Diversity of melanoma plasma membrane proteinases: inhibition of collagenolytic and cytolytic activities by minocycline.

The tissue-destructive proteinases of B16-BL6 melanoma cells from C57BL/6 mice and subcellular fractions were examined. Cancer cell organelles were isolated following nitrogen cavitation with the use of sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Serine, cysteine, and metalloproteinases were assayed with the use of radiolabeled proteins and synthetic substrates. Tumor-induced red blood cell lysis was quantitated by measurement of the release of isotope from 59Fe-labeled red blood cells (RBC) cocultivated with melanoma cells; the RBC were from Wistar rats. Enzyme inhibitors with specificity toward different classes of proteinases were used in the above assays to categorize the enzymes responsible for substrate degradation. Results indicated that intact melanoma cells, cell organelles, and cytosol contain proteinases that can degrade collagen and gelatin and lyse normal RBC. Melanoma plasma membranes are highly enriched in collagenase, gelatinase, cysteine proteinase, plasminogen activator, and cytolytic activity. The inhibition of tumor collagenolytic, gelatinolytic, and cytolytic activities by EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline but not by diisopropyl fluorophosphate and N alpha-p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone indicates that metalloproteinases are the active enzymes in these assays. Minocycline, a synthetic tetracycline with demonstrable inhibitory activity with other mammalian collagenases, also inhibited melanoma collagenolytic and cytolytic activities.

Purification of a gelatin-degrading type IV collagenase secreted by ras oncogene-transformed fibroblasts.

Connective tissue matrix-degrading metalloproteinases play an important role in cancer invasion. In this report we describe the isolation of a metalloproteinase exhibiting both type IV collagenolytic and gelatinolytic activities from the conditioned medium of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts transformed with DNA containing an activated c-Harvey-ras oncogene from T24 bladder cancer cells. This tumor proteinase was purified by anion exchange chromatography, zinc-chelate Sepharose chromatography, and gel permeation chromatography. The final product was homogeneous on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (relative molecular mass = 67,000). Gelatin zymography revealed two bands of gelatinolytic activity, corresponding to molecular weights of 67,000 and 62,000. Upon immunoblotting with the use of an affinity-purified polyclonal rabbit antibody to a peptide region of type IV collagenase that lacks homology with interstitial collagenase or stromelysin, the purified tumor enzyme was identified as type IV collagenase.

Enrichment of collagen and gelatin degrading activities in the plasma membranes of human cancer cells.

Interactions between connective tissue substrates and proteinases localized to the surface of cancer cells are implicated in cancer invasion. In this report we have compared the enrichment of collagen and gelatin degrading activities and cysteine proteinase(s) in well-characterized (enzyme markers and electron microscopy) subcellular membrane fractions isolated from human small cell lung cancer lines (NCI-H69 and NCI-H82) and the RWP-1 pancreatic cancer line. With each cell line collagenolytic, gelatinolytic, and cysteine proteinase activities were enriched 5- to 128-fold in the plasma membrane fractions with differences noted between microvilli versus smooth membrane profiles. Incubation of tumor plasma membranes with methyl-3H-labeled collagen resulted in extensive degradation of the gamma, beta, alpha 1, and alpha 2 chains, suggesting the combined action of metalloproteinases. Treatment of tumor plasma membranes with the chaotropic agent, 2 M KCl, did not diminish membrane collagen- or gelatin-degrading activity, but extensively leached out the cysteine proteinase, suggesting that the latter enzyme is not an integral membrane protein. Enzyme inhibitors specific for metalloproteinases and cysteine proteinase were used to corroborate enzymatic classification. In conclusion, we have demonstrated variations in the localization of proteinases in the plasma membrane domains of different human cancer cells.

Metastatic mouse melanoma cells release collagen-gelatin degrading metalloproteinases as components of shed membrane vesicles.

The purpose of this study has been to compare collagen-gelatin degrading enzymes isolated from cancer cell organelles and cytosol to the metalloproteinases released by cancer cells. To this end, metastatic mouse melanoma cell organelles were isolated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation and metalloproteinases were assayed using native and denatured [methyl-3H]collagen substrates. Solubilized proteinases were purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation, anion exchange, concanavalin A affinity and gel-filtration column chromatographic procedures and characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The conclusions were as follows: malignant melanoma cells have a metalloproteinase (Mr = 59,000) which is shed from cells into conditioned medium as a component of intact membrane vesicles rather than as a soluble enzyme; storage of tumor-conditioned medium leads to the generation of autoactivated soluble metalloproteinases of lower molecular weight; purification of these metalloproteinase species yielded variant collagenases that have considerable gelatinolytic activity and a cleavage preference site for the Gly-Ile bond in a collagen-like synthetic octapeptide substrate which is typical for collagenase-type metalloproteinases. It is proposed that localization of potent proteinases to the surface of cancer cells facilitates the local breakdown of connective tissues during the invasive process.

Characterization of a connective tissue degrading metalloproteinase from human small cell lung cancer cells.

In this report we describe the isolation and characterization of a neutral metalloproteinase, from human small cell lung cancer cells, which degrades a wide range of connective tissue proteins. Treatment of tumor cytosol by ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by zinc chelated column chromatography, anion exchange chromatography, and gel filtration chromatography yielded a single enzymatically active protein, which on SDS-PAGE appeared as a diffuse band of 65,000-70,000 daltons. The tumor metalloproteinase, which was inhibited by metal chelators and serum, was able to digest gelatin, type I collagen, type IV collagen, laminin, and fibronectin. We propose that the capacity of this proteinase to degrade both components of blood vessel basement membranes and other connective tissue matrices facilitates the dissemination of human lung cancer cells during the multistep process of metastasis.