30-50% in fibroblasts treated with high xyloside concentrations. It is suggested that the protein core is of importance for regulating the activity of the polymer-modifying enzymes.