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Endocrinology Vol. 139, No. 5 2356-2362
Copyright © 1998 by The Endocrine Society


ARTICLES

Regulation of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-Binding Protein-5 by Insulin-Like Growth Factor I and Interleukin-1{alpha} in Ovine Articular Chondrocytes1

Damir Sunic, Julian D. McNeil, Timothy E. Rayner, Dennis L. Andress and David A. Belford

Department of Medicine, Modbury Public Hospital (D.S., J.D.M.), Modbury 5092, South Australia, Australia; and the Cooperative Research Center for Tissue Growth and Repair, Child Health Research Institute, Women’s and Children’s Hospital (D.S., T.E.R., D.A.B.), North Adelaide 5006, South Australia, Australia; and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Medical Center (D.L.A.), Seattle, Washington 98108

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Damir Sunic, Department of Medicine, Modbury Public Hospital, Smart Road, Modbury 5092, South Australia, Australia.


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) contribute to the maintenance of the cartilage matrix by stimulating proteoglycan synthesis. In contrast, interleukin-1 (IL-1), an inflammatory cytokine, suppresses the synthesis of proteoglycans. In pathological conditions the chondrocytes’ responsiveness to IGF-I is decreased, and elevated levels of IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) have been implicated as a possible cause. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of IGF-I and IL-1 on IGFBP production by ovine articular chondrocytes (OAC) and the roles of these IGFBPs in the regulation of proteoglycan synthesis. As revealed by Western ligand and immunoblotting, OACs secreted IGFBP-2 and a 24-kDa IGFBP in culture medium under basal conditions. Exposure of the cells to IGF-I for 48 h resulted in the appearance of IGFBP-5 in the medium. Des(1–3)IGF-I, an IGF-I analog with reduced affinity for IGFBPs, also increased the level of IGFBP-5, but to a lesser extent than IGF-I, whereas LR3IGF-I, which has virtually no affinity for IGFBPs, had no effect on IGFBP-5. Furthermore, IGFBP-5 underwent a time-dependent limited proteolysis when incubated with OAC-conditioned medium, degrading into 22- and 16-kDa fragments. The degradation of IGFBP-5 was significantly inhibited by IGF-I, but not by des(1–3)IGF-I or LR3IGF-I. Basic fibroblast growth factor, transforming growth factor-ß, and platelet-derived growth factor had no effect on OAC IGFBPs. However, IL-1{alpha} increased the IGFBP-5 level in a dose-dependent manner, showing maximum activity at 200 U/ml. Furthermore, IL-1{alpha}, but not IGF-I, induced IGFBP-5 messenger RNA expression, as assessed by Northern blot analysis. Coincubation of IGF-I with IL-1{alpha} resulted in a substantially increased IGFBP-5 protein level, suggesting a synergism between the mechanisms of action of these two factors. Des(1–3)IGF-I and LR3IGF-I were 10 times more potent than IGF-I in stimulating proteoglycan synthesis, indicating inhibition of IGF-I activity by endogenous IGFBPs. IL-1{alpha} reduced the IGF-I bioactivity, but had no effect on the activities of the IGF-I analogs, thus implying that locally produced IGFBPs, particularly IGFBP-5, which was substantially increased when IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} were coincubated, mediated the reduction of the IGF-I activity. Our results demonstrate that IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} synergistically increase the level of IGFBP-5 in OAC by inhibiting the proteolysis and stimulating the expression of IGFBP-5, respectively. Furthermore, the attenuation of IGF-I-stimulated proteoglycan synthesis by IL-1{alpha} in OAC appears to be mediated by chondrocyte IGFBPs. We conclude that locally produced IGFBPs, in particular IGFBP-5, may play a critical role in the regulation of cartilage matrix degradation in inflammatory and degenerative arthritides.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
INSULIN-LIKE growth factors (IGFs) are anabolic factors that contribute to the maintenance of the steady state metabolism of cartilage by stimulating extracellular matrix synthesis (1, 2). IGF-I has been identified as the major stimulatory factor of cartilage proteoglycan synthesis in serum (3) and synovial fluid (4). The actions of IGFs are modulated locally by the IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) (5). There are seven members of the IGFBP family, six of which show high affinity for IGFs and are able to inhibit or potentiate IGF activity depending on the IGFBP involved, cell type, and experimental conditions (6, 7). The recent discovery of IGFBP proteases capable of degrading IGFBPs to fragments with reduced affinities for IGFs has revealed a further control mechanism with the potential to modulate the actions of IGFs (5). IGFs, in turn, can control the activity of IGFBPs by regulating their gene expression or by altering the activity of the IGFBP proteases (8).

Production of IGFBPs by chondrocytes from different species has been reported (9, 10, 11, 12, 13), and their ability to inhibit IGF actions has been demonstrated (10, 12). In addition, chondrocytes isolated from osteoarthritic cartilage express and secrete higher levels of IGFBP-2, -3, -4, and -5 than chondrocytes from normal cartilage (14, 15). Furthermore, elevated levels of IGFBPs have been detected in synovial fluids from patients with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (16, 17, 18). These findings suggest that the diminished responsiveness of chondrocytes from osteoarthritic cartilage to IGF-I is attributable to increased levels of IGFBPs (19).

Interleukin-1 (IL-1), an inflammatory cytokine, has been implicated in the pathology of inflammatory and degenerative arthritis (20, 21). An increase in the rate of proteoglycan degradation and decreased proteoglycan synthesis are among its most prominent catabolic actions in diseased articular cartilage (22, 23, 24). IL-1 can also induce cartilage nonresponsiveness to IGF-I through a mechanism that remains unknown (22, 25). Furthermore, recent studies have shown that IGFBP-3 protein levels in rat (26) and human (27) chondrocytes can be increased by this cytokine.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} on IGFBP production in ovine articular chondrocytes. In addition, by using IGF analogs with reduced affinity for IGFBPs, we aimed to establish the role for the endogenous IGFBPs in mediating the effects of IL-1 on proteoglycan synthesis.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Materials
Hocks from adult sheep were obtained shortly after death at a local abattoir. DMEM, FBS, and penicillin/streptomycin (5000 U/ml; 5000 µg/ml) were purchased from Cytosystems (Castle Hill, Australia). Collagenase (type IA; 305 U/mg), hyaluronidase (340 U/ml), hyaluronic acid (grade III-S), and BSA (RIA grade) were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). Cetyl pyridinium chloride was obtained from Ajax Chemicals (Auburn, Australia). Sodium [35S]sulfate (5 mCi/ml; aqueous solution) was purchased from DuPont (Boston, MA). Recombinant human IGF-I, des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I, and LR3IGF-I were supplied by GroPep (Adelaide, Australia). Recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), transforming growth factor-ß (TGFß), and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) were purchased from Austral Biologicals (San Ramon, CA). Recombinant human IGFBP-5 was produced in baculovirus using complementary DNA (cDNA) of the intact molecule, and the expressed protein was purified by IGF-affinity chromatography and reverse phase HPLC as described previously (28). Recombinant human IL-1{alpha} (3 x 108 U/mg) was a gift from Hoffmann-La Roche (Nutley, NJ). IGF-II was 125I labeled by the chloramine-T method, as previously described (29). Rabbit antihuman IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-5 antisera were purchased from Upstate Biotechnology (Lake Placid, NY).

Cell culture
Articular cartilage from ovine metacarpophalangeal joints was aseptically dissected and incubated in DMEM containing 1 mg/ml collagenase, 1 mg/ml hyaluronidase, 10% FBS, 150 U/ml penicillin, 150 µg/ml streptomycin, and 2.5 µg/ml fungizone overnight at 37 C. Isolated chondrocytes were washed twice with PBS and resuspended in DMEM supplemented with FBS, penicillin, streptomycin, and fungizone as indicated above. Cells were plated at a density of 2.5 x 105 cells/cm2 in 24-well plates (Falcon, Becton Dickinson Co., Lincoln Park, NJ) for detection of IGFBPs, in 48-well plates (Costar, Cambridge, MA) for determination of proteoglycan synthesis, and in 6-well plates (Falcon) for RNA isolation and cultured at 37 C in humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2. After reaching confluence, monolayers were washed with PBS and incubated in serum-free medium for 24 h. Serum-free medium was then replaced with medium containing 0.01% BSA and the growth factors or IL-1{alpha}, and the chondrocytes were cultured for an additional 48 h. For proteoglycan synthesis determination, [35S]sulfate was added in the final 24 h. Conditioned medium was collected for IGFBP analysis, and cell layers were used for proteoglycan synthesis assay or RNA extraction.

Western ligand blotting and immunoblotting
Conditioned medium samples (1 ml) were dialyzed overnight at 4 C against 0.1 M acetic acid and vacuum dried. Samples were reconstituted in 30 µl SDS sample buffer (0.0625 M Tris, 2% SDS, 5% glycerol, and 0.001% bromophenol blue, pH 6.8) and subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western ligand blot analysis as described by Hossenlopp et al. (30). Briefly, samples were electrophoresed on 12.5% SDS-polyacrylamide gels under nonreducing conditions and then electroblotted onto nitrocellulose membranes (Schleicher and Schuell, Dassel, Germany). The membranes were probed overnight with 5 x 105 cpm [125I]IGF-II/membrane, and IGFBP bands were visualized by autoradiography.

The immunoblotting was performed using the enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) detection system supplied by Amersham (Castle Hill, Australia). The nitrocellulose membranes were blocked for 2 h at room temperature in Tris-buffered saline-Tween [TBS-T; 20 mM Tris base, 137 mM NaCl (pH 7.6), and 0.1% Tween-20] containing 3% BSA, washed in TBS-T, and incubated overnight at 4 C with TBS-T buffer containing either anti-IGFBP-2 (1:2000) or anti-IGFBP-5 (1:500) antiserum. The membranes were washed and incubated for 1 h at room temperature with goat antirabbit IgG horseradish peroxidase conjugate (Dakopatts, Copenhagen, Denmark) at a final dilution of 1:2000, followed by extensive rinsing. The nitrocellulose was then treated with the ECL reagents according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and the reactive bands were visualized by autoradiography.

Northern blot analysis
Total RNA was extracted from cultured cells using the RNAzol B kit (Biotecx Laboratories, Houston, TX), following the protocol supplied by the manufacturer. The isolated RNA was quantitated spectrophotometrically, and equal amounts of RNA (15 µg/lane) were loaded and size-fractionated onto a 1% agarose-formaldehyde gel, transferred to a Hybond nylon membrane (Amersham), and cross-linked by UV light. To confirm the integrity, equal loading, and even transfer of the RNA, the gel was stained with ethidium bromide, and ribosomal RNAs were visualized before and after the transfer. The probe used for IGFBP-5 messenger RNA (mRNA) detection, derived from the 640-bp EcoRI-BamHI restriction fragment of the rat IGFBP-5 cDNA (provided by Dr. J. D’Ercole, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC), was labeled with [{alpha}-32P]deoxy-CTP using the Amersham Mega Prime random primer labeling kit. The hybridization was performed at 42 C for 16 h in 5 x SSPE (750 mM NaCl, 50 mM NaH2PO4 x H2O, 6.25 mM EDTA, pH 7.4), 45% formamide, 5 x Denhardt’s solution, 0.2% SDS, and 100 µg/ml salmon sperm DNA. After hybridization, the membranes were washed at 42 C with 2 x saline-sodium citrate (SSC), 0.1% SDS, and 1 mM EDTA and then with 0.5 x SSC, 0.1% SDS, and 1 mM EDTA, and bound radioactive material was visualized by autoradiography. Glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA was detected using an [{alpha}-32P]UTP-labeled complementary RNA (cRNA) probe that was prepared from a 400-bp fragment of the rat GAPDH cDNA using Promega riboprobe kit (Promega, Madison, WI) and T7 RNA polymerase. The membranes were stripped of the IGFBP-5 probe using 0.5% SDS, rehybridized with the GAPDH probe at 65 C for 16 h, and washed with 0.1 x SSC buffer at 65 C, and labeled bands were visualized by autoradiography.

Proteolytic activity assay
Recombinant human IGFBP-5 (rhIGFBP-5) was labeled with Na125I to a specific activity of 50–100 µCi/µg protein using the chloramine-T method, as described previously (29). To detect IGFBP-5 proteolytic activity in conditioned medium, samples of medium conditioned by OAC grown under basal conditions (20 µl) were incubated with [125I]-IGFBP-5 (20,000 cpm) in the presence or absence of IGFs at 37 C for 6 or 24 h. The reaction was stopped by the addition of 6.6 µl of 4 x SDS buffer. Samples were subjected to SDS-PAGE and analyzed by autoradiography. Proteolysis was calculated by dividing the ODs of the proteolytic fragments by the sum of the densities of the fragments and intact IGFBP-5. The inhibition of proteolysis was calculated by the following formula: [(A - B)/A] x 100%, where A is proteolysis in conditioned medium without IGFs, and B is proteolysis in conditioned medium in the presence of IGFs.

Proteoglycan synthesis
Proteoglycan production was estimated by measuring the incorporation of [35S]sulfate into newly synthesized glycosaminoglycans. Confluent chondrocytes were treated with the indicated factors for 48 h and exposed to 3 µCi [35S]sulfate/ml for the final 24 h. The cell layers were solubilized in 0.2 M NaOH, which was subsequently neutralized by the addition of 3 vol PBS. The radioactivity of cetyl pyridinium chloride-precipitable material was measured in a scintillation counter.

Densitometry
Quantitative analyses were performed by scanning laser densitometry on UltroScan XL, Gel Scan XL(2.1), Pharmacia LKB (Uppsala, Sweden).

Statistical analysis
Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t test. The results were considered significantly different at P < 0.05.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The production of IGFBPs in primary cultures of ovine articular chondrocytes in response to IGF-I was investigated using Western ligand and immunoblotting. We also used structural analogs of IGF-I, des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I, and LR3IGF-I, which have substantially reduced and virtually no affinity for IGFBPs, respectively, whereas both retain a high affinity for the IGF-I receptor (31, 32). Under basal conditions (DMEM-0.01% BSA), OACs secreted 35- and 24-kDa IGFBPs into the conditioned medium, as assessed by Western ligand blotting using [125I]IGF-II (Fig. 1aGo). Treatment of the cells with 50 ng/ml IGF-I resulted in the appearance of a 29/31-kDa IGFBP doublet in the medium. Des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I was less potent than IGF-I in stimulating the appearance of this 29/31-kDa doublet, whereas LR3IGF-I had no effect. Several other growth factors were also tested to determine whether this positive effect on the 29/31-kDa IGFBP was IGF specific. As shown in Fig. 1aGo, bFGF, TGFß, and PDGF had no effect on the 29/31-kDa doublet at doses up to 50, 25, and 50 ng/ml, respectively. The 35-kDa band was identified as IGFBP-2, whereas the IGF-regulated 29/31-kDa doublet was identified as IGFBP-5 using Western immunoblotting (Fig. 1bGo). The mobility of the 24-kDa band corresponded with that of the nonglycosylated form of IGFBP-4.



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Figure 1. IGFBP production by OACs. Confluent chondrocytes were cultured for 48 h, and conditioned medium samples were prepared and subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western analysis as described in Materials and Methods. A, Western ligand blot against [125I]IGF-II. The growth factors were added in the following concentrations. Lane 1, Control; lane 2, IGF-I (50 ng/ml); lane 3, des(1–3)IGF-I (50 ng/ml); lane 4, LR3IGF-I (50 ng/ml); lane 5, bFGF (50 ng/ml); lane 6, PDGF (50 ng/ml); lane 7, TGFß (25 ng/ml). B, Western immunoblot. Chondrocytes were cultured in the presence or absence of 50 ng/ml IGF-I, and IGFBPs in the conditioned medium were identified using the anti-IGFBP-2 and anti-IGFBP-5 polyclonal antibodies as indicated. The positions of mol wt markers are indicated on the left.

 
To determine whether inflammatory cytokines can affect the OAC IGFBPs, confluent cell layers were exposed to IL-1{alpha} for 48 h, and the IGFBPs secreted into the conditioned medium were analyzed by Western ligand blotting. As shown in Fig. 2Go, IL-1{alpha} increased the level of the 29/31-kDa IGFBP in OAC-conditioned medium in a dose-dependent manner, reaching the maximum stimulatory effect at 200 U/ml. The doublet was confirmed to be IGFBP-5 by Western immunoblotting (Fig. 3aGo).



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Figure 2. The effect of IL-1{alpha} on IGFBP-5 production by OAC. Confluent chondrocytes were cultured for 48 h in the presence of the indicated concentrations of IL-1{alpha}, and conditioned medium samples were prepared and subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western ligand blot analysis as described in Materials and Methods. IGFBP bands were visualized by autoradiography. Mol wt markers are indicated on the left.

 


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Figure 3. The effect of IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} on the IGFBP-5 level in OAC-conditioned medium. Confluent chondrocytes were cultured for 48 h in the presence or absence of 50 ng/ml IGF-I, 1000 U/ml IL-1{alpha}, or both factors together. A, Conditioned medium samples were analyzed by ECL Western immunoblotting using an anti-IGFBP-5 polyclonal antibody as described in Materials and Methods, and the chemiluminescence signal was detected by autoradiography. Mol wt markers are indicated on the left. B, Densitometric analysis of anti-IGFBP-5-stained bands. Data are expressed as arbitrary absorbency units (AU). The columns represent the mean ± SEM of four samples from three separate experiments. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.005 compared with control (cultures without factors). §, P < 0.05 compared with the sum of the IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} effects.

 
To examine the combined effects of IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} on the IGFBP-5 level in OAC-conditioned medium, chondrocytes were cultured in the presence of both factors, and the medium was analyzed by Western immunoblotting and densitometry (Fig. 3Go, a and b). Although separate incubations of chondrocytes with 50 ng/ml IGF-I and 1000 U/ml IL-1{alpha} caused 9- and 4.5-fold stimulations of the density of IGFBP-5 bands, respectively, coincubation of the same concentrations of IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} resulted in a 33-fold increase in IGFBP-5 over basal levels. This synergistic effect of IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} suggests that these two factors acted through different, complementary mechanisms to stimulate IGFBP-5 production.

To determine whether IGFBP-5 protein levels in conditioned medium reflect the expression of IGFBP-5 mRNA, we carried out Northern blot analysis of total RNA isolated from OACs treated with 50 ng/ml IGF-I, 1000 U/ml IL-1{alpha}, or both factors together for 48 h. As shown in Fig. 4Go, IL-1{alpha} induced an increase in the expression of 6.0-kilobase IGFBP-5 mRNA. In contrast, neither the basal level of IGFBP-5 mRNA expression nor the IL-1{alpha}-stimulated transcript levels was affected by IGF-I. These data demonstrate that IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} used distinct pathways in the regulation of OAC IGFBP-5.



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Figure 4. Effects of IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} on OAC IGFBP-5 mRNA expression. Confluent chondrocytes were cultured for 48 h in the presence or absence of 50 ng/ml IGF-I, 1000 U/ml IL-1{alpha}, or both factors together. Total RNA was isolated, and Northern blot analysis was performed using 32P-labeled rat IGFBP-5 and GAPDH probes as described in Materials and Methods. The ethidium bromide-stained 18S and 28S ribosomal RNAs are shown below.

 
As the results obtained with IGF-I and its analogs indicated that the regulation of IGFBP-5 took place at the posttranslational level, we investigated the possibility that IGFBP-5 proteolytic activity was present in chondrocyte-conditioned medium. Confluent chondrocytes were cultured for 48 h under basal conditions, the medium was collected, and 20-µl aliquots were incubated with [125I]IGFBP-5 for 6 or 24 h in the absence or presence of 100 ng/ml IGF-I, des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I, or LR3IGF-I. The incubation mixture was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. As shown in Fig. 5aGo, IGFBP-5 underwent a time-dependent limited proteolysis in cell-free conditions, degrading into 22- and 16-kDa fragments. The degradation of IGFBP-5 was significantly inhibited by IGF-I (39% inhibition), whereas neither des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I nor LR3IGF-I significantly prevented IGFBP-5 breakdown (Fig. 5bGo).



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Figure 5. Proteolysis of IGFBP-5 in OAC-conditioned medium. [125I]rhIGFBP-5 was incubated with medium conditioned by OAC (20 µl) in the presence or absence of the indicated IGFs (100 ng/ml) at 37 C, as described in Materials and Methods. A, Samples were analyzed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography. Mol wt markers are indicated on the left. B, Densitometric analysis of the inhibition of the IGFBP-5 proteolysis by IGFs after 24-h incubation at 37 C. The columns represent the mean ± SEM obtained from four separate experiments. *, P < 0.05 compared with control incubations (OAC CM without IGFs).

 
The IGF biological activity in OAC culture was determined by measuring [35S]sulfate incorporation into newly synthesized cell layer proteoglycans. IGF-I and its analogs, des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I and LR3IGF-I, were used to evaluate the effect of the endogenous IGFBPs on IGF bioactivity. Half-maximum effective doses (ED50) of the growth factors were 10, 1, and 1 ng/ml for IGF-I, des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I, and LR3IGF-I, respectively (Fig. 6Go). All three growth factors increased proteoglycan synthesis to the maximum level of 2.5- to 3-fold over the control value.



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Figure 6. Effects of IGFs on proteoglycan synthesis in OAC culture. Confluent chondrocytes were incubated with increasing concentrations of IGF-I, des(1–3) IGF-I, and LR3IGF-I for 48 h. [35S]Sulfate was added in the final 24 h, and its incorporation into newly synthesized proteoglycans was determined as described in Materials and Methods. The results are expressed as a percentage of the control value (serum-free medium plus 0.01% BSA) and represent the mean ± SEM pooled from five separate experiments, each performed in triplicate.

 
As IL-1{alpha} increased the IGFBP-5 level in OAC culture, particularly when coincubated with IGF-I (as demonstrated in Fig. 3Go), we speculated that increased levels of this binding protein could affect the IGF-I bioactivity. To determine the effect of IGFBP-5 on IGF-stimulated proteoglycan synthesis, we incubated chondrocytes with 10 and 50 ng/ml IGF-I for 48 h in the presence or absence of rhIGFBP-5. Recombinant IGFBP-5 (500 ng/ml) was added at the beginning of the 48-h incubation period, and additional 500 ng/ml was added 1 h before the addition of [35S]sulfate. As shown in Fig. 7Go, the addition of rhIGFBP-5 significantly reduced the stimulatory effect of IGF-I on proteoglycan synthesis. The basal level of proteoglycan synthesis remained unchanged, while the activities of 10 and 50 ng/ml IGF-I were reduced by 50% and 35%, respectively.



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Figure 7. The effect of rhIGFBP-5 on IGF-I-induced proteoglycan synthesis. Confluent chondrocytes were incubated with indicated doses of IGF-I for 48 h in the presence or absence of rhIGFBP-5. Five hundred nanograms per ml IGFBP-5 were added at the beginning of the 48-h incubation period, and an additional 500 ng/ml were added 1 h before the addition of [35S]sulfate. [35S]Sulfate was added in the final 24 h, and its incorporation into newly synthesized proteoglycans was determined as described in Materials and Methods. Results are expressed as a percentage of the control value, with columns representing the means and positive SEM from five separate experiments, each performed in triplicate. *, P < 0.05, **, P < 0.005 compared with corresponding cultures treated with IGF-I only (by Student’s t test).

 
To examine whether locally produced IGFBPs mediate the negative effect of the inflammatory cytokines on proteoglycan synthesis, we incubated chondrocytes with 50 ng/ml IGF-I, des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I, or LR3IGF-I for 48 h in the absence or presence of 1000 U/ml IL-1{alpha}. Neither basal nor des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I- and LR3IGF-I-stimulated proteoglycan production was affected by the cytokine, whereas IGF-I-stimulated proteoglycan synthesis was diminished by 45% (Fig. 8Go).



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Figure 8. The effect of IL-1{alpha} on proteoglycan synthesis. Chondrocytes were incubated with 50 ng/ml IGF-I, des(1–3)IGF-I, or LR3IGF-I for 48 h in the absence or presence of 1000 U/ml IL-1{alpha}. [35S]Sulfate was added in the final 24 h, and its incorporation into glycosaminoglycans was determined as described in Materials and Methods. Results are expressed as a percentage of the control value, with columns representing the means and positive SEM from three separate experiments, each performed in triplicate. *, P < 0.05 compared with IGF-I treated cultures (by Student’s t test).

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Our results show that ovine articular chondrocytes produce 29/31- and 35-kDa IGFBPs, identified as IGFBP-5 and -2, respectively. A 24-kDa IGFBP, whose mobility on the SDS gel corresponds to that of nonglycosylated IGFBP-4, was also detected. This finding is consistent with previous studies reporting that chondrocytes from different species produce various IGFBPs, including IGFBP-2, -3, -4, and -5 under basal conditions and in response to IGF-I (9, 11, 12, 13). Although IGFBP-2 and the 24-kDa IGFBP were produced by OAC under basal, serum-free conditions, IGFBP-5 was detectable in chondrocyte-conditioned medium only after incubation with IGF-I. Other growth factors that stimulate chondrocyte anabolism, including bFGF, TGFß, and PDGF (33, 34), did not affect the IGFBP-5 level, indicating that the regulation of this binding protein was IGF specific. Des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I was less potent than IGF-I in stimulating IGFBP-5, whereas at 50 ng/ml, LR3IGF-I was virtually ineffective, suggesting that the regulation of IGFBP-5 in ovine articular chondrocytes by IGFs was not mediated through the IGF-I receptor. Moreover, at the same concentration (50 ng/ml), IGF-I did not increase IGFBP-5 mRNA expression, indicating that a transcriptional regulation is not a mechanism by which IGF-I stimulates IGFBP-5. Rather, IGF-I was shown to inhibit the proteolytic breakdown of IGFBP-5 in OAC-conditioned medium. Thus, when incubated in OAC-conditioned medium, [125I]IGFBP-5 degraded into 22- and 16-kDa fragments, an effect significantly inhibited by the addition of IGF-I. The inability of IGF-I analogs that have low affinity for IGFBPs to significantly protect IGFBP-5 points to the importance of the IGF-IGFBP interaction in preventing IGFBP-5 proteolysis. Taken together, these data suggest that protection of IGFBP-5 from proteolytic degradation is the principal mechanism by which IGF-I increases the level of this binding protein in ovine articular chondrocyte cultures. However, other mechanisms, unrelated to the mRNA level, cannot be ruled out.

These results are consistent with previous studies that have demonstrated IGFBP-5 proteolytic activities in fibroblast (35, 36)- and osteoblast (8)-conditioned media that are inhibited by IGF-I and IGF-II. In addition, Matsumoto et al. (13) reported that in rat articular chondrocytes, IGFBP-5 is regulated by IGF-I and IGF-II at both the transcriptional and posttranslational levels. They found that the transcriptional regulation mediated through the IGF-I receptor was a predominant mechanism by which IGF-I stimulates IGFBP-5 in chondrocyte-conditioned medium, although inhibition of the IGFBP-5 protease(s), as a result of interactions between IGFs and IGFBPs, was also involved.

IL-1, which is found in the disease-affected cartilage at elevated levels, has been associated with articular cartilage matrix degradation in joints affected by OA and RA (20, 23). In addition, the ability of IL-1 to affect IGFBP production in chondrocytes has been reported previously. Matsumoto et al. (26) found that IL-1ß increases the secretion of 40-kDa IGFBP (presumably IGFBP-3) by rat articular chondrocytes, whereas Olney et al. (27) reported that IL-1{alpha} stimulates production of IGFBP-3 in human articular chondrocytes. A recent report by Wang et al. (37) demonstrated the ability of IL-1ß to induce IGFBP-3 gene expression and protein production in Leydig cells. Furthermore, Olney et al. (14) found that IGFBP-5 protein level and gene expression are increased in OA human cartilage and chondrocytes isolated from OA cartilage, respectively. Our results show that IL-1{alpha} increased IGFBP-5 protein level in ovine articular chondrocyte culture in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, IL-1{alpha} induced the expression of IGFBP-5 mRNA, suggesting that the IGFBP-5 regulation took place at the gene level. The combined effect of IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} on IGFBP-5 protein level detected in the medium conditioned by OAC exceeded the sum of their separate effects by 2.5-fold, strongly suggesting a synergism of their mechanisms of action. It is likely that this dramatic increase in IGFBP-5 is a consequence of an increase in the expression of this binding protein (induced by IL-1{alpha}) and subsequent protection of the newly synthesized IGFBP-5 from proteolysis by IGF-I.

As we and others have demonstrated, chondrocyte IGFBPs negatively affect IGF actions in vitro (11, 12). Joosten et al. (38) demonstrated that murine arthritic cartilage is nonresponsive to IGF-I, resulting in decreased proteoglycan synthesis despite the presence of functionally unaltered IGF receptors on the chondrocytes. This finding was followed by the studies of Dore et al. (19) and Tardif et al. (15), who reported increased IGFBP production by human OA chondrocytes accompanied by their nonresponsiveness to IGF-I stimulation. These findings together with recent reports of elevated IGFBP levels in synovial fluids of OA and RA patients (16, 17, 18) point to a possible involvement of IGFBPs in the pathophysiological processes in articular cartilage. Although others proposed that IL-1 could suppress IGF activity in chondrocytes by increasing locally produced IGFBPs, no direct evidence was given to support this speculation (27).

In the present study, IGF-I was 10 times less potent in stimulating proteoglycan synthesis in OAC than its analogs with reduced affinities for IGFBPs, des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I and LR3IGF-I, clearly demonstrating the negative effect of the locally produced IGFBPs on IGF-I activity. Furthermore, rhIGFBP-5 suppressed the IGF-I stimulatory effect on proteoglycan synthesis, a result in accordance with previous findings that showed a negative modulation of IGF activ-ity by IGFBP-5 in osteoblasts (8, 39). IL-1{alpha}, which induced IGFBP-5 expression and, in the presence of IGF-I, caused a 33-fold increase in IGFBP-5 protein level, diminished IGF-I-stimulated [35S]sulfate incorporation into newly synthesized proteoglycans by 45%, whereas the activities of des(1, 2, 3)IGF-I and LR3IGF-I remained unaffected. These data demonstrate the negative effect of the endogenous IGFBPs and strongly suggest that the suppressive effect of IL-1{alpha} on IGF-I-induced proteoglycan production in OAC was mediated through increased levels of IGFBP-5. Thus, a high level of IGFBP-5 contributes to the IGF-I sequestration preventing the growth factor from interacting with the receptors. The IGFBP-mediated decrease in proteoglycan synthesis could be a relevant in vivo mechanism by which IL-1{alpha} exerts its catabolic effect and disturbs the balance between the synthesis and degradation of cartilage matrix macromolecules in pathological conditions.

In summary, IGFBP-5 in OAC is up-regulated by IGF-I and IL-1{alpha} by two apparently distinct mechanisms that complement each other and act synergistically. Furthermore, locally produced IGFBPs, in particular IGFBP-5, mediate the IL-1{alpha} suppression of IGF-I-induced proteoglycan synthesis.


    Footnotes
 
1 This work was supported by the E. R. Dawes Scholarship and CRC for Tissue Growth and Repair Scholarship (to D.S.) and by a grant from the Arthritis Foundation of Australia (to D.S. and J.D.M.) Back

Received September 2, 1997.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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