title: Reduction of type V collagen using a dominant-negative strategy alters the regulation of fibrillogenesis and results in the loss of corneal-specific fibril morphology.
abstract: A number of factors have been implicated in the regulation of tissue-specific collagen fibril diameter. Previous data suggest that assembly of heterotypic fibrils composed of two different fibrillar collagens represents a general mechanism regulating fibril diameter. Specifically, we hypothesize that type V collagen is required for the assembly of the small diameter fibrils observed in the cornea. To test this, we used a dominant-negative retroviral strategy to decrease the levels of type V collagen secreted by chicken corneal fibroblasts. The chicken alpha 1(V) collagen gene was cloned, and retroviral vectors that expressed a polycistronic mRNA encoding a truncated alpha 1(V) minigene and the reporter gene LacZ were constructed. The efficiency of viral infection was 30-40%, as determined by assaying beta-galactosidase activity. To assess the expression from the recombinant provirus, Northern analysis was performed and indicated that infected fibroblasts expressed high steady-state levels of retroviral mRNA. Infected cells synthesized the truncated alpha 1(V) protein, and this was detectable only intracellularly, in a distribution that colocalized with lysosomes. To assess endogenous alpha 1(V) protein levels, infected cell cultures were assayed, and these consistently demonstrated reductions relative to control virus-infected or uninfected cultures. Analyses of corneal fibril morphology demonstrated that the reduction in type V collagen resulted in the assembly of large-diameter fibrils with a broad size distribution, characteristics similar to fibrils produced in connective tissues with low type V concentrations. Immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated the amino-terminal domain of type V collagen was associated with the small-diameter fibrils, but not the large fibrils. These data indicate that type V collagen levels regulate corneal fibril diameter and that the reduction of type V collagen is sufficient to alter fibril assembly so that abnormally large-diameter fibrils are deposited into the matrix.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Marchant
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Linsenmayer
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Birk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002642:Chick Embryo; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003094:Collagen / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015870:Gene Expression; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D005813:Genes, Synthetic; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D008247:Lysosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D001356:Reticuloendotheliosis virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen