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We have examined the expression of the small extracellular chondroitin/dermatan sulfate proteoglycans (CS/DS PGs), biglycan, decorin, and PG-100, which is the proteoglycan form of colony stimulating factor-1, in the human endothelial cell line EA.hy 926. We have also examined whether modulation of the phenotype of EA.hy 926 cells by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is associated with specific changes in the synthesis of these PGs. We demonstrate that EA.hy 926 cells, when they form monolayer cultures typical of macrovascular endothelial cells, express and synthesize detectable amounts of biglycan and PG-100, but not decorin. On SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis both PGs behave like proteins of the relative molecular weight of approximately 250,000. TNF-alpha that changed the morphology of the cells from a polygonal shape into a spindle shape and that also stimulated the detachment of the cells from culture dish, markedly decreased the net synthesis of biglycan, whereas the net synthesis of PG-100 was increased. These changes were parallel with those observed at the mRNA level of the corresponding PGs. The proportions of the different sulfated CS/DS disaccharide units of PGs were not affected by TNF-alpha. Several other growth factors/cytokines, such as interferon-gamma, fibroblast growth factors-2 (FGF-2) and -7 (FGF-7), interleukin-1beta, and transforming growth factor-beta, unlike TNF-alpha, modulated neither the morphology nor the biglycan expression of EA.hy 926 cells under the conditions used in the experiments. However, PG-100 expression was increased also in response to FGF-2 and -7 and transforming growth factor-beta. None of the above cytokines, including TNF-alpha, was able to induce decorin expression in the cells. Our results indicate that the regulatory elements controlling the expression of the small extracellular CS/DS PGs in human endothelial cells are different.

ErbB4 is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor (ErbB) family that mediates cellular responses activated by neuregulins (NRG) and other epidermal growth factor-like growth factors. Two naturally occurring ErbB4 isoforms, ErbB4 CYT-1 and ErbB4 CYT-2, have previously been identified. Unlike ErbB4 CYT-1, ErbB4 CYT-2 lacks a phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3-K)-binding site and is incapable of activating PI3-K. We have now examined the consequences of the inability of this isoform to activate PI3-K on cell proliferation, survival, and chemotaxis in response to NRG-1beta: (i) NRG-1beta stimulated proliferation of cells expressing either ErbB4 CYT-1 or ErbB4 CYT-2. Consistent with the mitogenic responsiveness, analysis of downstream signaling showed that Shc and MAPK were phosphorylated after stimulating either isoform with NRG-1beta. (ii) NRG-1beta protected cells expressing ErbB4 CYT-1 but not cells expressing ErbB4 CYT-2 from starvation-induced apoptosis as measured by effects on cell number and 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining. Furthermore, in cells expressing ErbB4 CYT-2, Akt, a protein kinase that mediates cell survival, was not phosphorylated. (iii) NRG-1beta stimulated chemotaxis and membrane ruffling in cells expressing ErbB4 CYT-1 but not in cells expressing ErbB4 CYT-2. In summary, ErbB4 CYT-2 can mediate proliferation but not chemotaxis or survival. These results suggest a novel mechanism by which cellular responses such as chemotaxis and survival may be regulated by the expression of alternative receptor-tyrosine kinase isoforms that differ in their coupling to PI3-K signaling.

An imbalance between proteases and antiproteases is thought to play a role in the inflammatory injury that regulates wound healing. The activities of some proteases and antiproteases found in inflammatory fluids can be modified in vitro by heparin, a mast cell-derived glycosaminoglycan. Because syndecans, a family of cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans, are the major cellular source of heparin-like glycosaminoglycan, we asked whether syndecans modify protease activities in vivo. Syndecan-1 and syndecan-4 ectodomains are shed into acute human dermal wound fluids (Subramanian, S. V., Fitzgerald, M. L., and Bernfield, M. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 14713–14720). Moreover, purified syndecan-1 ectodomain binds cathepsin G (K d = 56 nm) and elastase (K d = 35 nm) tightly and reduces the affinity of these proteases for their physiological inhibitors. Purified syndecan-1 ectodomain protects cathepsin G from inhibition by α1-antichymotrypsin and squamous cell carcinoma antigen 2 and elastase from inhibition by α1-proteinase inhibitor by decreasing second order rate constants for protease-antiprotease associations (k ass) by 3700-, 32-, and 60-fold, respectively. Both enzymatic degradation of heparan sulfate and immunodepletion of the syndecan-1 and -4 in wound fluid reduce these proteolytic activities in the fluid, indicating that the proteases in the wound environment are regulated by interactions with syndecan ectodomains. Thus, syndecans are shed into acute wound fluids, where they can modify the proteolytic balance of the fluid. This suggests a novel physiological role for these soluble heparan sulfate proteoglycans.

The activity of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) is stringently controlled. Inactive in undisturbed tissues, it is activated during injury and is critical for tissue repair. We find that this control can be imposed by the soluble syndecan-1 ectodomain, a heparan sulfate proteoglycan shed from cell surfaces into wound fluids. The ectodomain potently inhibits heparin-mediated FGF-2 mitogenicity because of the poorly sulfated domains in its heparin sulfate chains. Degradation of these regions by platelet heparanase produces heparin-like heparin sulfate fragments that markedly activate FGF-2 mitogenicity and are found in wound fluids. These results establish a novel physiological control for FGF-2 and suggest new ways to modulate FGF activity.

Syndecan-1 is a cell surface proteoglycan that binds extracellular matrix components and modulates the activity of heparin-binding growth factors. The expression of syndecan-1 is modified during development, carcinogenesis, and tissue regeneration. During cutaneous wound healing, syndecan-1 expression is transiently induced in newly-formed capillaries of granulation tissue as well as in proliferating keratinocytes. To study the mechanisms underlying this regulation we investigated the effects of several growth factors/cytokines on syndecan-1 expression in two human cell lines: EA.hy 926 endothelial cells and HaCaT keratinocytes. None of these factors significantly altered syndecan-1 mRNA expression in cultured keratinocytes, but when given to endothelial cells, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) specifically and dose-dependently suppressed syndecan-1 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. TNF-alpha reduced the amount of syndecan-1 protein in EA.hy 926 cells in both the presence and absence of serum and, at the same time, induced the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). The suppressive effect of TNF-alpha on endothelial syndecan-1 expression was reproducible in in vivo experiments in which TNF-alpha-coated beads were administered directly to healing skin wounds of mice. Data supporting these findings were further obtained by injecting TNF-alpha into an experimental rat granulation tissue model. In this tissue TNF-alpha suppressed syndecan-1 mRNA expression by approximately 80%. These results indicate that TNF-alpha is capable of down-regulating syndecan-1 expression in endothelial cells both in vitro and in vivo and suggest that similar mechanisms may be responsible for the changes in syndecan-1 expression observed during various regenerative, developmental, and malignant processes.

An imbalance between proteinases and antiproteinases is thought to mediate, in part, the inflammatory injury that leads to chronic lung disease in mechanically ventilated pre-term infants. The activities of some proteinases and proteinase inhibitors found in inflammatory fluids can be modifiedin vitro by heparin, a mast cell-derived glycosaminoglycan (GAG). The major cellular source of heparin-like GAG is the syndecan family of transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycans, found on the surface of several cell types in the lung.