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The human cornea, consisting of five layers, is the transparent tissue that refracts and transmits light to the lens and retina, providing about two thirds of the refractive power of the eye. The stroma layer comprises nearly 90 % of the thickness of the cornea and thus plays a pivotal role in normal visual function. The bulk of this layer is constituted by proteins in the extracellular martrix secreted by the corneal epithelial, stroma, and endothelial cells. Clinical research has shown that corneal stroma diseases are common and involve conditions such as infections, injuries, and genetic defects, which cause severe visual disturbances or even blindness. To improve our understanding of the basic molecular mechanisms involved in the physiological and pathological activities of the corneal stroma, its proteins have been brought into the limelight to determine their crucial and irreplaceable roles. The data presented in a previous study have demonstrated the presence of 1679 proteins in the stroma, and this data set has subsequently been perfected by utilizing a highly sensitive isobaric peptide-labeling approach. According to their manifestations, these proteins can be classified as a gel-like organic material composed of proteoglycans, enzymes, and hemocyanin-binding proteins and a network of filaments composed of collagen, elastin, keratin, vimentin, and interconnected filaments comprising fibronectin and laminin. The aim of this review is to describe some corneal stroma proteins by highlighting their major functions and valuable applications in ophthalmologic research toward the better characterization and treatment of eye diseases.

To identify components of the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum involved in the translocation of secretory proteins, crosslinking and reconstitution methods were combined. A multispanning abundant membrane glycoprotein was found which is in proximity to nascent chains early in translocation. In reconstituted proteoliposomes, this protein is stimulatory or required for the translocation of secretory proteins.

EXPRESSION of P-glycoprotein, the product of the MDR1 gene, confers multidrug resistance on cell lines and human tumours (reviewed in refs 1,2). P-glycoprotein (relative molecular mass 170,000) is an ATP-dependent, active transporter which pumps hydrophobic drugs out of cells 3 , but its normal physiological role is unknown. It is a member of the ABC (ATP-binding cassette) superfamily of transporters 4 , which includes many bacterial transport systems, the putative peptide transporter from the major histocompatibility locus, and the product of the cystic fibres is gene (the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator, CFTR). CFTR is located in the apical membranes of many secretory epithelia 5 and is associated with a cyclic AMP-regulated chloride channel 6–8 . At least two other chloride channels are present in epithelial cells, regulated by cell volume and by intracellular Ca 2+ , respectively 9,10 . Because of the structural and sequence similarities between P-glycoprotein and CFTR 4,11 , and because P-glycoprotein is abundant in many secretory epithelia 121–4 , we examined whether P-glycoprotein might be associated with one or other of these channels. We report here that expression of P-glycoprotein generates volume-regulated, ATP-dependent, chloride-selective channels, with properties similar to channels characterized previously in epithelial cells.

Resistance of human cancer cells to multiple cytotoxic hydrophobic agents (multidrug resistance) is due to overexpression of the ``MDR1'' gene, whose product is the plasma membrane P-glycoprotein. Plasma membrane vesicles partially purified from multidrug-resistant human KB carcinoma cells, but not from drug-sensitive cells, accumulate [3H]vinblastine in an ATP-dependent manner. This transport is osmotically sensitive, with an apparent Km of 38 μ M for ATP and of ≈ 2 μ M for vinblastine. The nonhydrolyzable analog adenosine 5′-[β ,γ -imido]triphosphate does not substitute for ATP but is a competitive inhibitor of ATP for the transport process. Vanadate, an ATPase inhibitor, is a potent noncompetitive inhibitor of transport. These results indicate that hydrolysis of ATP is probably required for active transport of vinblastine. Several other drugs to which multidrug-resistant cell lines are resistant inhibit transport, with relative potencies as follows: vincristine > actinomycin D > daunomycin > colchicine = puromycin. Verapamil and quinidine, which reverse the multidrug-resistance phenotype, are good inhibitors of the transport process. These results confirm that multidrug-resistant cells express an energy-dependent plasma membrane transporter for hydrophobic drugs, and establish a system for the detailed biochemical analysis of this transport process.

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells express a heterodimeric adhesion receptor complex consisting of noncovalently associated α and β subunits that under reducing conditions have molecular masses of 135 kDa and 115 kDa, respectively. This complex can be isolated in pure form from an affinity matrix consisting of an Arg-Gly-Asp-containing heptapeptide and is specifically immunoprecipitated with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against the vitronectin receptor of human melanoma cells. These data suggest that this complex is one member of a large family of cell adhesion receptors. One of the mAbs, LM609, inhibits the attachment of human endothelial cells to fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, and vitronectin yet has no effect on the attachment of these cells to fibronectin, collagen, or laminin. In addition, mAb LM609 inhibits attachment of endothelial cells to an immobilized synthetic peptide containing the Arg-Gly-Asp sequence. This adhesion receptor appears structurally similar to the IIb/IIIa glycoprotein complex expressed on platelets yet is antigenically distinct, since mAb LM609 fails to recognize IIb/IIIa glycoproteins. This receptor organizes in clusters on endothelial cells during their attachment to von Willebrand factor, vitronectin, or the Arg-Gly-Asp-containing heptapeptide. The data presented in this report suggest that Arg-Gly-Asp recognition may play a significant role in biological events associated with vascular proliferation.

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α and β gene pair has been linked in the human major histocompatibility complex to HLA-B, HLA-C, and, tentatively, HLA-E and HLA-A on one side and to the class III complement/steroid 21-hydroxylase gene cluster on the other by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The TNF genes are located 200 kilobases (kb) centromeric of HLA-B and about 350 kb telomeric of the class III cluster. Together with previous data on the linkage and structures of the class II and class III regions, a restriction map of the entire human major histocompatibility complex of about 3500 kb has been prepared.

cDNA clones encoding human factor V have been isolated from an oligo(dT)-primed human fetal liver cDNA library prepared with vector Charon 21A. The cDNA sequence of factor V from three overlapping clones includes a 6672-base-pair (bp) coding region, a 90-bp 5′ untranslated region, and a 163-bp 3′ untranslated region within which is a poly(A) tail. The deduced amino acid sequence consists of 2224 amino acids inclusive of a 28-amino acid leader peptide. Direct comparison with human factor VIII reveals considerable homology between proteins in amino acid sequence and domain structure: a triplicated A domain and duplicated C domain show ≈ 40% identity with the corresponding domains in factor VIII. As in factor VIII, the A domains of factor V share ≈ 40% amino acid-sequence homology with the three highly conserved domains in ceruloplasmin. The B domain of factor V contains 35 tandem and ≈ 9 additional semiconserved repeats of nine amino acids of the form Asp-Leu-Ser-Gln-Thr-Thr/Asn-Leu-Ser-Pro and 2 additional semiconserved repeats of 17 amino acids. Factor V contains 37 potential N-linked glycosylation sites, 25 of which are in the B domain, and a total of 19 cysteine residues.

A glycoprotein, termed amphiregulin (AR), inhibits growth of several human carcinoma cells in culture and stimulates proliferation of human fibroblasts and certain other tumor cells. It has been purified to apparent homogeneity from serum-free conditioned medium of MCF-7 human breast carcinoma cells that had been treated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. AR is a single-chain extremely hydrophilic glycoprotein containing cysteines in disulfide linkage(s) that are essential for biological activity; it is stable between pH 2 and pH 12 and after heating for 30 min at 56 degrees C but unstable at 100 degrees C. The apparent molecular weights of AR and N-Glycanase-treated AR are 14,000 and 15,000, respectively, as assessed by gel chromatography, and ≈ 22,500 and ≈ 14,000, respectively, as determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Treatment of AR with N-Glycanase, O-Glycanase, or neuraminidase does not affect its activity. The pI of AR is ≈ 7.8. The amino-terminal amino acid sequence of AR has been determined, and no significant sequence homology between AR and other proteins was found. The molecule thus appears to be a distinct growth regulatory protein.

The murine monoclonal antibody (mAb) DF3 reacts with a high molecular weight glycoprotein detectable in human breast carcinomas. DF3 antigen expression correlates with human breast tumor differentiation, and the detection of a cross-reactive species in human milk has suggested that this antigen might be useful as a marker of differentiated mammary epithelium. To further characterize DF3 antigen expression, we have isolated a cDNA clone from a λ gt11 library by screening with mAb DF3. The results demonstrate that this 309-base-pair cDNA, designated pDF9.3, codes for the DF3 epitope. Southern blot analyses of EcoRI-digested DNAs from six human tumor cell lines with 32P-labeled pDF9.3 have revealed a restriction fragment length polymorphism. Variations in size of the alleles detected by pDF9.3 were also identified in Pst I, but not in HindIII, DNA digests. Furthermore, hybridization of 32P-labeled pDF9.3 with total cellular RNA from each of these cell lines demonstrated either one or two transcripts that varied from 4.1 to 7.1 kilobases in size. The presence of differently sized transcripts detected by pDF9.3 was also found to correspond with the polymorphic expression of DF3 glycoproteins. Nucleotide sequence analysis of pDF9.3 has revealed a highly conserved (G + C)-rich 60-base-pair tandem repeat. These findings suggest that the variation in size of alleles coding for the polymorphic DF3 glycoprotein may represent different numbers of repeats.

Verapamil, a phenylalkylamine calcium channel blocker, has been shown to reverse multidrug resistance in tumor cells, possibly by increasing drug retention through interaction with an outward drug transporter of the resistant cells. In this study two photoactive radioactive analogs of verapamil, N-(p-azido[3,5-3H]benzoyl)aminomethyl verapamil and N-(p-azido[3-125I]salicyl)aminomethyl verapamil, were synthesized and used to identify the possible biochemical target(s) for verapamil in multidrug-resistant DC-3F/VCRd-5L Chinese hamster lung cells selected for resistance to vincristine. The results show that a specifically labeled 150- to 180-kDa membrane protein in resistant cells was immunoprecipitated with a monoclonal antibody specific for P-glycoprotein. Phenylalkylamine binding specificity was established by competitive blocking of specific photolabeling with the nonradioactive photoactive analogs as well as with verapamil. Photoaffinity labeling was also inhibited by 50 μ M concentrations of the calcium channel blockers nimodipine, nifedipine, nicardipine, azidopine, bepridil, and diltiazem and partially by prenylamine. Bay K8644, a calcium channel agonist, also inhibited P-glycoprotein photolabeling. Moreover, P-glycoprotein labeling was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by vinblastine with half-maximal inhibition at 0.2 μ M compared to that by verapamil at 8 μ M. Photolabeling was also partially inhibited by two of the drugs to which these cells are cross-resistant, doxorubicin and actinomycin D, at 100 μ M, but not by colchicine. These data provide direct evidence that P-glycoprotein has broad drug recognition capacity and that it serves as a molecular target for calcium channel blocker action in reversing multidrug resistance.