A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for quantification of tetrastatin in body fluids and tumor extracts.

Basement membrane collagens or derived fragments are measured in biological fluids such as blood and urine of patients and appear to be useful for diagnosis, prognostication, or treatment monitoring as proposed for endostatin, a fragment of collagen XVIII, or tumstatin, a fragment of collagen IV. Tetrastatin, the NC1 alpha 4 collagen IV domain, was previously reported to inhibit tumor growth and angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a method to measure tetrastatin concentrations in human fluids. We developed a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). It allowed measuring tetrastatin levels in human serum, bronchial aspiration and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, and lung tissue extracts. The tetrastatin level was significantly higher in tumor tissues than in healthy lung tissues. Tetrastatin competitive ELISA could be useful to quantify tetrastatin in tissues and biological fluids for the diagnosis or prognostication of diseases in which basement membrane metabolism may be altered, especially tumor progression.

Elastin peptides regulate HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cell migration and invasion through an Hsp90-dependent mechanism.

BACKGROUND: The elastin-derived peptides (EDPs) exert protumoural activities by potentiating the secretion of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and the plasminogen-plasmin activating system. In the present paper, we studied heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) involvement in this mechanism. METHODS: HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cell migration and invasion were studied in artificial wound assay and modified Boyden chamber assay, respectively. Heat-shock protein 90 was studied by western blot and immunofluorescence. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 and urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) were studied by gelatin ± plasminogen zymography and immunofluorescence. Heat-shock protein 90 partners were studied by immunoprecipitation. Messenger RNA expression was studied using real-time PCR. Small interfering RNAs were used to confirm the essential role of Hsp90. RESULTS: We showed that kappa-elastin and VGVAPG elastin hexapeptide stimulated Hsp90, pro-MMP-2 and uPA secretion within 6 h, whereas AGVPGLGVG and GRKRK peptides had no effect. No increase of mRNA level was observed. Heat-shock protein 90-specific inhibitors inhibit EDP-stimulated HT-1080 cell-invasive capacity and restrained EDP-stimulated pro-MMP-2 and uPA secretions. The inhibitory effect was reproduced by using Hsp90-blocking antibody or Hsp90 knockdown by siRNA. Heat-shock protein 90 interacted with and stabilised uPA and pro-MMP-2 in conditioned culture media of HT-1080 fibrosarcoma cells. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results demonstrate that EDPs exert protumoural activities through an Hsp90-dependent mechanism involving pro-MMP-2 and uPA.

Analytical methods for measuring collagen XIX in human cell cultures, tissue extracts, and biological fluids.

Type XIX collagen is a minor collagen associated with basement membranes in vascular, neuronal, mesenchymal, and epithelial tissues. We demonstrated that the NC1, C-terminal, domain of collagen XIX inhibits the migration capacities of tumor cells and exerts a strong inhibition of tumor growth. Other basement membrane collagens or derived fragments were measured in biological fluids such as blood and urine of patients and appeared to be useful for diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment monitoring. The aim of this study was to develop and validate methods to measure collagen XIX and its fragments in human cell cultures, tissue extracts, and human biological fluids. For that purpose, we developed real-time PCR, Western blot, and competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. We demonstrated that the methods developed in this paper are specific for collagen XIX. We showed that it is expressed in human cell cultures, tissue extracts, and various biological fluids. These methods may be used in various human tissue extracts and biological fluids such as serum, amniotic fluid, cord blood, and many other fluids. Collagen XIX or its fragments could constitute new biomarkers for human diseases as well as for diagnosis and/or prognosis.