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The hierarchical structure of tendon allows for attenuation of mechanical strain down decreasing length scales. While reorganization of collagen fibers accounts for microscale strain attenuation, cross-linking between collagen molecules contributes to deformation mechanisms at the fibrillar and molecular scales. Divalent and trivalent enzymatic cross-links form during the development of collagen fibrils through the enzymatic activity of lysyl oxidase (LOX). By establishing connections between telopeptidyl and triple-helical domains of adjacent molecules within collagen fibrils, these cross-links stiffen the fibrils by resisting intermolecular sliding. Ultimately, greater enzymatic cross-linking leads to less compliant and stronger tendon as a result of stiffer fibrils. In contrast, nonenzymatic cross-links such as glucosepane and pentosidine are not produced during development but slowly accumulate through glycation of collagen. Therefore, these cross-links are only expected to be present in significant quantities in advanced age, where there has been sufficient time for glycation to occur, and in diabetes, where the presence of more free sugar in the extracellular matrix increases the rate of glycation. Unlike enzymatic cross-links, current evidence suggests that nonenzymatic cross-links are at least partially isolated to the surface of collagen fibers. As a result, glycation has been proposed to primarily impact tendon mechanics by altering molecular interactions at the fiber interface, thereby diminishing sliding between fibers. Thus, increased nonenzymatic cross-linking decreases microscale strain attenuation and the viscous response of tendon. In conclusion, enzymatic and nonenzymatic collagen cross-links have demonstrable and distinct effects on the mechanical properties of tendon across different length scales.

Thrombospondin-1 and 2 have each been implicated in collagen fibrillogenesis. We addressed the possibility that deficits in lysyl oxidase (LOX) contribute to the extracellular matrix (ECM) phenotype of TSP-deficient bone. We examined detergent insoluble (mature cross-linked) and soluble (newly secreted) ECM fractions prepared from diaphyseal cortical bone. Detergent-insoluble hydroxyproline content, an indicator of cross-linked collagen content and LOX function, was reduced in female TSP-deficient bones. In male diaphyses, only TSP2 deficiency affected insoluble hydroxyproline content. Western blot suggested that removal of the LOX-pro-peptide (LOPP), an indication of LOX activation, was not affected by TSP status. Instead, the distribution of pro-LOX and mature LOX between immature and mature ECM was altered by TSP-status. LOX was also examined in primary marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) treated with ascorbate. Relative LOPP levels were elevated compared to WT in MSC conditioned medium from female TSP-deficient mice. When cells were serum starved to limit LOX pro-peptide removal, pro-LOX levels were elevated in TSP2-/- cells compared to wild-type. This phenotype was associated with a transient increase in BMP1 levels in TSP2-/- conditioned medium. TSP2 was detected in bone tissue and osteoblast cell culture. TSP1 was only detected in insoluble ECM prepared from WT diaphyseal bone samples. Our data suggest that the trimeric thrombospondins contribute to bone matrix quality by regulating the distribution of pro and mature LOX between newly secreted, immature ECM and mature, cross-linked ECM.

Purposes The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has poor functional healing response. The synovial tissue surrounding ACL ligament might be a major regulator of the microenvironment in the joint cavity after ACL injury, thus affecting the repair process. Using transwell co-culture, this study explored the direct influence of human synovial cells (HSCs) on ACL fibroblasts (ACLfs) by characterizing the differential expression of the lysyl oxidase family (LOXs) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, -2, -3), which facilitate extracellular matrix (ECM) repair and degradation, respectively. Methods The mRNA expression levels of LOXs and MMP-1, -2, -3 were analyzed by semi-quantitative PCR and quantitative real-time PCR. The protein expression levels of LOXs and MMP-1, -2, -3 were detected by western blot. Results We found that co-culture resulted in an increase in the mRNAs of LOXs in normal ACLfs and differentially regulated the expression of MMPs. Then we applied 12% mechanical stretch on ACLfs to induce injury and found the mRNA expression levels of LOXs in injured ACLfs were decreased in the co-culture group relative to the mono-culture group. Conversely, the mRNA expression levels of MMPs in injured ACLfs were promoted in the co-culture group compared with the mono-culture group. At translational level, we found that LOXs were lower while MMPs were highly expressed in the co-culture group compared to the mono-culture group. Conclusions The co-culture of ACLfs and HSCs, which mimicked the cell-to-cell contact in a micro-environment, could contribute to protein modulators for wound healing, inferring the potential reason for the poor self-healing of injured ACL.

Although injuries to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) can heal functionally without surgical intervention, the collagen fibers in the healing tissue remain compromised. The molecular basis for this poor healing potential was investigated by examining extracellular matrix-modifying molecules such as bone morphogenetic protein 1 (BMP-1), procollagen C proteinase enhancer (PCOLCE), lysyl oxidase (LOX), and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) involved in collagen fibrillogenesis during normal early postnatal ligament maturation and at comparable intervals after MCL injury. Samples of midsections of rabbit MCLs were collected from 3-, 6-, 14-, and 52-week-old normal animals and at 3, 6, and 14 weeks postinjury. Harvested midsubstance tissues were analyzed for collagen fibril diameter by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and mRNA levels were assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results showed different patterns of expression between normal MCL maturation and during scar maturation. BMP-1 and PCOLCE mRNA levels were upregulated in the 3?14-week period during maturation of normal ligaments but decreased at skeletal maturity. The scar tissue exhibited a 3.5-fold increase in PCOLCE mRNA levels during the early healing phase, but these decreased with time. After injury, BMP-1 mRNA levels in scars were low and did not change during healing. Both LOX and TGF-β1 mRNA levels were low during normal MCL development compared with levels at maturity and exhibited elevated mRNA levels during early healing that decreased with time postinjury. These results suggest that gene expression in scars during MCL healing does not recapitulate expression in normal ligament fibroblasts during maturation.

The mixture of proteins secreted by neonatal rat aorta smooth muscle cells cultured in the presence of beta-aminopropionitrile was readily oxidized and polymerized upon incubation with purified or crude preparations of lysyl oxidase. Western blot analysis indicated that these substrates included 30-60kDa protein bands reactive with anti-elastin, presumed to be fragments derived from tropoelastin. Thus, truncated, elastin-like as well as other proteins accumulate in the media of these cultures which, in toto, can serve as a conveniently prepared, highly efficient substrate for the routine assay of lysyl oxidase activity.

In a novel model for postnatal chondroinduction, normal human dermal fibroblasts (hDFs) cultured with demineralized bone powder (DBP) express chondrocyte features after 7 days. Representational difference analysis (RDA) prior to overt chondroblastogenesis (3 days) revealed altered expression of connective tissue genes (collagens, collagen receptors, and post-translational enzymes). Northern or RT-PCR analysis at 3, 7, 14, or 21 d showed different expression patterns for those genes. COL3A1 was transiently upregulated, whereas upregulation of COL11A1, integrin &#102 -11, lysyl oxidase, and lysyl hydroxylase 2 mRNAs persisted for 7 days. Downregulation of decorin was sustained for 21 d. The expression of the post-translational enzymes induced by DBP was unique when compared with human skin and human articular chondrocytes. Thus, the data suggest an "induced chondroblast" stage with a unique connective tissue gene expression profile that may result in a matrix supportive of chondrogenesis by postnatal cells.

Carbonated apatite (dahllite) is formed within and between collagen fibrils in the mineralization of connective tissues. However, the mechanism of crystal nucleation at these sites has not been resolved. To identify non-collagenous proteins that may be involved in the nucleation process we have utilized a dissociative extraction procedure to isolate proteins associated non-covalently with the de-mineralized collagen matrix of dentine isolated from tooth roots of adult porcine incisors. Following extraction of dentine fragments with 4M GuHCl (G1-extract) and 0.5M EDTA (E-extract), de-mineralized collagen matrix-associated proteins were isolated with a second series of extractions with 4M GuHCl (G2-extract). Analysis of the G2-extracts on SDS-PAGE revealed two major 32 kDa and 24 kDa protein bands, comprising80% of the extracted non-collagenous proteins. The 32 kDa protein was purified by FPLC on hydroxyapatite and Mono Q resins, followed by HPLC reverse-phase chromatography. Small amounts of 26 kDa and 6 kDa proteins, which appear to represent proteolytically processed, disulphide-linked fragments of the 32 kDa protein, co-eluted with the major protein. The 32 kDa protein was identified as lysyl oxidase from amino acid sequence analysis of a 13 kDa CNBr peptide obtained from protein purified by preparative electrophoresis on SDS-PAGE. Fractionation of the 24 kDa protein on FPLC Mono Q resin generated5 closely eluting protein peaks. The proteins from these peaks were similar in size, staining properties, amino acid composition and CNBr digestion patterns. Each protein was immunoreactive with antibodies raised against a tyrosine-rich acidic matrix protein (TRAMP), reported previously to co-purify with lysyl oxidase. These studies, therefore, show that lysyl oxidase, which is important in collagen cross-link formation, and proteins with properties of TRAMP, a protein that can modulate collagen fibrillogenesis, are the major proteins in dissociative extracts of de-mineralized porcine dentine.

Inspiration of CdCl2 results in a focally fibrotic response in rat lungs and markedly increases the activity of lung lysyl oxidase. Western blot analyses of urea-extractable rat lung proteins revealed that the levels of an immunoreactive, 32,000-Da protein were markedly increased in the cadmium-exposed rat lung tissue, consistent with the induction of lysyl oxidase protein. Anion exchange chromatography revealed low levels of multiple peaks of catalytically functional lysyl oxidase in control rat lung extracts, while the profile of cadmium-exposed rat lung extracts displayed markedly elevated levels of multiple peaks of enzyme activity indicating that the charge heterogeneity is expressed in the activated enzyme. The cadmium-induced enzyme was purified as a species of 32 kDa, without resolving individual ionic variants. The catalytic and physical properties of the isolated enzyme were very similar to those of previously well characterized basal enzyme of bovine aorta, including the presence of a pyrroloquinoline quinone-like carbonyl cofactor. The copper and cadmium content of the cadmium-induced enzyme indicated little if any replacement of tightly-bound copper by cadmium in the exposed lung.

The mechanical strength of skin wounds as well as the deposition of hydroxyproline and KB3H4 reducible hydroxylysinonorleucine (HLNL) and dihydroxylysinonorleucine (DHLNL) cross-links in subcutaneously implanted cellulose sponges have been investigated in rats treated with aminoguanidine (AG) or beta-aminopropionitrile (BAPN). Treatment with AG (25 mg/kg BW/day) did not influence the mechanical strength of the wounds, the deposition of hydroxyproline or the pattern of reducible collagen cross-links, whereas AG (125 mg/kg BW/day) reduced the maximum load by 17%, but did not influence the deposition of hydroxyproline or reducible cross-linking pattern. Treatment with BAPN (333 mg/kg BW/day) reduced the strength of the wounds by 59%, the HLNL by 50% and the DHLNL 57%, whereas the deposition of hydroxyproline did not seem to be influenced by BAPN treatment. In conclusion, AG at moderate dosage does not seem to influence the formation of lysyl oxidase dependent reducible cross-links of collagen.

The newly discovered coenzyme PQQ can now be measured at picomole levels with redox cycling methods developed in our laboratory. PQQ-peptides have been obtained from digests of the copper quinoenzymes, diamine oxidase, lysyl oxidase and dopamine-beta-hydroxylase. PQQ is present in egg yolk and milk, suggesting its immediate availability for developing embryos and newborn animals. We suggest that PQQ, when exposed in traumatized, ischemic, inflammed or pathological tissues, may catalyze the formation of large amounts of superoxide and should be considered as a source of oxidative stress when planning pharmacotherapeutic intervention. PQQ and quinoproteins play a role in the redox metabolism and structural integrity of cells and tissues.

Lysyl oxidase, the enzyme responsible for mediating crosslink formation in collagen and elastin, requires copper for its activity. 1 In this study, lysyl oxidase activity and insoluble elastin content were unchanged in lungs from copper-deficient hamsters compared to controls. The lack of dramatic diminution in lysyl oxidase activity in animals who demonstrate significant structural alterations in the lung suggests that other mechanisms in addition to inhibition of crosslink formation are operative in this model.

Elastin is synthesized by fibroblasts and chondroblasts in cell culture shortly before the cells become confluent. Fibroblasts secrete elastin into the medium as soluble tropoelastin molecules, which form desmosine crosslinks and become constituents of the cell layer only after three weeks in culture. Even then only a small fraction of the available tropoelastin molecules from crosslinks. Conversely, the chondrocytes secrete an elastin which never reaches the media as soluble elastin in significant quantities. Crosslinking occurs immediately in the chondroblast cell layer forming stable, insoluble elastic fibers. Both cells in culture produce lysyl oxidase at approximately the same levels. The reason for the marked differences between these cells in the mode of conversion of soluble elastin to insoluble elastin is not known. The suggestion of Mecham3 that the extracellular matrix may play a major role in the development of elastogenesis may provide an answer.

Two maternal cousins affected by the X–linked form of Ehlers–Danlos syndrome have been observed. Both had congenital heart disease, “floppy valve syndrome”, hernias, short stature, stretchable skin and moderate joint hyper–mobility. Both excreted normal amounts of urinary glycosaminoglycans, almost entirely represented by dermatan sulfate, whose degradation appeared to be inadequate. They also excreted large amounts of hydroxylysine glycosides and L–valyl–proline, considered to be products of degradation of collagen and elastin, respectively. Cultured skin fibroblasts of the propositus synthesized excessively soluble collagen and had a low lysyl oxidase activity. These findings suggest that the increased degradation of structural proteins may be secondary to the defective cross–linking processes caused by the enzymic defect. Addition of (+) catechin, a flavonoid, to the propositus's cultured fibroblasts decreased the abnormal solubility of their collagen.

Recent evidence has revealed that lysyl oxidase, plasma amine oxidase and diamine oxidase each contain copper and pyrroloquinoline quinone at their active sites as cofactors essential to their catalytic functions. It thus seems likely that these enzymes will share similar mechanisms of action. Since mechanism-based inhibitors of lysyl oxidase have important chemotherapeutic potential for the control of fibrotic disease, the relative inhibitory potential of such agents toward catalytically similar amine oxidases was assessed in the present study using purified preparations of lysyl oxidase, diamine oxidase, plasma amine oxidase and the flavin-dependent mitochondrial monoamine oxidase A and B. The results indicate that there is sufficient difference between the sensitivities of lysyl oxidase and the other amine oxidases to beta-aminopropionitrile to warrant its consideration as an antifibrotic agent in vivo, while also revealing that aminoguanidine, clorgyline and deprenyl are sufficiently selective for diamine oxidase, monoamine oxidase A and monoamide oxidase B, respectively, to differentiate between lysyl oxidase and these enzymes at appropriate concentrations.

Quantitative analysis of electrophoretically separated heat-denatured collagen showed that crosslinking of thermally reconstituted native non-crosslinked collagen fibers was inhibited following implantation with a diffusion chamber into hypophysectomized rats. Comparative studies on collagen extractability from the skin of hypophysectomized rats and their normal pair-fed and ad lib. controls showed that both age and food restriction had no effect on collagen maturation when the pituitary gland had been removed. The results indicate that hypophysectomy inhibits the first step in intramolecular crosslinking of collagen by affecting the production and/or the activity of lysyl oxidase which may be a pituitary gland hormone dependent enzyme.

The oxidation of an elastin substrate by highly purified bovine aortic lysyl oxidase (LO) is markedly influenced by amphiphilic molecules known to bind to elastin. Negatively charged elastin ligands, including fatty acids, bile salts or sodium dodecyl sulfate can completely inhibit the oxidation of lysine in elastin, the cationic amphiphilic ligands stimulate the enzymatic reaction five-fold, while small hydrophilic molecules of either charge or neutral detergents have no effect. In addition, evidence has been obtained that changes in the conformation of a synthetic polypeptide substrate markedly alter its susceptibility to LO. The coacervated state of the substrate is most readily oxidized and crosslinked by the enzyme. These results point to the importance of small ligands, electrostatic charge, and conformation as substrate-directed influences which can control the expression of LO activity.

Experimental lathyrism was induced by feeding newborn chicks a diet containing 0.2 and 0.4% DL-Penicillamine, with or without CuSO4 (10 mg/Kg diet) and Vitamin B6 (100 mg/Kg diet), or 0.015 and 0.1% beta-aminopropionitrile fumarate (beta-APN). After 7, 15, 25 and 55 days of treatment the animals were killed, the aortas removed and processed for electron microscopy in the presence of markers for proteoglycans, and the elastic fibers were carefully examined. Penicillamine, which prevents the formation of desmosine crosslinks by binding to precursors, induced the production of numerous new elastin fibers which appeared normal from the ultrastructural point of view. It seems, therefore, that at least in chick aortas, desmosine crosslinks are not necessary for the aggregation of tropoelastin molecules into structurally normal fibers. On the contrary, beta-APN, a classical inhibitor of lysyl oxidase, induced the tropoelastin molecules to aggregate into abnormal protuberances on the old fibers. Moreover, the elastin deposited during beta-APN treatment was always permeated by cytochemically revealed proteoglycans, which were never observed after penicillamine treatment. It is speculated that, at least in the system under study, the epsilon-amino groups of tropoelastin molecules may offer the binding sites for matrix proteoglycans until they are removed by lysyl oxidase, and that matrix proteoglycans might play a role in elastin fibrogenesis by preventing spontaneous tropoelastin aggregation in areas far from growing elastin fibers.

Lysyl oxidase was purified to about 3,000- to 5,000-fold from epiphyseal cartilages of chick embryos. Purification was accomplished by sequential column chromatographies of collagen-sepharose, DEAE-Cellulose and Sephacryl S-200. The molecular weight of the most purified enzyme from 4 different isomers as determined by gel-filtration technique using Sephacryl S-200 column was 32,000 and the purified enzyme contained one copper atom per mole. When the enzyme (copper content: 1.12 g-atom per mole) was incubated with 1 X 10(-4)M cadmium, followed by gel-filtration, 0.12 g-atom of cadmium was incorporated into the enzyme per mole and consequently 0.23 g-atom of prosthetic copper was released from the enzyme (loss of 21%) with a substantial decrease of the enzyme activity by 22.8%, but 50% loss of copper caused by treatment with 1 X 10(-3)M cadmium did not further decrease the activity. When the enzyme was incubated with 1 X 10(-4)M zinc, 0.38 g-atom of zinc bound to the enzyme and 65% copper was lost, resulting in 34% loss of the activity. Loss of 84% copper (experiment with 1 X 10(-3)M zinc), however, led to 47% inhibition. These findings indicate the existence of metal-metal interaction in the enzyme that can significantly influence the activity, though inhibition of the enzyme was not strictly proportional to either the amount of copper released or the amount of cadmium or zinc bound to the enzyme.

A prior report had concluded that bovine lung lysyl oxidase displayed an unusual resistance to inhibition by beta-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) in contrast to the enzyme isolated from other connective tissues. Therefore, lysyl oxidase was purified from fetal bovine lung and from aorta of young calves by parallel procedures, and key chromatographic and catalytic properties of these enzymes were directly compared. The enzymes prepared from both tissues each demonstrated the same multiplicity of enzyme species which resolve on DEAE-cellulose and otherwise demonstrated the same chromatographic behavior on gel exclusion media and on collagen-Sepharose and Cibacron blue-Sepharose columns. The activities of the unresolved but partially purified enzyme species of lung and of aortic lysyl oxidase were each fully inhibitable by approximately the same low (mu molar) concentrations of BAPN. Thus, the enzymes of both tissues were found to be very similar to each other by several criteria.

The binding of highly purified bovine aortic lysyl oxidase to native fibrils of type I collagen has been measured by assay of unbound lysyl oxidase activity in the supernatants of enzyme-collagen mixtures after centrifugation. The apparent binding affinity of lysyl oxidase for native fibrils is quite similar to that for fibrils prepared from pepsin- or chymotrypsin-digested type I collagen, demonstrating that the enzyme binds to the triple-helical portion of collagen molecules. The data also indicate that the enzyme binds predominantly to the fibrillar surface. The results suggest that lysyl oxidase initiates crosslink formation at an early stage in collagen fibrillogenesis.