Demonstration of a direct role for myosin light chain kinase in fibroblast-populated collagen lattice contraction.

Mixing feed fibroblasts with soluble collagen and serum-supplemented culture medium at 37 degrees C results in the entrapment of cells within the polymerizing collagen matrix. This cellular-collagen complex is referred to as a fibroblast-populated collagen lattice (FPCL). In time, this FPCL undergoes a reduction in size called lattice contraction. The proposed mechanism for lattice contraction is cellular force produced by cytoplasmic microfilaments which organize collagen fibrils compacting the matrix. When the regulatory subunits of myosin, myosin light chains, are phosphorylated by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), myosin ATPase activity is increased and actin-myosin dynamic filament sliding occurs. Elevated levels of myosin ATPase are required for maximal lattice contraction. Cholera toxin inhibits lattice contraction by increasing intracellular levels of cAMP. It is proposed that increased cytoplasmic concentrations of cAMP promote phosphorylation of MLCK, the enzyme important for maximizing myosin ATPase activity. Phosphorylating MLCK in vitro inhibits activity by decreasing its sensitivity to calcium-calmodulin complex. A decrease in MLCK activity would result in lower levels of myosin ATPase activity. MLCK, purified from turkey gizzard, was subjected to limited proteolytic digestion to produce calmodulin-independent-MLCK. The partially digested kinase does not require calcium-calmodulin for activation. Independent-MLCK is not subject to inhibition by phosphorylation. The electroporetic inoculation of independent-MLCK into fibroblasts before FPCL manufacture produced enhanced lattice contraction. Lattice contraction, in the presence of cholera toxin, was restored to normal levels by the prior electroporetic introduction of independent-MLCK. These findings support the hypothesis that increases in cAMP hinder lattice contraction by a mechanism involving inhibition of MLCK and myosin ATPase.

Cell locomotion forces versus cell contraction forces for collagen lattice contraction: an in vitro model of wound contraction.

Cultured human dermal fibroblasts suspended in a rapidly polymerizing collagen matrix produce a fibroblast-populated collagen lattice. With time, this lattice will undergo a reduction in size referred to as lattice contraction. During this process, two distinct cell populations develop. At the periphery of the lattice, highly oriented sheets of cells, morphologically identifiable as myofibroblasts, show cell-to-cell contacts and thick, actin-rich staining cytoplasmic stress fibers. It is proposed that these cells undergoing cell contraction produce a multicellular contractile unit which reorients the collagen fibrils associated with them. The cells in the central region, referred to as fibroblasts, are randomly oriented, with few cell-to-cell contacts and faintly staining actin cytoplasmic filaments. In contrast it is proposed that cells working as single units use cell locomotion forces to reorient the collagen fibrils associated with them. Using this model, we sought to determine which of these two mechanisms, cell contraction or cell locomotion, is responsible for the force that contracts collagen lattices. Our experiments showed that fibroblasts produce this contractile force, and that the mechanism for lattice contraction appears to be related to cell locomotion. This is in contrast to a myofibroblast; where the mechanism for contraction is based upon cell contractions. Fibroblasts attempting to move within the collagen matrix reorganize the surrounding collagen fibrils; when these collagen fibrils can be organized no further and cell-to-cell contacts develop, which occurs at the periphery of the lattice first, these cells can no longer participate in the dynamic aspects of lattice contraction.

Effects of heparin on vascularization of artificial skin grafts in rats.

Artificial skin is a recent development in the clinical care of the severely burned patient. Its manufacture entails the covalent bonding of collagen and polysaccharide, followed by the coating of one surface with a thin layer of silicone rubber. Artificial skin was grafted onto rats and examined for neovascularization at 7 days. Vascular patency was shown by perfused yellow latex casts. Five percent of the patent vessels grew into the graft soaked in physiological buffered saline (PBS). When the graft was soaked in heparin, 1 mg/ml buffered saline solution, before grafting, 54% of the patent vessels in the grafted area had grown into the matrix. These experiments show that the local application of heparin promotes early ingrowth of blood vessels into the healing site. The vascularity of artificial skin can be modified by heparin, which promotes angiogenesis, and leads to earlier deposits of greater amounts of new connective tissue.

Ancrod prevents vascular occlusion in thermally injured rats.

Predictable vascular responses to burn injury can occur where blood vessels are occluded in and just beneath the site of trauma. The loss of vascular patency is linked to the development of ischemia in the surrounding skin. Several mechanisms may be responsible for this occlusion, and their identification will provide a logical means for prevention or reversal of the occlusion. The role of fibrin deposition was investigated here using a rat burn model. If an intravascular fibrin clot is a primary cause of early occlusion, the depletion of circulating fibrinogen should prevent its deposition. Ancrod, a pit viper venom trypsin-like proteinase, when given systemically, converts fibrinogen into a soluble product which does not clot. In studies here, the host is depleted of fibrinogen by intravenous injections of ancrod for 3 days before standard burn trauma. Burn injury in defibrinogenized rats resulted in greatly reduced local vascular occlusion. These results support the idea that vascular occlusion caused by burn injury is dependent on the deposition of fibrin. It is conjectured that the vascular occlusion of burn injury can be reversed by preventing or breaking down intravascular fibrin clots.

ATP-induced cell contraction in dermal fibroblasts: effects of cAMP and myosin light-chain kinase.

When 1 mM ATP is added to human dermal fibroblasts (DF) in monolayer culture permeabilized by glycerol, they undergo a rapid reduction in length and their intracellular actin filaments aggregate. This process is referred to as cell contraction. Treating glycerol-permeabilized DF with alkaline phosphatase before adding 1 mM ATP should cause dephosphorylation. Dephosphorylated preparations do not undergo cell contraction initiated by ATP. When myosin light-chain kinase (MLCK) isolated from turkey gizzard is added with cofactors to cells dephosphorylated by alkaline phosphatase treatment, contraction is restored. DF incubated for 24 h with db cAMP or cholera toxin show elevated intracellular concentrations of cAMP and little cell contraction. Contraction is reestablished when MLCK with cofactors is incubated with these preparations before ATP is added. Fibroblasts from Epidermolysis Bullosa dystrophica recessive patients produce excess cAMP. Those cells show minimal contraction, however; treating them with MLCK and cofactors renews contraction brought about by ATP. When DF are incubated with trifluoperazine to block calmodulin-dependent enzyme reactions, cell contraction is inhibited. Adding cytochalasin B disrupts microfilaments and also inhibits contraction. This work supports the idea that myosin ATPase is critical to cell contraction. Myosin ATPase is dependent on the phosphorylation of the regulatory peptide, myosin light chain. Elevating intracellular concentrations of cAMP or treatment of permeabilized cell preparations with alkaline phosphatase may inhibit myosin ATPase activity. The restoration of phosphorylation by adding MLCK with cofactors served to reestablish cell contraction.

The vascularization of artificial skin grafts in rats: its modification by protamine.

Artificial skin is a recent development in the clinical care of the severely burned patient. Its manufacture involves the covalent bonding of collagen and polysaccharide, followed by the coating of one surface with a thin layer of silicone rubber. Neovascularization and its modification in artificial skin were studied. Experimental artificial skin was grafted onto rats and examined for vascular growth in the graft at 7 days. This was revealed by latex-perfused vascular casts which were processed for histological study. An area including the graft bed and graft matrix was viewed and examined for latex-filled vessels. Thirty-seven percent of the total vessels, identified by residual latex, had grown into the graft. When artificial skin was treated with protamine at 10 mg/ml buffered saline solution before grafting, only 6% of the total perfused blood vessels were found in the graft matrix. The remainder was found in the graft bed. Moreover, increases in the numbers of perfused blood vessels and vessel diameters were observed in the graft bed at the interface below the graft pretreated with protamine. Protamine inhibited vessel growth into the matrix, but promoted an increased number of dilated blood vessels in the surrounding graft bed. These dilated vessels were related to an altered vessel architecture.

Studies on vascular smooth muscle cells and dermal fibroblasts in collagen matrices. Effects of heparin.

The incorporation of such tissue-cultured mesenchymal cells as bovine vascular smooth muscle cells (SMS) and human dermal fibroblasts (DF) in a collagen matrix results in the reorganization and distortion of that matrix. A 2 ml collagen matrix populated by 55 000 bovine SMC and having a surface area of 800 mm2 will be reduced to 226 mm2 by 48 h. Under identical conditions, a lattice populated by 55 000 DF will achieve an area of 78 mm2 at 48 h. DF are thus more efficient at reducing the size of a collagen lattice by the process of lattice contraction. Bovine SMC proliferate in a collagen matrix; human DF do not. DF in a collagen matrix have a more elongate morphology than SMC. Actin cytoplasmic filaments were studied using the specific F-actin staining reagent, Rhodamine-phalloidin. DF in collagen matrix exhibit diffuse cytoplasmic staining while, in monolayer, they display prominent staining stress fibers. SMC in monolayer and in matrices show stained clumps at the periphery of the cell. The addition of 200 U/ml heparin to SMC eliminates those actin aggregates and causes the formation of stress fibers. It also causes stress fibers to form in dermal fibroblasts in a collagen lattice. However, the elongation and spreading--and the formation of stress fibers brought about by heparin--lead to an inhibition of lattice contraction. Heparin effectively inhibits cell-mediated lattice contraction in SMC and DF, and it also causes the formation of cytoplasmic stress fibers.