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Animal Model |
From the Department of Medicine,*
the Human Immunology
and Cancer Program, and the Department of
Radiology,
University of Tennessee Medical
Center/Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville, Tennessee; the
Department of Pathology,
University of
Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville, Tennessee; and the
Instrumentation and Controls Division,§
Oak
Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
| Abstract |
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| Introduction |
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Through transgenic technology, it is now possible to study the pathological effects of continuous expression of cytokines and other biological factors. Because IL-6 plays a seminal role in hematopoiesis and the inflammatory-mediated response,8-12 transgenic mice have been generated that express the murine (mIL-6)13,14 or human (hIL-6)15,16 form of this molecule. Animals carrying the hIL-6 gene under the control of either the human Eµ enhancer15 or the mouse metallothionein-I (MT-I) promoter16 predominantly express IL-6 in B cells or liver, respectively. The Eµ/hIL-6 transgenic mice are typified by an extensive polyclonal plasma cell proliferation within lymph nodes and spleen, as well as a mesangioproliferative glomerulonephritis.15 The MT-I/hIL-6 animals have a sustained increase in liver-derived acute phase proteins and an IgG plasmacytosis within lymphoid tissue; in addition, these mice manifest renal pathology resembling that seen in patients with myeloma (cast) nephropathy.16 In studies of these animals we have also observed that, in contrast to the Eµ/hIL-6 transgenics, the MT-I/hIL-6 mice develop by 3 months of age amyloid deposition in spleen, liver, and renal glomeruli, as evidenced by polarizing and electron microscopy. At the time of death 5 to 7 months later, the pathological process has progressed as evidenced by marked hepatosplenomegaly associated with prominent areas of Congophilic, green birefringent material that is fibrillar when viewed by electron microscopy. We have shown immunohistochemically that the amyloid deposits are AA-related. Further, sequence analyses of molecules extracted from the amyloid confirmed they were products of the mouse SAA2 gene.17 The MT-I/hIL-6 transgenic mice provide a new experimental in vivo model in which to study factors involved in the pathogenesis of amyloid deposition and to test potential therapeutic agents that can limit or prevent fibril formation.
| Materials and Methods |
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Transgenic mice carrying the hIL-6 cDNA under the control of the mouse MT-I promoter and Eµ enhancer were furnished by Dr. Gennaro Ciliberto and Dr. Michael Potter, respectively. The MT-I/hIL-6 mice were generated as previously described.16 Briefly, a gel-purified 4.25 Kb PvuII-PvuII DNA fragment containing the hIL-6 cDNA was cloned downstream of the MT-I promoter and microinjected into the pronuclei of fertilized eggs of a cross-F1 (C57BL/6JXDBAII) mouse.
Southern Blot Analysis
Tail-derived DNA was isolated and digested with PvuII (New England Biolabs, Beverly, MA). Southern blots were performed18 using a purified, labeled IL-6-specific DNA fragment (provided by Dr. Robert Hall) as a probe. The blots were hybridized and washed under stringent conditions (65°C, 0.1x SSC) and exposed to X-ray film overnight.
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Mice were genotyped for the presence of the transgene through analyses of genomic DNA. IL-6-specific primers were designed that amplified a 450-bp fragment containing the internal segment of the hIL-6 gene. The sequence of the upstream primer (IL-6For) was 5' ACC TCT TCA GAA CGA ATT GAC AAA 3' whereas that of the downstream primer (IL-6Rev) was 5' AGC TGC GCA GAA TGA GAT GAG TTG T 3'. One microgram of genomic mouse DNA isolated from tail clippings served as the template for 30 cycles of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using a commercial kit (Applied Biosystems-Perkin Elmer, Foster City, CA) and 0.5 µmol/L of each primer (final concentration) in a total reaction volume of 100 µl. The time and temperature for each cycle were, for denaturation, 1 minute at 94°C; for annealing, 1 minute at 60°C; and for extension, 1.5 minutes at 72°C. For the first and last cycles the reaction times were extended to 3 and 7 minutes, respectively.
Histopathology
For light microscopy, 4- to 6-µm tissue sections were cut and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. To detect amyloid, the sections were also treated with a freshly prepared alkaline Congo red solution and viewed under polarized light using a filter polarizer (Leitz, Rockleigh, NJ) with a gypsum plate and a filter analyzer. For electron microscopy, sections embedded in Epon (Electron Microscopy Sciences, Fort Washington, PA) were examined with a Zeiss 9S transmission electron microscope and photographed.
Immunohistochemistry
Six-µm paraffin-embedded tissue sections were cut on a microtome, mounted on poly-L-lysine-coated slides, dried overnight at room temperature, and deparaffinized. Immunostaining was performed using the avidin-biotin complex (ABC) technique (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) as described previously.19 The primary antibodies included rabbit anti-mouse SAA(provided by Drs. M. Kindy and F. DeBeer); an affinity-purified goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) horseradish peroxidase conjugate (BioRad Laboratories, Richmond, CA); and sheep anti-mouse serum AP (provided by Dr. M. B. Pepys). A biotinylated sheep anti-rabbit globulin antiserum was used as the secondary antibody.
Protein Assays
Serum concentrations of mouse SAA were measured in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay according to directions supplied by the manufacturer (Biosource, Camarillo, CA). Briefly, sera were collected from transgenic and control mice and analyzed using a commercial cytoscreen immunoassay kit and a specific rat anti-human SAA mAb. A standard curve was made from known amounts of mouse SAA protein and absorbance was measured at 405 nm with a model 450 BioRad plate reader. Serum IL-6 activity was assayed using the 7TD1 proliferation assay11 and hIL-6 recombinant protein (Gibco-BRL, Bethesda, MD). A standard curve was prepared from 1, 10, 100, and 1000 pg/ml of hIL-6 in a final sample volume of 100 µl. One unit of IL-6 corresponded to 1 and 7 pg of mouse and human IL-6, respectively.
Amyloid Extraction and Purification
The methods used to extract amyloid from tissue were as described by Pras et al.20 Mouse tissue was homogenized with cold saline in an ice bath using an Omni-Mixer (Omni International, Waterbury, CT). The extract was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 30 minutes at 4°C and the pellet re-extracted twice more with cold saline, once with 0.1 mol/L sodium citrate Tris-buffered saline, pH 8.0, and then with saline until the A280 of the supernatant was <0.10. The resultant 10,000-rpm pellet was homogenized with cold distilled water and the extract centrifuged at 35,000 rpm for 3 hours at 4°C. The pellet obtained from the water extract was then lyophilized.
One milligram of extracted amyloid protein was dissolved in 6 mol/L guanidine HCl, 0.25 mol/L Tris-HCl buffer, pH 8.0, reduced and alkylated,21 and purified using an ABI Model 151 HPLC apparatus and a Brownlee Aquapore 300A C8 reversed-phase 210 x 4.6 mm column (Perkin-Elmer, Norwalk, CT) with a 0.1% TFA/70% acetonitrile/water (v/v) linear gradient at a flow rate of 1 ml/minute.21 Protein was detected by absorbance at 220 nm and fractions were collected manually.
Sequence Analysis
Automated sequence analyses by Edman degradation were performed using an ABI model 477A pulsed liquid sequenator; the resulting phenylthiohydantoin amino acids were identified with an on-line ABI model 120A phenylthiohydantoin amino acid analyzer.
Mass Spectroscopy
Mass spectroscopy was performed at the University of Tennessee Mass Spectroscopy Center, which houses an electrospray ionization triple quadrapole instrument (Quattro II, Micromass, Manchester, UK). The multiple charged peaks were resolved to their true molecular mass (Mr) by the MaxEnt program contained in the Max Lynx software package, as supplied by the manufacturer.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Multiple spin echo images were obtained on a Bruker AMX-400 nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer (9.3 Telsa, 89-mm bore). A Bruker imaging probe with a 25-mm coil was used with repetition time of 2 seconds, an echo time of 8.3 milliseconds, and a 2.0-mm slice thickness. Images represent the average of two acquisitions.
Computer Axial Tomography
High resolution X-ray computed tomography images were acquired using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory MicroCAT apparatus designed specifically for small laboratory animals (M. J. Paulus, manuscript in preparation). The MicroCAT uses a 1024 x 1024 element CCD-based detector with an intrinsic spatial resolution of ~50 µm and a data acquisition rate of ~30 projections per minute. Typical data sets consist of 180 projections for screening studies and 500 projections for high-resolution studies. Two- and three-dimensional reconstructed images are obtained using a cone beam-filtered back-projection algorithm.
| Results |
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Two MT-I/hIL-6 transgenic female mice (designated nos. 3 and 4) and a wild-type male (no. 5), furnished by Dr. Gennaro Ciliberto, were used to establish a breeding colony at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. The presence of the hIL-6 gene in the female carriers was verified by Southern blot analysis and PCR amplification of DNA obtained from tail clippings using a probe and primers specific for IL-6. The first mating of mice 3 and 5 yielded five offspring, two of which carried the hIL-6 transgene as evidenced by the presence in Southern blots of the characteristic 4.25-kb PvuII band.16
Clinical and Laboratory Features
The two hIL-6 transgenic mice appeared healthy until ~8 to 9 months of age, when they assumed a hunched appearance and became increasingly moribund. Their serum IL-6 and SAA concentrations were markedly elevated (46 units/µl and 1067 µg/ml, respectively) compared to an age-matched wild-type control mouse in which these components were virtually undetectable. Additionally, the transgenic animals had a profound polyclonal hypergammaglobulinemia and renal failure, as evidenced by proteinuria and an increased blood urea nitrogen of 79 mg/dl. X-ray studies revealed hepatosplenomegaly and osteopenia.
Pathological Features
The salient pathology found in mouse no. 4 (euthanized at 8 months
of age) was confined to the spleen, liver, kidney, and bones. The
spleen was greatly enlarged and measured 42 mm long by 10 mm wide
(Figure 1)
. The cut surface had a white,
mottled appearance. By light microscopy, a pronounced plasma cell
infiltrate and extramedullary hematopoiesis were seen. The liver was
also enlarged (Figure 1)
and its visceral surface was covered by an
exaggerated reticular pattern; portal areas appeared as red, triangular
foci in the pale surface. The adjacent hepatocytes were atrophic and
the lumens of the sinusoids were narrowed. A prominent perivenular
granulocytic infiltration was noted. The kidneys, although normal in
size, were pale in appearance. Histologically, the renal glomeruli were
atrophic and the tubules dilated and filled with proteinaceous casts. A
thick perivascular cuff of plasmacytoid cells surrounded renal blood
vessel walls. The bones were fragile with marked osteopenia
characterized by thin cortices and loss of cancellous bone.
Granulocytic and megakaryocytic hyperplasia and scattered foci of
plasmacytoid cells were present in the bone marrow and lymph nodes.
Congo red staining of tissues (Figure 2)
revealed under polarizing microscopy that the mottled areas in the
spleen contained green birefringent perifollicular deposits. The spaces
of Disse within the liver were widely distended by a Congophilic
hyaline substance that exhibited spotty green birefringence and
occupied ~50 to 80% of the section. Additionally, green birefringent
Congophilic deposits were noted in most glomeruli and throughout the
renal medulla. In contrast, the tubular casts were Congo red-negative.
Sections of the spleen, liver, and kidney treated with sulfated Alcian
blue revealed that the Congophilic areas were also stained by the this
reagent.
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Areas corresponding to Congophilic, green birefringent material
seen in the hepatic parenchyma were found by electron microscopy to
contain unbranched fibrils 610 nm in diameter (Figure 3)
. Similar material was also present in
the spleen and kidneys (not shown).
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Serial sections of spleen, liver, and kidney from mouse no. 4 were
examined using a polyclonal anti-mouse SAA antiserum that had been
shown by Drs. F. DeBeer and M. Kindy to recognize murine AA deposits
(personal communication). Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that
the Congophilic material present in the splenic and hepatic parenchyma
and renal glomeruli represented AA protein. When tested against an
antibody specific for the mouse amyloid-associated P component (AP),
this molecule was also detected in the pathological deposits (Figure 2)
. Additionally, AA protein was found in the non-Congophilic renal
tubular casts, as was mouse IgG and AP (not illustrated).
Chemical Analyses
Approximately 60 mg of water-soluble protein was extracted from
217 mg (dry weight) of hepatic tissue and purified by high performance
liquid chromatography (HPLC). The protein contained in the major
HPLC peak consisted of a single species, as evidenced by sodium dodecyl
sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Direct (automated) analysis
of this component yielded 58 amino acid residues that were identical in
sequence to the amino-terminal portion of the murine
SAA2 protein (Figure 4)
. Similar results were obtained when
amyloid protein extracted from the spleen was purified by HPLC and
sequenced; additionally, ~50% of this material consisted of murine
histone H2b-F. By mass spectroscopy, the predominant Mr of
the purified hepatic amyloid was 8636.4 d, a value virtually identical
to that calculated from the amino acid composition of the first 77
amino acid residues of mouse SAA2.17
Trace amounts of molecules having Mrs of 8434.1, 8565.3, and
8751.4 d were also detected which corresponded to the first 75, 76, and
78 residues, respectively, of this protein.
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The enlarged spleen noted in the MT-I/hIL-6 mouse was especially
evident in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography
(CT) scans using equipment designed for small animal imaging (Figure 5)
. In particular, the mottled areas that
contained the amyloid deposits were visualized by MRI. In age-matched
control mice the spleen was not visible by these techniques (not
illustrated).
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| Discussion |
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Amyloid deposition in the MT-I/hIL-6 transgenic mice was age-dependent. The pathological deposits were first evident at 3 months of age and increased over the next 6 months as the animals became obviously ill. The progressive nature of the deposition, particularly within the spleen, was readily ascertained by serial MRI examinations using small animal high-resolution radiographic techniques. Notably, this technology (as well as that using radiolabeled P component25 ) will make it possible to monitor noninvasively the effects of therapeutic agents designed to prevent or reverse amyloid formation.
We attribute the development of AA amyloid in the MT-I/hIL-6 transgenic mice to stimulation by IL-6 of liver-derived acute phase reactants that include the AA amyloid precursor protein SAA.3,9-11 Although MT-I is an inducible promoter,26 the sustained high serum concentrations of hIL-6 in our animals indicated that this transgene product was constitutively expressed. Mice carrying the hIL-6 gene under control of the Eµ enhancer originally were C57BL/6J, then converted to a BALB/c background (strains of mice that have the amyloidogenic isoform of SAA3,16,17 and in which amyloid can be readily induced experimentally).27 Despite the fact that they also had increased SAA levels that were, in fact, comparable to the MT-I/hIL-6 animals, only rarely were amyloid deposits noted in their renal blood vessel walls and intestinal mucosa. Whether the failure of the Eµ/hIL-6 transgenic mice to develop extensive AA amyloid can be ascribed to their major site of cytokine expression (ie, lymph nodes versus liver) or to other factors is as yet unknown.
Originally, mice carrying the MT-I/hIL-6 gene died at age 34 months due to rapid renal failure that initially included membranous glomerulonephritis followed by focal glomerulosclerosis and, eventually, extensive tubular damage associated with cast formation.16 However, over time the renal disease occurring in successive generations has become less aggressive and mice currently survive up to ~1 year (G. Ciliberto, personal communication). Notably, in addition to the renal tubular casts, plasma cell infiltrates in spleen and lymph nodes, and manifestations of myelocytic and megakaryocytic hyperplasia, mice now have AA-related amyloid deposits in the spleen, liver, and kidneys. We have found that amyloid deposition can be detected as early as ~3 months of age, progresses over time, and, as is the case with hamsters that develop AA amyloid as a consequence of aging,28 is more pronounced in females for unknown reasons. Further, mice carrying the hIL6 gene are heterozygotes and attempts to create a homozygote have been unsuccessful, presumably due to prenatal lethality. Studies are in progress to determine whether the initial onset or extent of amyloid deposition can be accelerated by increasing hIL-6 expression. Such experiments involve stimulating the heavy metal-inducible MT-I promoter26 by addition of zinc sulfate to the animal's drinking water.
Heretofore, the induction of AA amyloid in mice has been dependent on enhancement of SAA synthesis by exogenous agents including casein, silver nitrate, and lipopolysaccharide.1-3 In this model, amyloid formation typically occurs 1421 days postinjection or, at shorter intervals, by coadministration of amyloid enhancing factor.29 However, without continued stimulation, the amyloid deposits resolve in this induced form of AA.2 Due to the transient nature and variable extent of amyloid deposition, the usefulness of this and other types of murine AA experimental models is limited. In contrast, the MT-I/hIL-6 transgenic mouse provides a unique in vivo system in which to study the pathogenesis of AA amyloid. The spontaneous development of amyloidosis in such animals is not dependent on injection of chemical or biological agents. Further, disease progression, as evidenced by the mottled splenic and hepatic deposits in the enlarged organs, can be readily visualized using noninvasive imaging technology. Thus, these genetically engineered animals are especially valuable in investigations of the therapeutic efficacy of compounds designed to inhibit fibril formation or effect resolution of amyloid deposits. The information gleaned from such studies may have applicability in the prevention and treatment of other types of disorders associated with pathological amyloid deposition such as is found in patients with AL or transthyretin-associated amyloidosis, as well as Alzheimer's disease.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Supported in part by U.S. Public Health research grant CA 10056 from the National Cancer Institute and National Science Foundation grant BIR-94 08252. A. S. is an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professor.
Accepted for publication January 21, 1999.
| References |
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