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Endocrinology Vol. 138, No. 7 2972-2983
Copyright © 1997 by The Endocrine Society


ARTICLES

Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-5 Binds to Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-I2

Taek Jeong Nam, Walker Busby, Jr. and David R. Clemmons

Taek Jeong Nam, Walker Busby, Jr. and David R. Clemmons

Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: David R. Clemmons, M.D., Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine CB 7170, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7170.


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 (IGFBP-5) has been shown to bind to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of both fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells. The ECM-IGFBP-5 interaction is mediated in part by binding to heparan sulfate containing proteoglycans. Because proteoglycans may not be the only components of ECM that bind to IGFBP-5, we have determined its ability to bind to other ECM proteins. When a partially purified mixture of the proteins that were present in fibroblast conditioned medium was purified by IGFBP-5 affinity chromatography, a 55-kDa protein was eluted. Amino acid sequencing of the amino terminal 28 amino acids showed that it was human plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). To determine if this interaction was specific, purified human PAI-1 was incubated with IGFBP-5 and the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 complex immunoprecipitated with anti-PAI-1 antiserum. When the precipitate was analyzed by immunoblotting using anti-IGFBP-5 antiserum, the intensity of the IGFBP-5 band was substantially increased compared with controls that did not contain human PAI-1. A synthetic IGFBP-5 peptide that contained the amino acid sequence between positions 201 and 218 inhibited IGFBP-5/PAI-1 interaction. Coincubation of IGFBP-5 mutants that contained substitutions for specific basic residues located between positions 201 and 218 with PAI-1 indicated that some of these amino acids were important for binding. Two mutants that contained neutral substitutions for specific basic amino acids within the glycosaminoglycan binding domain had reduced binding to PAI-1. In contrast, three other mutants that also had substitutions for charged residues in the same region had no reduction in binding. Heparin and heparan sulfate inhibited the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 interaction; however, several other glycosaminoglycans had no effect. PAI-1 was determined to be an important ECM component for binding because approximately 27% of total ECM binding could be inhibited with anti-PAI-1 antiserum. Competitive binding studies with unlabeled IGFBP-5 showed that the dissociation constant of PAI-1 for IGFBP-5 was 9.1 x 10-8 M. In summary, IGFBP-5 binds specifically to plasminogen activator inhibitor-1. Because this is present in the extracellular matrix of several cell types, it may be one of the important binding components of ECM. PAI-1 binding partially protects IGFBP-5 from proteolysis, suggesting that it is one of the ECM components that is involved in mediating this effect.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
THE INSULIN-LIKE growth factors (IGFs) are present in physiological fluids bound to IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) (1, 2). Six IGF binding proteins with high affinities for IGF-I and II have been identified (3). Although IGFBP-5 binds to the IGFs with high affinity in interstitial fluids, when it is associated with extracellular matrix its affinity is decreased 8- to 15-fold (4). This lower affinity results in better equilibration of IGF-I with its receptor and potentiation of IGF-I stimulated fibroblast (5) or smooth muscle cell growth (6). Extracellular fluids also contain proteases that degrade IGFBP-5 and cleave it into non-IGF binding fragments (7). However, when IGFBP-5 is associated with ECM, it is protected from proteolysis (5, 8); therefore, ECM binding may provide a mechanism for localizing IGF-I in focal areas and provide better access to receptors. This localization could be important in mediating the cellular response to injury when IGF-I expression is increased in the local microenvironment. Therefore, the factors in extracellular matrix that account for IGFBP-5 localization have the potential to indirectly regulate IGF-I actions.

We have previously shown that IGFBP-5 binds to heparin and heparan sulfate (4, 9). Similarly, glycosaminoglycan containing proteoglycans, such as tenascin, that are present in the ECM also bind IGFBP-5 (9). This binding occurs through highly charged residues in IGFBP-5 that are located between residues 201 and 218 (4, 9, 10). Similar to ECM binding, glycosaminoglycan binding of IGFBP-5 also results in a reduction in the affinity of IGFBP-5 for IGF-I (4) and in protection from proteolysis (8). However, competitive binding studies using intact ECM have shown that all of the ECM binding of IGFBP-5 could not be accounted for by binding to proteoglycans (5). Therefore, these studies were undertaken to determine if extracellular matrix proteins other than proteoglycans might bind IGFBP-5.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Materials
Eagle’s MEM was purchased from Grand Island Biological Company (Grand Island, NY, Life Technologies). Calf serum was purchased from Colorado Serum (Colorado Laboratories, Denver, CO). BSA, ammonium persulfate, sodium phosphate were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). 125I IGFBP-5 (30–45 µCi/µg) was prepared using IODO-BEADS (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, IL) and 15 µg IGFBP-5 according to manufacturer’s instructions (7, 11). Recombinant human IGF-I was obtained from Bachem (Torrence, CA). Tris-sodium duodecyl sulfate, chloramine-T, polyacrylamide, and prestained mol wt standards were purchased from Bethesda Research Laboratories (BRL) (Gaithersburg, MD). Tween 80 was obtained from Fisher Scientific (Cleartown, NJ). Human vitronectin and antihuman vitronectin antiserum were obtained from Telios (San Diego, CA).

Purification of PAI-I
Human dermal fibroblasts (GM-10) were purchased from Coriell Institute (Camden, NJ). They were grown in EMEM supplemented with 10% calf serum as described previously (7). Confluent monolayers were washed twice in the serum-free medium, then 50 cc was added to 175-cm2 flasks (Falcon Labware, Division of Becton-Dickinson), and the medium was collected after 24 h. This was repeated until 1.2 liters of serum-free medium had been collected. After purification by heparin sepharose affinity chromatography and {alpha}1 antichymotryptic peptide affinity chromatography as described previously (12), the fractions containing IGFBP-5 protease activity were applied to an IGFBP-5 affinity column. This column was prepared by conjugating a synthetic 18 amino acid peptide that contained the IGFBP-5 sequence between amino acids 201–218 to Affigel 10 (Bio-Rad Richmond, CA). This sequence is also present in IGFBP-3, but it is not present in any other form of IGFBP. The peptide was conjugated according to manufacturer’s instructions by incubating 5.6 mg of peptide with 7.0 cc of activated sepharose in 0.1 M Na HEPES buffer, pH 7.5, for 4 h at 8 C. Unreacted sites were blocked by a further incubation for 1 h with 0.25 M Tris. The gel was washed, and the pool of activity that had been purified from fibroblast conditioned medium was applied. The purified active fractions that were eluted with 0.5 M NaCl were concentrated and further analyzed by SDS-PAGE (12.5% gel). After electrophoresis, the proteins were transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane that was stained with Ponceau-S. A 55-kDa band was excised and subjected to amino acid sequencing. Amino terminal amino acid sequencing was conducted as described previously using Edman degradation (13).

Preparation of human IGFBP-5
The human IGFBP-5 that was used in these studies was obtained by purifying the protein from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell conditioned medium. CHO cells were transfected with an IGFBP-5 complementary DNA (cDNA) that contained the entire protein coding region and had been prepared as previously described (7). The cells were transfected, then maintained in methotrexate (50 µg/ml) because the plasmid that was used (pNUT) contains the gene that contains dihydrofolate reductase resistance. After selection with methotrexate, 50 µg/ml, the highest secreting clones were further subcultured in DMEM containing 10% dialyzed FCS. The cells were grown to confluency and 50 ml of serum-free medium were added to 175-cm tissue culture flasks and incubated for 48 h. Eight hundred cubic centimeters of conditioned medium were purified using a three-step purification procedure of phenyl sepharose chromatography, IGF-I affinity chromatography, and HPLC (C4 column) (Vydac, Hesperia, CA), as previously described (10). The purified protein was homogenous by SDS-PAGE with silver staining (14). The protein content was determined by amino acid composition analysis (7).

Coimmunoprecipitation, ligand blotting, and immunoblotting
The ability of IGFBP-5 to bind to the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 was analyzed by coimmunoprecipitation. It was determined that the lowest nonspecific binding and the highest sensitivity of detection could be obtained by immunoprecipitating with anti-PAI-1 antisera. The IGFBP-5 that had been coimmunoprecipitated was then detected by immunoblotting (5) or by ligand blotting using 125I-IGF-I (15). PAI-1 and polyclonal anti-PAI-1 antiserum were obtained from American Diagnostica (Greenwich, CT). In most experiments, IGFBP-5 (100 ng/ml) was incubated with PAI-1 at 100 ng/ml, and anti-PAI-1 was added at a 1:5000 dilution. The reagents were allowed to incubate for 16 h at 4 C in 0.03 M sodium phosphate, pH 7.4, containing 0.01 M EDTA, 0.1% Tween 80, and 0.02% BSA. Protein A sepharose (3 mg) was added and incubated for 2 h at 4 C. The immune complexes were precipitated by centrifuging at 3000 x g for 5 min. The pellets were rinsed with 1.0 ml of the buffer listed previously and 50 µl of 2x Laemmli sample buffer was added. The sample was centrifuged (2000 x g for 5 min) and the supernatant loaded onto a 12.5% SDS polyacrylamide gel. The proteins were electrophoresed through a 12.5% gel using nonreducing conditions, then transferred to Immobilon membranes (Millipore, Bedford, MA) as previously described (15). After transfer, the filters were immunoblotted using a 1:1000 dilution of anti-IGFBP-5 antiserum. The immune complexes were detected using the Protoblot system (Promega, Madison, WI) according to manufacturer’s recommendation. The electrophoretic mobilities of the bands that were detected were compared with known mol wt standards (Bethesda Research Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD). The photographic negatives were scanned using a Hoffer GS-300 scanner (Hoffer Scientific Instruments, San Francisco, CA), and the results are expressed in scanning units. For more sensitive detection of IGFBP-5, ligand blotting was performed. Five hundred thousand counts per minute of 125I-IGF-I [150 µCi/µg (16)] was added to the filters and incubated overnight using conditions described previously (17). The filters were washed, and autoradiography was used to detect bound 125I-IGF-I. For some experiments, quantitation of the amount of IGFBP-5 was determined by analysis autoradiography band intensity using a Phor Imager and Image Quant SF software (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, CA). The results are expressed as arbitrarily defined scanning units.

To enhance the sensitivity detection of IGFBP-5 after coimmunoprecipitation, 125I-IGFBP-5 (30 µCi/µg) (260,000 cpm/ml) that had been prepared as described previously (12), was incubated and was used with PAI-1 (200 ng/ml), and a 1:10,000 dilution of anti-PAI-1 antiserum in 0.25 ml of 0.03 M sodium phosphate containing 0.01 M EDTA, 0.1% Tween 80, 0.1% BSA, pH 7.0. After an overnight incubation at 4 C, the immune complexes were precipitated by adding rabbit IgG (1.0 µl) and protein-A sepharose (10 µl of a 20 mg/ml solution) then centrifuged. In some experiments, duplicate tubes contained unlabeled IGFBP-5 or IGFBP-5 mutants (100 ng/ml). Similarly, in some experiments unlabeled IGFBP-5 peptides that had been prepared as described previously (10) were used. Fifty microliters of Lammeli sample buffer were added, and the samples were heated to 65 C then electrophoresed through a 12.5% SDS gel and transferred to Immobilon filters. The precipitated 125I-IGFBP-5 was detected by autoradiography. In some experiments, vitronectin (200 ng/ml) was incubated with 125I-IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 then the PAI-1 immunoprecipitated as described previously. Similarly, in some experiments antivitronectin antiserum (1:5000 dilution) was added with PAI-1 or vitronectin and the complexes immunoprecipitated. The amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was immunoprecipitated was determined by SDS-PAGE with autoradiography.

Measurement of binding affinity
To determine the affinity of the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction, increasing concentrations of unlabeled IGFBP-5 (10–1000 ng/ml) were mixed with 125I-IGFBP-5 (50,000 cpm/ml), and a constant amount of unlabeled PAI-1 (100 ng/ml). After an overnight incubation, the anti-PAI-1 antiserum was added (1:5000 dilution), and the bound 125I-IGFBP-5 was coimmunoprecipitated with protein A sepharose as previously described, then counted in a gamma spectrometer.

IGFBP-5 proteolysis
The effect of PAI-1 and vitronectin on IGFBP-5 proteolysis was determined by incubating IGFBP-5 with an IGFBP-5 protease that had been purified by heparin sepharose chromatography from fibroblast conditioned medium (12). The partially purified protein was added to 0.25 ml of 0.05 M Tris, pH 7.0, with IGFBP-5 (50 ng/ml) and vitronectin (10 µg/ml) or PAI-1 (10 µg/ml). After 14 h at 37 C, the products of the reaction were analyzed by immunoblotting.

Preparation of synthetic peptides and IGFBP-5 mutants
Synthetic peptides containing 11–20 amino acids from four different regions of IGFBP-5 were synthesized and purified as described previously (10). Their sequences are as follows: A, DRKGFYKRKQCKPSRGRKR; B, AVKKDRRKKLT; C, ALLHGRGVCLNEKS; D, RPKHTRISELKAE. To determine their capacity to interfere with IGFBP-5 binding to PAI-1, they were added using concentrations between 0.1 and 5.0 µg/ml. IGFBP-5 mutants containing the substitutions for basic amino acids were prepared using in vitro mutagenesis as previously described (9, 10). They were purified to homogeneity and their protein content determined by comparing their HPLC peak areas to an IGFBP-5 standard whose concentration had been determined by amino acid composition analysis (9). They were each shown to have an affinity for IGF-I that was similar to the wild-type, nonmutated protein (10).


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Analysis of the proteins that were purified from fibroblast conditioned medium (using the three purification steps outlined in Materials and Methods) by SDS-PAGE and Ponceau-S staining showed that a 55-kDa protein had been eluted from the IGFBP-5 peptide affinity column. When this band was sequenced, a single sequence that corresponded to positions 1–28 of human plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 was obtained. Therefore, coimmunoprecipitation studies were undertaken to determine if PAI-I could bind to IGFBP-5 at lower concentrations.

Coincubation of PAI-1 (100 ng/ml) and IGFBP-5 with anti-PAI-1 resulted in coimmunoprecipitation of IGFBP-5 (Fig. 1AGo). To prove that coimmunoprecipitation of the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 complex was specific, anti-PAI-1 antibody and protein-A sepharose were added to tubes that received IGFBP-5 alone. This resulted in minimal precipitation of IGFBP-5. To analyze this interaction by a more sensitive method, 125I-IGFBP-5 was used as a ligand. 125I-IGFBP-5 was incubated with unlabeled PAI-1 and anti-PAI-1 antibody. As shown in Fig. 1BGo, the addition of unlabeled PAI-1 resulted in a large increase in the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was coimmunoprecipitated when compared with the sample that did not contain PAI-1. The addition of excess unlabeled IGFBP-5 greatly reduced the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was coimmunoprecipitated, indicating that the immunoprecipitation was specific. Similarly, if anti-PAI-1 was omitted, minimal 125I-IGFBP-5 was precipitated by protein A sepharose.



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Figure 1. Coimmunoprecipitation of IGFBP-5 and PAI-1. A, IGFBP-5, 50 ng/ml, was incubated with PAI-1, 100 ng/ml, and anti-PAI-1 antibody, 1:5000 dilution, for 16 h at 4 C. At that time, immunoprecipitation was conducted by adding protein A sepharose, as described in Materials and Methods. The pellets were dissolved in Laemmli sample buffer and the products electrophoresed through a 12.5% gel, then transferred to Immobilon membranes and immunoblotted using a 1:1000 dilution of anti-IGFBP-5 antiserum. The results show that, in the presence of PAI-1, IGFBP-5 could be coimmunoprecipitated, whereas the anti-PAI-1 antibody did not immunoprecipitate IGFBP-5 without PAI-1 being added. PAI-1 did not react with the IGFBP-5 antibody. B, 125I-IGFBP-5, 50,000 cpm/ml, was incubated with anti-PAI-1 antiserum (1:5000) and PAI-1 (100 ng/ml). In the presence of PAI-1, an abundant 125I-IGFBP-5 band was detected. In the absence of the PAI-1 antibody or unlabeled PAI-1, minimal 125I-IGFBP-5 was immunoprecipitated. The asterisk denotes an incubation mixture that contained excess unlabeled IGFBP-5 (100 ng/ml).

 
To determine whether this interaction was influenced by glycosaminoglycans, which are known to bind to IGFBP-5, soluble GAGs were added with PAI-1 and 125I-IGFBP-5, then coimmunoprecipitation performed. Heparin and heparan sulfate completely inhibited the coimmunoprecipitation reaction (Fig. 2Go). Chondroitin sulfate A and B had some effect but were less potent. Because charged glycosaminoglycans were shown to be important for this interaction, the effect of increasing concentrations of heparin on the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 interaction was determined. Heparin concentrations of 1 and 10 µg/ml resulted in complete inhibition of the IGFBP-5 binding to PAI-1 (data not shown). Heparan sulfate and heparin contain O-linked sulfate groups in the 2 or 3 position of the iduronic acid ring. Chondroitin sulfate B (dermatan sulfate) that had an intermediate effect also contains sulfate groups in the same positions, but it contains fewer sulfate groups per molecule (Fig. 2Go). In contrast, chondroitin sulfate A and C do not have O-linked sulfates in the 2 or 3 position and they had significantly reduced effects on the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 binding. This suggests that the presence of O-linked sulfate groups in these specific positions of the glycosaminoglycan structure is required for maximal inhibition of binding.



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Figure 2. The effects of glycosaminoglycans on IGFBP-5/PAI-1 association. 125I-IGFBP-5 was incubated without, lane 1, or with 100 ng/ml of PAI-1 (lanes 2–7), then immunoprecipitated as described in Materials and Methods. After immunoprecipitation, the pellets were dissolved in Laemmli sample buffer and the products electrophoresed, then transferred to Immobilon membranes and autoradiography performed directly; lanes 2–7, 125I-IGFBP-5; lanes 3–7, 125I-IGFBP-5 plus various glycosaminoglycans (0.1 µg/ml). Lane 3, heparin; lane 4, heparan sulfate; lane 5, chondroitin sulfate A; lane 6, chondroitin sulfate B; lane 7, chondroitin sulfate C. The radiolabeled band shown in lane 1 that migrates with an Mr estimate of 16 kDa is a fragment of radiolabeled IGFBP-5.

 
Because the binding was inhibited by glycosaminoglycans, this suggested that a region of charged amino acids within IGFBP-5 might be required for binding. To test this hypothesis, synthetic peptides containing regions of IGFBP-5 sequence with several charged amino acids were incubated with 125I-IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 and coimmunoprecipitated. As shown in Fig. 3Go, peptide A, which contained the IGFBP-5 region from amino acid 201 to 218, was an effective competitive inhibitor. Peptide B, whose amino acid sequence contains a similar number of charged residues from a different region of the IGFBP-5 molecule (10), had a reduced effect. The effect of peptide C was variable and in some experiments, it was a much less effective inhibitor of coimmunoprecipitation (data not shown). Peptide D had no effect on PAI-1 binding. Both peptides C and D contain fewer charged residues than peptides A or B.



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Figure 3. The effects of IGFBP-5 peptides on PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 binding. Radiolabeled IGFBP-5, 50,000 cpm/ml, was incubated with unlabelled PAI-1, 100 ng/ml, and 100 µg/ml of one of four peptides, lanes 2–5, that contained various sequences within the IGFBP-5 molecule (9 ). After a 14-h incubation, the products were coimmunoprecipitated and processed by SDS-PAGE and transferred to Immobilon. The figure is an autoradiogram showing the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was coimmunoprecipitated. Lanes 1–5, 125I-IGFBP-5; lane 2, peptide A; lane 3, peptide B; lane 4, peptide C; lane 5, peptide D. The radiolabeled band with an Mr estimated of 18 kDa shown in lanes 1, 4, and 5 is a fragment of radiolabeled IGFBP-5.

 
To further determine the specific amino acids that were involved in the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction, coprecipitation was conducted using IGFBP-5 mutants that contain neutral substitutions for basic amino acids between residues 201 and 218. A form of IGFBP-5 that contained four substitutions K211N, R214A, K217A, and R218A had a 24% reduction in its ability to bind to PAI-1 (Fig. 4Go). A form that contained three substitutions, R202A, K206A, and R207A, also had decreased binding. A form that contained four substitutions at positions R201A, K20N, K206N, and K208N had a 71% reduction in detectable PAI-1 binding. In contrast, two other mutants that contained substitutions for charged residues in the region of IGFBP-5 between positions 201 and 218 and K134A/R136A had nearly normal PAI-1 binding. This suggests that both the positional location and the number of charged residues that are altered determine binding affinity. In general, the mutant forms that had reduced binding for glycosaminoglycans (9) had some alteration in PAI-1 binding, but there were distinct differences. For example, the R201A, K202N, K206N, K208N mutant has only minimally reduced GAG binding (9). This suggests that the GAG binding site and the PAI-1 binding site, while both charge dependent, have different configurations.



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Figure 4. Coimmunoprecipitation of IGFBP-5 mutants and PAI-1. One hundred nanograms per milliliter of each IGFBP-5 mutant was incubated with 100 ng/ml of PAI-1 and the products immunoprecipitated using anti-PAI-1 antiserum as described previously. After SDS-PAGE, the products were transferred to an Immobilon membrane, then ligand blotted using 125I-IGF-I as described in methods. Lane 1, wild-type IGFBP-5, no PAI-1; lanes 2–8, PAI-1 plus IGFBP-5 or mutants. Lane 2, wild-type IGFBP-5; lane 3, K134A/R136A; lane 4, R202A/K206A/R207A; lane 5, R201A/K202N/K206N/K208N; lane 6, K211N; lane 7, R201N/K202N; lane 8, K211N/R214A/K217A/R218A. The results of Phor Image analysis expressed as scanning units were: lane 1, 2,237; lane 2, 190,511; lane 3, 204,125; lane 4, 170,867; lane 5, 76,748; lane 6, 250,813; lane 7, 223,452; lane 8, 146,656.

 
The effect of PAI-1 binding to IGFBP-5 on its susceptibility to proteolytic cleavage was determined. When IGFBP-5 was incubated with an IGFBP-5 protease obtained from fibroblast conditioned medium, there was time-dependent cleavage of the substrate into a 22-kDa band. The addition of PAI-1 to the incubation buffer resulted in a 1.6-fold increase in intact IGFBP-5 band intensity (Fig. 5Go). The addition of vitronectin (an ECM protein that stabilizes PAI-1) with PAI-1 did not result in additional inhibition of IGFBP-5 proteolysis. Neither tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) or urokinase can significantly degrade IGFBP-5; therefore, it is unlikely that PAI-1 is acting to directly inhibit a TPA-like protease. The binding of 125I-IGF-I to IGFBP-5 was determined in the presence and absence of PAI-1 and the results analyzed by the method of Scatchard: the addition of PAI-1 had no effect on the affinity of IGFBP-5 for IGF-I (data not shown).



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Figure 5. The effect of PAI-1 on IGFBP-5 proteolysis. IGFBP-5, 50 ng/ml, was incubated with IGFBP-5 protease that had been purified from human fibroblast conditioned medium. After a 14-h incubation, the products were electrophoresed and analyzed by immunoblotting. Lanes 1–4, IGFBP-5 plus protease; lane 2, vitronectin, 10 µg/ml; lane 3, PAI-1, 10 µg/ml; lane 4, PAI-1 plus vitronectin. The 22-kDa band, which is the major cleavage product of this protease, is shown by an arrow. Scanning unit values for the intact IGFBP-5 bands were; lane 1, 87,644; lane 2, 107,781; lane 3, 144,811; and lane 4, 123,322.

 
Because multiple extracellular matrix proteins may bind to IGFBP-5 simultaneously, we determined if vitronectin, a known binding protein for PAI-1, could alter the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction. As shown in Fig. 6Go, when coimmunoprecipitation was performed using anti-PAI-1 antibodies, increasing concentrations of vitronectin inhibited the amount of IGFBP-5 that could be coimmunoprecipitated with PAI-1 by 33% (Fig. 6Go, compare lane 2 to lane 3). This suggests that vitronectin is capable of binding to PAI-1 and preventing the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 complex formation. When the experiment was repeated with antivitronectin antibodies, vitronectin and 125I-IGFBP5 coprecipitated (Fig. 6Go, panel B). PAI-1 (100 ng/ml) interfered with the interaction and reduced the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that could be coprecipitated to basal levels.



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Figure 6. The effect of vitronectin on the binding of PAI-1 to IGFBP-5. A, 125I-IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 (100 ng/ml) were incubated with anti-PAI-1 antisera and increasing concentrations of vitronectin. After a 6-h incubation, the products were immunoprecipitated, electrophoresed, and the gel analyzed by autoradiography. Lane 1, 125I-IGFBP-5 alone; lanes 2–5, 125I-IGFBP-5 plus PAI-1; lane 3, vitronectin (1 µg/ml); lane 4, vitronectin (0.1 µg/ml); lane 5, vitronectin (0.01 µg/ml). Phosphor Image intensity units were: lane 1, 46,673; lane 2, 98160; lane 3, 65,869; lane 4, 75077; and lane 5, 81,264. B, 125I-IGFBP-5 and vitronectin (100 ng/ml) were incubated with antivitronectin antiserum (1:5000), then the products immunoprecipitated as in panel A. Lane 1, 125I-IGFBP-5 alone; lane 2, vitronectin (100 ng/ml); lane 3, PAI-1 (100 ng/ml); lane 4, PAI-1 (1000 ng/ml). Phosphor Image intensity units were lane 1, 31,342; lane 2, 86,192; lane 3, 44,360; and lane 4, 36,444.

 
To assess the physiological significance of PAI-1/IGFBP-5 binding, extracellular matrix was prepared from human fibroblast cultures as previously described (18). 125I-IGFBP-5 was incubated overnight with the ECM extracts and increasing concentrations of anti-PAI-1 antibody. This antibody recognizes ECM bound PAI-1. The addition of increasing amounts of anti-PAI-1 to the incubation mixture partially blocked ability of 125I-IGFBP-5 to bind to the ECM (Table 1Go). In contrast, an equal concentration nonimmune IgG had no effect. Approximately 27% of the total 125I-IGFBP-5 binding could be inhibited by this antibody. This suggests that one of the components of ECM that binds to IGFBP-5 is PAI-1. However, because glycosaminoglycans inhibit IGFBP-5 binding to PAI-1 and are abundant in ECM, they may be a more important binding determinant. To determine the affinity of IGFBP-5 for PAI-1, competitive binding assays using unlabeled and 125I-IGFBP-5 were performed. As shown in Fig. 7Go, the results are consistent with a single site model with relatively high affinity. When the data from three experiments were analyzed by the method of Scatchard, the affinity (Kd) was determined to be 9.1 x 10-8 M.


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Table 1. Inhibition of IGFBP-5 binding to ECM by anti-PAI-1 antiserum

 


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Figure 7. Scatchard plot. 125I-IGFBP-5 (30,000 cpm/tube) was incubated with increasing concentrations of unlabeled IGFBP-5 (5–1000 ng/ml) and PAI-1, 100 ng/ml. The products were immunoprecipitated as described in Materials and Methods and bound 125I-IGFBP-5 determined directly by gamma counting. Nonspecific binding was defined as the cpm bound in the presence of 10 µg/ml of unlabeled IGFBP-5 and was less than 4% of the total binding.

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
IGFBP-5 is a potent modulator of IGF-I actions, and the factors that control its abundance in the pericellular environment may be important determinants of how this growth factor functions to modify cellular responses. The PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction may be particularly relevant to controlling IGFBP-5 abundance in the ECM. In this paper, we demonstrate that IGFBP-5 binds to PAI-1 and that the binding interaction has a relatively high affinity. An affinity constant in the range of 10-9 M was estimated by Scatchard analysis. Additionally, we show that anti-PAI-1 antiserum inhibits IGFBP-5 binding to ECM. This finding suggests that PAI-1 may be one of the major binding sites for IGFBP-5 within the extracellular matrix. However, anti-PAI-1 antiserum caused only a 27% reduction in PAI-1 binding that supports the conclusion that other ECM components are also important determinants of IGFBP-5 binding. Because glycosaminoglycans can inhibit the IGFBP-5-PAI-1 interaction, they may represent the predominant ECM binding component. Because PAI-1 is synthesized by multiple connective tissue cell types, including cell types that are involved in the response to injury, such as fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells, the PAI-1-IGFBP-5 interaction may be a determinant of the amounts of IGFBP-5 and IGF-I that are localized in ECM and are available to stimulate the responses of these cells during the repair process.

Previously, we have shown that the amount of IGFBP-5 that is localized in the extracellular matrix positively modulates both the cell growth and DNA synthesis responses to IGF-I(5). Specifically, the mitogenic response of fibroblasts to IGF-I is enhanced if increased amounts of IGFBP-5 are present in the ECM. Furthermore, ECM localization protects IGFBP-5 from proteolysis, thus resulting in increased IGF-I being present at this site (7). A further understanding of why binding of IGF-I to IGFBP-5 in the ECM results in enhancement rather than inhibition of its action was made clearer by the observation that, after ECM localization of this binding protein, its affinity for IGF-I is reduced 8-fold (5, 9). Because the affinity of non-ECM associated IGFBP-5 is 20- to 30-fold greater than the affinity of the type I IGF receptor, this reduction in affinity would allow IGF-I that is localized bound to ECM to be in a more favorable equilibrium with receptors on cell surfaces. Therefore, ECM localization of IGFBP-5 and IGF-I results in protection from proteolysis and maintenance of a reservoir of IGF-I that can be released to receptors at critical time points during cell cycle progression. Because binding to PAI-1 does not lower IGFBP-5 affinity for IGF-I, this suggests that there may be differences in the affinity of ECM-associated IGFBP-5 and that the net reduction in affinity may be dependent upon whether binding is to predominantly glycosaminoglycans or to other proteins such as PAI-1. Therefore, the factors that regulate the distribution of IGFBP-5 among the various ECM binding proteins may indirectly alter IGFBP-5 affinity and thereby modulate IGF-I action.

The variables that regulate the synthesis of IGFBP-5 are also important determinants of its abundance in ECM. We have recently shown that IGF-I stimulates IGFBP-5 transcription by smooth muscle cells (19), and Dong and Canalis have confirmed this finding in osteoblasts (20). Furthermore, they demonstrated that retinoic acid is also a potent stimulant of IGFBP-5 synthesis by bone cells and results in increased amounts of IGFBP-5 in the ECM (20). Hakeda et al. (21) have shown that prostaglandin-E and PTH stimulate IGFBP-5 release from osteoblast ECM and this could modulate IGF-I levels in the pericellular environment.

In addition to the factors that increase IGFBP-5 synthesis, we have shown that several connective tissue cell types release an IGFBP-5 protease into their conditioned medium (7, 12, 19). The factors that regulate the activity of this protease may be important determinants of IGFBP-5 abundance in interstitial fluids and in the ECM. These studies show that PAI-1 binding to IGFBP-5 alters its susceptibility to proteolysis in the interstitial fluid. However, because multiple substances, such as PAI-1 (9) and vitronectin may bind to IGFBP-5 in ECM, other ECM proteins may function coordinately with PAI-1 or vitronectin to stabilize IGFBP-5. The synthesis of PAI-1 may also be increased coordinately with IGFBP-5. Specifically, Padaytly et al. and Afossa et al. have shown that IGF-I increases PAI-1 synthesis, both in vivo and in vitro; therefore, it is possible that PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 synthesis are coordinately regulated by IGF-I in selected cell types (22, 23). Conversely, factors such as thrombin (24) that cause release of PAI-1 from ECM might function to decrease ECM-associated IGFBP-5. Heparin functions to inhibit the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 interaction and to reduce the abundance of PAI-1 or IGFBP-5 within ECM (25, 26, 27); therefore, heparin inhibition of IGFBP-5 binding to ECM could be a component of the mechanism by which heparin functions to inhibit smooth muscle cell replication.

IGF-I synthesis and peptide abundance is also often increased at sites of injury (28, 29). Similarly PAI-1 expression is increased after injury. The 5' flanking sequences of both the IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 genes contain the Egr-1 injury response element (30), which mediates an increase in the transcription of specific genes after injury. Therefore, it is possible that PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 synthesis may be directly increased in response to injury. Because IGF-I synthesis also increases after injury, this increase in IGF-I could further enhance IGFBP-5 expression by a mechanism that is distinct from Egr-1 (19).

PAI-1 is a component of smooth muscle cell extracellular matrix. It is also synthesized by endothelium in response to injury; therefore, because it binds tightly to IGFBP-5, it could provide a mechanism for stabilizing large amounts of IGFBP-5 in the newly developing ECM during neointima formation. PAI-1 also has other interesting properties because it binds vitronectin (31, 32) and the PAI-1 binding domain is also the region of vitronectin that interacts with the vitronectin receptor (31). This suggests other potential mechanisms for enhancing IGF-I action. Proteases, such as thrombin, could release vitronectin from the ECM and allow more vitronectin to interact with its receptor. Similarly, if they degrade IGFBP-5, they would allow release of IGF-I to receptors. Simultaneous vitronectin receptor and IGF receptor occupancy has been shown to be a potent stimulant of smooth muscle cell migration (33), a process that is an important component of neointina formation.

The exact site of molecular interaction between PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 remains to be determined. However, it is clear that ionic residues are involved. Similarly, glycosaminoglycans may interfere with this interaction, and there may be a competitive equilibrium between proteoglycans that are present in the extracellular matrix and PAI-1. Because plasminogen is not the major protease in pSMC or fibroblast medium that degrades IGFBP-5, it is not surprising that PAI-1 binding of IGFBP-5 did not completely protect it from proteolysis. However, plasmin can degrade IGFBP-5, so PAI-1 could play an indirect role in maintaining intact IGFBP-5 by inhibiting plasmin formation (34). The charged residue motif that binds PAI-1 is clearly distinct from the heparin binding site (9), although overlapping residues are used. This suggests that the highly charged regions of IGFBP-5 that are surface exposed recognize distinct substrates differently and that there may be specificity for substrate binding. The exact factors that control the surface exposure of distinct sites in IGFBP-5 are unknown but will be interesting points for future study.

THE INSULIN-LIKE growth factors (IGFs) are present in physiological fluids bound to IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs) (1, 2). Six IGF binding proteins with high affinities for IGF-I and II have been identified (3). Although IGFBP-5 binds to the IGFs with high affinity in interstitial fluids, when it is associated with extracellular matrix its affinity is decreased 8- to 15-fold (4). This lower affinity results in better equilibration of IGF-I with its receptor and potentiation of IGF-I stimulated fibroblast (5) or smooth muscle cell growth (6). Extracellular fluids also contain proteases that degrade IGFBP-5 and cleave it into non-IGF binding fragments (7). However, when IGFBP-5 is associated with ECM, it is protected from proteolysis (5, 8); therefore, ECM binding may provide a mechanism for localizing IGF-I in focal areas and provide better access to receptors. This localization could be important in mediating the cellular response to injury when IGF-I expression is increased in the local microenvironment. Therefore, the factors in extracellular matrix that account for IGFBP-5 localization have the potential to indirectly regulate IGF-I actions.

We have previously shown that IGFBP-5 binds to heparin and heparan sulfate (4, 9). Similarly, glycosaminoglycan containing proteoglycans, such as tenascin, that are present in the ECM also bind IGFBP-5 (9). This binding occurs through highly charged residues in IGFBP-5 that are located between residues 201 and 218 (4, 9, 10). Similar to ECM binding, glycosaminoglycan binding of IGFBP-5 also results in a reduction in the affinity of IGFBP-5 for IGF-I (4) and in protection from proteolysis (8). However, competitive binding studies using intact ECM have shown that all of the ECM binding of IGFBP-5 could not be accounted for by binding to proteoglycans (5). Therefore, these studies were undertaken to determine if extracellular matrix proteins other than proteoglycans might bind IGFBP-5.


    Materials and Methods
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 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Materials
Eagle’s MEM was purchased from Grand Island Biological Company (Grand Island, NY, Life Technologies). Calf serum was purchased from Colorado Serum (Colorado Laboratories, Denver, CO). BSA, ammonium persulfate, sodium phosphate were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). 125I IGFBP-5 (30–45 µCi/µg) was prepared using IODO-BEADS (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, IL) and 15 µg IGFBP-5 according to manufacturer’s instructions (7, 11). Recombinant human IGF-I was obtained from Bachem (Torrence, CA). Tris-sodium duodecyl sulfate, chloramine-T, polyacrylamide, and prestained mol wt standards were purchased from Bethesda Research Laboratories (BRL) (Gaithersburg, MD). Tween 80 was obtained from Fisher Scientific (Cleartown, NJ). Human vitronectin and antihuman vitronectin antiserum were obtained from Telios (San Diego, CA).

Purification of PAI-I
Human dermal fibroblasts (GM-10) were purchased from Coriell Institute (Camden, NJ). They were grown in EMEM supplemented with 10% calf serum as described previously (7). Confluent monolayers were washed twice in the serum-free medium, then 50 cc was added to 175-cm2 flasks (Falcon Labware, Division of Becton-Dickinson), and the medium was collected after 24 h. This was repeated until 1.2 liters of serum-free medium had been collected. After purification by heparin sepharose affinity chromatography and {alpha}1 antichymotryptic peptide affinity chromatography as described previously (12), the fractions containing IGFBP-5 protease activity were applied to an IGFBP-5 affinity column. This column was prepared by conjugating a synthetic 18 amino acid peptide that contained the IGFBP-5 sequence between amino acids 201–218 to Affigel 10 (Bio-Rad Richmond, CA). This sequence is also present in IGFBP-3, but it is not present in any other form of IGFBP. The peptide was conjugated according to manufacturer’s instructions by incubating 5.6 mg of peptide with 7.0 cc of activated sepharose in 0.1 M Na HEPES buffer, pH 7.5, for 4 h at 8 C. Unreacted sites were blocked by a further incubation for 1 h with 0.25 M Tris. The gel was washed, and the pool of activity that had been purified from fibroblast conditioned medium was applied. The purified active fractions that were eluted with 0.5 M NaCl were concentrated and further analyzed by SDS-PAGE (12.5% gel). After electrophoresis, the proteins were transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane that was stained with Ponceau-S. A 55-kDa band was excised and subjected to amino acid sequencing. Amino terminal amino acid sequencing was conducted as described previously using Edman degradation (13).

Preparation of human IGFBP-5
The human IGFBP-5 that was used in these studies was obtained by purifying the protein from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell conditioned medium. CHO cells were transfected with an IGFBP-5 complementary DNA (cDNA) that contained the entire protein coding region and had been prepared as previously described (7). The cells were transfected, then maintained in methotrexate (50 µg/ml) because the plasmid that was used (pNUT) contains the gene that contains dihydrofolate reductase resistance. After selection with methotrexate, 50 µg/ml, the highest secreting clones were further subcultured in DMEM containing 10% dialyzed FCS. The cells were grown to confluency and 50 ml of serum-free medium were added to 175-cm tissue culture flasks and incubated for 48 h. Eight hundred cubic centimeters of conditioned medium were purified using a three-step purification procedure of phenyl sepharose chromatography, IGF-I affinity chromatography, and HPLC (C4 column) (Vydac, Hesperia, CA), as previously described (10). The purified protein was homogenous by SDS-PAGE with silver staining (14). The protein content was determined by amino acid composition analysis (7).

Coimmunoprecipitation, ligand blotting, and immunoblotting
The ability of IGFBP-5 to bind to the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 was analyzed by coimmunoprecipitation. It was determined that the lowest nonspecific binding and the highest sensitivity of detection could be obtained by immunoprecipitating with anti-PAI-1 antisera. The IGFBP-5 that had been coimmunoprecipitated was then detected by immunoblotting (5) or by ligand blotting using 125I-IGF-I (15). PAI-1 and polyclonal anti-PAI-1 antiserum were obtained from American Diagnostica (Greenwich, CT). In most experiments, IGFBP-5 (100 ng/ml) was incubated with PAI-1 at 100 ng/ml, and anti-PAI-1 was added at a 1:5000 dilution. The reagents were allowed to incubate for 16 h at 4 C in 0.03 M sodium phosphate, pH 7.4, containing 0.01 M EDTA, 0.1% Tween 80, and 0.02% BSA. Protein A sepharose (3 mg) was added and incubated for 2 h at 4 C. The immune complexes were precipitated by centrifuging at 3000 x g for 5 min. The pellets were rinsed with 1.0 ml of the buffer listed previously and 50 µl of 2x Laemmli sample buffer was added. The sample was centrifuged (2000 x g for 5 min) and the supernatant loaded onto a 12.5% SDS polyacrylamide gel. The proteins were electrophoresed through a 12.5% gel using nonreducing conditions, then transferred to Immobilon membranes (Millipore, Bedford, MA) as previously described (15). After transfer, the filters were immunoblotted using a 1:1000 dilution of anti-IGFBP-5 antiserum. The immune complexes were detected using the Protoblot system (Promega, Madison, WI) according to manufacturer’s recommendation. The electrophoretic mobilities of the bands that were detected were compared with known mol wt standards (Bethesda Research Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD). The photographic negatives were scanned using a Hoffer GS-300 scanner (Hoffer Scientific Instruments, San Francisco, CA), and the results are expressed in scanning units. For more sensitive detection of IGFBP-5, ligand blotting was performed. Five hundred thousand counts per minute of 125I-IGF-I [150 µCi/µg (16)] was added to the filters and incubated overnight using conditions described previously (17). The filters were washed, and autoradiography was used to detect bound 125I-IGF-I. For some experiments, quantitation of the amount of IGFBP-5 was determined by analysis autoradiography band intensity using a Phor Imager and Image Quant SF software (Molecular Dynamics, Sunnyvale, CA). The results are expressed as arbitrarily defined scanning units.

To enhance the sensitivity detection of IGFBP-5 after coimmunoprecipitation, 125I-IGFBP-5 (30 µCi/µg) (260,000 cpm/ml) that had been prepared as described previously (12), was incubated and was used with PAI-1 (200 ng/ml), and a 1:10,000 dilution of anti-PAI-1 antiserum in 0.25 ml of 0.03 M sodium phosphate containing 0.01 M EDTA, 0.1% Tween 80, 0.1% BSA, pH 7.0. After an overnight incubation at 4 C, the immune complexes were precipitated by adding rabbit IgG (1.0 µl) and protein-A sepharose (10 µl of a 20 mg/ml solution) then centrifuged. In some experiments, duplicate tubes contained unlabeled IGFBP-5 or IGFBP-5 mutants (100 ng/ml). Similarly, in some experiments unlabeled IGFBP-5 peptides that had been prepared as described previously (10) were used. Fifty microliters of Lammeli sample buffer were added, and the samples were heated to 65 C then electrophoresed through a 12.5% SDS gel and transferred to Immobilon filters. The precipitated 125I-IGFBP-5 was detected by autoradiography. In some experiments, vitronectin (200 ng/ml) was incubated with 125I-IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 then the PAI-1 immunoprecipitated as described previously. Similarly, in some experiments antivitronectin antiserum (1:5000 dilution) was added with PAI-1 or vitronectin and the complexes immunoprecipitated. The amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was immunoprecipitated was determined by SDS-PAGE with autoradiography.

Measurement of binding affinity
To determine the affinity of the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction, increasing concentrations of unlabeled IGFBP-5 (10–1000 ng/ml) were mixed with 125I-IGFBP-5 (50,000 cpm/ml), and a constant amount of unlabeled PAI-1 (100 ng/ml). After an overnight incubation, the anti-PAI-1 antiserum was added (1:5000 dilution), and the bound 125I-IGFBP-5 was coimmunoprecipitated with protein A sepharose as previously described, then counted in a gamma spectrometer.

IGFBP-5 proteolysis
The effect of PAI-1 and vitronectin on IGFBP-5 proteolysis was determined by incubating IGFBP-5 with an IGFBP-5 protease that had been purified by heparin sepharose chromatography from fibroblast conditioned medium (12). The partially purified protein was added to 0.25 ml of 0.05 M Tris, pH 7.0, with IGFBP-5 (50 ng/ml) and vitronectin (10 µg/ml) or PAI-1 (10 µg/ml). After 14 h at 37 C, the products of the reaction were analyzed by immunoblotting.

Preparation of synthetic peptides and IGFBP-5 mutants
Synthetic peptides containing 11–20 amino acids from four different regions of IGFBP-5 were synthesized and purified as described previously (10). Their sequences are as follows: A, DRKGFYKRKQCKPSRGRKR; B, AVKKDRRKKLT; C, ALLHGRGVCLNEKS; D, RPKHTRISELKAE. To determine their capacity to interfere with IGFBP-5 binding to PAI-1, they were added using concentrations between 0.1 and 5.0 µg/ml. IGFBP-5 mutants containing the substitutions for basic amino acids were prepared using in vitro mutagenesis as previously described (9, 10). They were purified to homogeneity and their protein content determined by comparing their HPLC peak areas to an IGFBP-5 standard whose concentration had been determined by amino acid composition analysis (9). They were each shown to have an affinity for IGF-I that was similar to the wild-type, nonmutated protein (10).


    Results
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 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Analysis of the proteins that were purified from fibroblast conditioned medium (using the three purification steps outlined in Materials and Methods) by SDS-PAGE and Ponceau-S staining showed that a 55-kDa protein had been eluted from the IGFBP-5 peptide affinity column. When this band was sequenced, a single sequence that corresponded to positions 1–28 of human plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 was obtained. Therefore, coimmunoprecipitation studies were undertaken to determine if PAI-I could bind to IGFBP-5 at lower concentrations.

Coincubation of PAI-1 (100 ng/ml) and IGFBP-5 with anti-PAI-1 resulted in coimmunoprecipitation of IGFBP-5 (Fig. 1AGo). To prove that coimmunoprecipitation of the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 complex was specific, anti-PAI-1 antibody and protein-A sepharose were added to tubes that received IGFBP-5 alone. This resulted in minimal precipitation of IGFBP-5. To analyze this interaction by a more sensitive method, 125I-IGFBP-5 was used as a ligand. 125I-IGFBP-5 was incubated with unlabeled PAI-1 and anti-PAI-1 antibody. As shown in Fig. 1BGo, the addition of unlabeled PAI-1 resulted in a large increase in the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was coimmunoprecipitated when compared with the sample that did not contain PAI-1. The addition of excess unlabeled IGFBP-5 greatly reduced the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was coimmunoprecipitated, indicating that the immunoprecipitation was specific. Similarly, if anti-PAI-1 was omitted, minimal 125I-IGFBP-5 was precipitated by protein A sepharose.

To determine whether this interaction was influenced by glycosaminoglycans, which are known to bind to IGFBP-5, soluble GAGs were added with PAI-1 and 125I-IGFBP-5, then coimmunoprecipitation performed. Heparin and heparan sulfate completely inhibited the coimmunoprecipitation reaction (Fig. 2Go). Chondroitin sulfate A and B had some effect but were less potent. Because charged glycosaminoglycans were shown to be important for this interaction, the effect of increasing concentrations of heparin on the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 interaction was determined. Heparin concentrations of 1 and 10 µg/ml resulted in complete inhibition of the IGFBP-5 binding to PAI-1 (data not shown). Heparan sulfate and heparin contain O-linked sulfate groups in the 2 or 3 position of the iduronic acid ring. Chondroitin sulfate B (dermatan sulfate) that had an intermediate effect also contains sulfate groups in the same positions, but it contains fewer sulfate groups per molecule (Fig. 2Go). In contrast, chondroitin sulfate A and C do not have O-linked sulfates in the 2 or 3 position and they had significantly reduced effects on the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 binding. This suggests that the presence of O-linked sulfate groups in these specific positions of the glycosaminoglycan structure is required for maximal inhibition of binding.

Because the binding was inhibited by glycosaminoglycans, this suggested that a region of charged amino acids within IGFBP-5 might be required for binding. To test this hypothesis, synthetic peptides containing regions of IGFBP-5 sequence with several charged amino acids were incubated with 125I-IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 and coimmunoprecipitated. As shown in Fig. 3Go, peptide A, which contained the IGFBP-5 region from amino acid 201 to 218, was an effective competitive inhibitor. Peptide B, whose amino acid sequence contains a similar number of charged residues from a different region of the IGFBP-5 molecule (10), had a reduced effect. The effect of peptide C was variable and in some experiments, it was a much less effective inhibitor of coimmunoprecipitation (data not shown). Peptide D had no effect on PAI-1 binding. Both peptides C and D contain fewer charged residues than peptides A or B.

To further determine the specific amino acids that were involved in the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction, coprecipitation was conducted using IGFBP-5 mutants that contain neutral substitutions for basic amino acids between residues 201 and 218. A form of IGFBP-5 that contained four substitutions K211N, R214A, K217A, and R218A had a 24% reduction in its ability to bind to PAI-1 (Fig. 4Go). A form that contained three substitutions, R202A, K206A, and R207A, also had decreased binding. A form that contained four substitutions at positions R201A, K20N, K206N, and K208N had a 71% reduction in detectable PAI-1 binding. In contrast, two other mutants that contained substitutions for charged residues in the region of IGFBP-5 between positions 201 and 218 and K134A/R136A had nearly normal PAI-1 binding. This suggests that both the positional location and the number of charged residues that are altered determine binding affinity. In general, the mutant forms that had reduced binding for glycosaminoglycans (9) had some alteration in PAI-1 binding, but there were distinct differences. For example, the R201A, K202N, K206N, K208N mutant has only minimally reduced GAG binding (9). This suggests that the GAG binding site and the PAI-1 binding site, while both charge dependent, have different configurations.

The effect of PAI-1 binding to IGFBP-5 on its susceptibility to proteolytic cleavage was determined. When IGFBP-5 was incubated with an IGFBP-5 protease obtained from fibroblast conditioned medium, there was time-dependent cleavage of the substrate into a 22-kDa band. The addition of PAI-1 to the incubation buffer resulted in a 1.6-fold increase in intact IGFBP-5 band intensity (Fig. 5Go). The addition of vitronectin (an ECM protein that stabilizes PAI-1) with PAI-1 did not result in additional inhibition of IGFBP-5 proteolysis. Neither tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) or urokinase can significantly degrade IGFBP-5; therefore, it is unlikely that PAI-1 is acting to directly inhibit a TPA-like protease. The binding of 125I-IGF-I to IGFBP-5 was determined in the presence and absence of PAI-1 and the results analyzed by the method of Scatchard: the addition of PAI-1 had no effect on the affinity of IGFBP-5 for IGF-I (data not shown).

Because multiple extracellular matrix proteins may bind to IGFBP-5 simultaneously, we determined if vitronectin, a known binding protein for PAI-1, could alter the PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction. As shown in Fig. 6Go, when coimmunoprecipitation was performed using anti-PAI-1 antibodies, increasing concentrations of vitronectin inhibited the amount of IGFBP-5 that could be coimmunoprecipitated with PAI-1 by 33% (Fig. 6Go, compare lane 2 to lane 3). This suggests that vitronectin is capable of binding to PAI-1 and preventing the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 complex formation. When the experiment was repeated with antivitronectin antibodies, vitronectin and 125I-IGFBP5 coprecipitated (Fig. 6Go, panel B). PAI-1 (100 ng/ml) interfered with the interaction and reduced the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that could be coprecipitated to basal levels.

To assess the physiological significance of PAI-1/IGFBP-5 binding, extracellular matrix was prepared from human fibroblast cultures as previously described (18). 125I-IGFBP-5 was incubated overnight with the ECM extracts and increasing concentrations of anti-PAI-1 antibody. This antibody recognizes ECM bound PAI-1. The addition of increasing amounts of anti-PAI-1 to the incubation mixture partially blocked ability of 125I-IGFBP-5 to bind to the ECM (Table 1Go). In contrast, an equal concentration nonimmune IgG had no effect. Approximately 27% of the total 125I-IGFBP-5 binding could be inhibited by this antibody. This suggests that one of the components of ECM that binds to IGFBP-5 is PAI-1. However, because glycosaminoglycans inhibit IGFBP-5 binding to PAI-1 and are abundant in ECM, they may be a more important binding determinant. To determine the affinity of IGFBP-5 for PAI-1, competitive binding assays using unlabeled and 125I-IGFBP-5 were performed. As shown in Fig. 7Go, the results are consistent with a single site model with relatively high affinity. When the data from three experiments were analyzed by the method of Scatchard, the affinity (Kd) was determined to be 9.1 x 10-8 M.


    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
IGFBP-5 is a potent modulator of IGF-I actions, and the factors that control its abundance in the pericellular environment may be important determinants of how this growth factor functions to modify cellular responses. The PAI-1/IGFBP-5 interaction may be particularly relevant to controlling IGFBP-5 abundance in the ECM. In this paper, we demonstrate that IGFBP-5 binds to PAI-1 and that the binding interaction has a relatively high affinity. An affinity constant in the range of 10-9 M was estimated by Scatchard analysis. Additionally, we show that anti-PAI-1 antiserum inhibits IGFBP-5 binding to ECM. This finding suggests that PAI-1 may be one of the major binding sites for IGFBP-5 within the extracellular matrix. However, anti-PAI-1 antiserum caused only a 27% reduction in PAI-1 binding that supports the conclusion that other ECM components are also important determinants of IGFBP-5 binding. Because glycosaminoglycans can inhibit the IGFBP-5-PAI-1 interaction, they may represent the predominant ECM binding component. Because PAI-1 is synthesized by multiple connective tissue cell types, including cell types that are involved in the response to injury, such as fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells, the PAI-1-IGFBP-5 interaction may be a determinant of the amounts of IGFBP-5 and IGF-I that are localized in ECM and are available to stimulate the responses of these cells during the repair process.

Previously, we have shown that the amount of IGFBP-5 that is localized in the extracellular matrix positively modulates both the cell growth and DNA synthesis responses to IGF-I(5). Specifically, the mitogenic response of fibroblasts to IGF-I is enhanced if increased amounts of IGFBP-5 are present in the ECM. Furthermore, ECM localization protects IGFBP-5 from proteolysis, thus resulting in increased IGF-I being present at this site (7). A further understanding of why binding of IGF-I to IGFBP-5 in the ECM results in enhancement rather than inhibition of its action was made clearer by the observation that, after ECM localization of this binding protein, its affinity for IGF-I is reduced 8-fold (5, 9). Because the affinity of non-ECM associated IGFBP-5 is 20- to 30-fold greater than the affinity of the type I IGF receptor, this reduction in affinity would allow IGF-I that is localized bound to ECM to be in a more favorable equilibrium with receptors on cell surfaces. Therefore, ECM localization of IGFBP-5 and IGF-I results in protection from proteolysis and maintenance of a reservoir of IGF-I that can be released to receptors at critical time points during cell cycle progression. Because binding to PAI-1 does not lower IGFBP-5 affinity for IGF-I, this suggests that there may be differences in the affinity of ECM-associated IGFBP-5 and that the net reduction in affinity may be dependent upon whether binding is to predominantly glycosaminoglycans or to other proteins such as PAI-1. Therefore, the factors that regulate the distribution of IGFBP-5 among the various ECM binding proteins may indirectly alter IGFBP-5 affinity and thereby modulate IGF-I action.

The variables that regulate the synthesis of IGFBP-5 are also important determinants of its abundance in ECM. We have recently shown that IGF-I stimulates IGFBP-5 transcription by smooth muscle cells (19), and Dong and Canalis have confirmed this finding in osteoblasts (20). Furthermore, they demonstrated that retinoic acid is also a potent stimulant of IGFBP-5 synthesis by bone cells and results in increased amounts of IGFBP-5 in the ECM (20). Hakeda et al. (21) have shown that prostaglandin-E and PTH stimulate IGFBP-5 release from osteoblast ECM and this could modulate IGF-I levels in the pericellular environment.

In addition to the factors that increase IGFBP-5 synthesis, we have shown that several connective tissue cell types release an IGFBP-5 protease into their conditioned medium (7, 12, 19). The factors that regulate the activity of this protease may be important determinants of IGFBP-5 abundance in interstitial fluids and in the ECM. These studies show that PAI-1 binding to IGFBP-5 alters its susceptibility to proteolysis in the interstitial fluid. However, because multiple substances, such as PAI-1 (9) and vitronectin may bind to IGFBP-5 in ECM, other ECM proteins may function coordinately with PAI-1 or vitronectin to stabilize IGFBP-5. The synthesis of PAI-1 may also be increased coordinately with IGFBP-5. Specifically, Padaytly et al. and Afossa et al. have shown that IGF-I increases PAI-1 synthesis, both in vivo and in vitro; therefore, it is possible that PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 synthesis are coordinately regulated by IGF-I in selected cell types (22, 23). Conversely, factors such as thrombin (24) that cause release of PAI-1 from ECM might function to decrease ECM-associated IGFBP-5. Heparin functions to inhibit the IGFBP-5/PAI-1 interaction and to reduce the abundance of PAI-1 or IGFBP-5 within ECM (25, 26, 27); therefore, heparin inhibition of IGFBP-5 binding to ECM could be a component of the mechanism by which heparin functions to inhibit smooth muscle cell replication.

IGF-I synthesis and peptide abundance is also often increased at sites of injury (28, 29). Similarly PAI-1 expression is increased after injury. The 5' flanking sequences of both the IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 genes contain the Egr-1 injury response element (30), which mediates an increase in the transcription of specific genes after injury. Therefore, it is possible that PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 synthesis may be directly increased in response to injury. Because IGF-I synthesis also increases after injury, this increase in IGF-I could further enhance IGFBP-5 expression by a mechanism that is distinct from Egr-1 (19).

PAI-1 is a component of smooth muscle cell extracellular matrix. It is also synthesized by endothelium in response to injury; therefore, because it binds tightly to IGFBP-5, it could provide a mechanism for stabilizing large amounts of IGFBP-5 in the newly developing ECM during neointima formation. PAI-1 also has other interesting properties because it binds vitronectin (31, 32) and the PAI-1 binding domain is also the region of vitronectin that interacts with the vitronectin receptor (31). This suggests other potential mechanisms for enhancing IGF-I action. Proteases, such as thrombin, could release vitronectin from the ECM and allow more vitronectin to interact with its receptor. Similarly, if they degrade IGFBP-5, they would allow release of IGF-I to receptors. Simultaneous vitronectin receptor and IGF receptor occupancy has been shown to be a potent stimulant of smooth muscle cell migration (33), a process that is an important component of neointina formation.

The exact site of molecular interaction between PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 remains to be determined. However, it is clear that ionic residues are involved. Similarly, glycosaminoglycans may interfere with this interaction, and there may be a competitive equilibrium between proteoglycans that are present in the extracellular matrix and PAI-1. Because plasminogen is not the major protease in pSMC or fibroblast medium that degrades IGFBP-5, it is not surprising that PAI-1 binding of IGFBP-5 did not completely protect it from proteolysis. However, plasmin can degrade IGFBP-5, so PAI-1 could play an indirect role in maintaining intact IGFBP-5 by inhibiting plasmin formation (34). The charged residue motif that binds PAI-1 is clearly distinct from the heparin binding site (9), although overlapping residues are used. This suggests that the highly charged regions of IGFBP-5 that are surface exposed recognize distinct substrates differently and that there may be specificity for substrate binding. The exact factors that control the surface exposure of distinct sites in IGFBP-5 are unknown but will be interesting points for future study.



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Figure 11. Coimmunoprecipitation of IGFBP-5 and PAI-1. A, IGFBP-5, 50 ng/ml, was incubated with PAI-1, 100 ng/ml, and anti-PAI-1 antibody, 1:5000 dilution, for 16 h at 4 C. At that time, immunoprecipitation was conducted by adding protein A sepharose, as described in Materials and Methods. The pellets were dissolved in Laemmli sample buffer and the products electrophoresed through a 12.5% gel, then transferred to Immobilon membranes and immunoblotted using a 1:1000 dilution of anti-IGFBP-5 antiserum. The results show that, in the presence of PAI-1, IGFBP-5 could be coimmunoprecipitated, whereas the anti-PAI-1 antibody did not immunoprecipitate IGFBP-5 without PAI-1 being added. PAI-1 did not react with the IGFBP-5 antibody. B, 125I-IGFBP-5, 50,000 cpm/ml, was incubated with anti-PAI-1 antiserum (1:5000) and PAI-1 (100 ng/ml). In the presence of PAI-1, an abundant 125I-IGFBP-5 band was detected. In the absence of the PAI-1 antibody or unlabeled PAI-1, minimal 125I-IGFBP-5 was immunoprecipitated. The asterisk denotes an incubation mixture that contained excess unlabeled IGFBP-5 (100 ng/ml).

 


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Figure 21. The effects of glycosaminoglycans on IGFBP-5/PAI-1 association. 125I-IGFBP-5 was incubated without, lane 1, or with 100 ng/ml of PAI-1 (lanes 2–7), then immunoprecipitated as described in Materials and Methods. After immunoprecipitation, the pellets were dissolved in Laemmli sample buffer and the products electrophoresed, then transferred to Immobilon membranes and autoradiography performed directly; lanes 2–7, 125I-IGFBP-5; lanes 3–7, 125I-IGFBP-5 plus various glycosaminoglycans (0.1 µg/ml). Lane 3, heparin; lane 4, heparan sulfate; lane 5, chondroitin sulfate A; lane 6, chondroitin sulfate B; lane 7, chondroitin sulfate C. The radiolabeled band shown in lane 1 that migrates with an Mr estimate of 16 kDa is a fragment of radiolabeled IGFBP-5.

 


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Figure 31. The effects of IGFBP-5 peptides on PAI-1 and IGFBP-5 binding. Radiolabeled IGFBP-5, 50,000 cpm/ml, was incubated with unlabelled PAI-1, 100 ng/ml, and 100 µg/ml of one of four peptides, lanes 2–5, that contained various sequences within the IGFBP-5 molecule (9 ). After a 14-h incubation, the products were coimmunoprecipitated and processed by SDS-PAGE and transferred to Immobilon. The figure is an autoradiogram showing the amount of 125I-IGFBP-5 that was coimmunoprecipitated. Lanes 1–5, 125I-IGFBP-5; lane 2, peptide A; lane 3, peptide B; lane 4, peptide C; lane 5, peptide D. The radiolabeled band with an Mr estimated of 18 kDa shown in lanes 1, 4, and 5 is a fragment of radiolabeled IGFBP-5.

 


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Figure 41. Coimmunoprecipitation of IGFBP-5 mutants and PAI-1. One hundred nanograms per milliliter of each IGFBP-5 mutant was incubated with 100 ng/ml of PAI-1 and the products immunoprecipitated using anti-PAI-1 antiserum as described previously. After SDS-PAGE, the products were transferred to an Immobilon membrane, then ligand blotted using 125I-IGF-I as described in methods. Lane 1, wild-type IGFBP-5, no PAI-1; lanes 2–8, PAI-1 plus IGFBP-5 or mutants. Lane 2, wild-type IGFBP-5; lane 3, K134A/R136A; lane 4, R202A/K206A/R207A; lane 5, R201A/K202N/K206N/K208N; lane 6, K211N; lane 7, R201N/K202N; lane 8, K211N/R214A/K217A/R218A. The results of Phor Image analysis expressed as scanning units were: lane 1, 2,237; lane 2, 190,511; lane 3, 204,125; lane 4, 170,867; lane 5, 76,748; lane 6, 250,813; lane 7, 223,452; lane 8, 146,656.

 


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Figure 51. The effect of PAI-1 on IGFBP-5 proteolysis. IGFBP-5, 50 ng/ml, was incubated with IGFBP-5 protease that had been purified from human fibroblast conditioned medium. After a 14-h incubation, the products were electrophoresed and analyzed by immunoblotting. Lanes 1–4, IGFBP-5 plus protease; lane 2, vitronectin, 10 µg/ml; lane 3, PAI-1, 10 µg/ml; lane 4, PAI-1 plus vitronectin. The 22-kDa band, which is the major cleavage product of this protease, is shown by an arrow. Scanning unit values for the intact IGFBP-5 bands were; lane 1, 87,644; lane 2, 107,781; lane 3, 144,811; and lane 4, 123,322.

 


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Figure 61. The effect of vitronectin on the binding of PAI-1 to IGFBP-5. A, 125I-IGFBP-5 and PAI-1 (100 ng/ml) were incubated with anti-PAI-1 antisera and increasing concentrations of vitronectin. After a 6-h incubation, the products were immunoprecipitated, electrophoresed, and the gel analyzed by autoradiography. Lane 1, 125I-IGFBP-5 alone; lanes 2–5, 125I-IGFBP-5 plus PAI-1; lane 3, vitronectin (1 µg/ml); lane 4, vitronectin (0.1 µg/ml); lane 5, vitronectin (0.01 µg/ml). Phosphor Image intensity units were: lane 1, 46,673; lane 2, 98160; lane 3,