Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in matrix vesicles (review)

Matrix vesicles (MV) isolated from mineralizing tissues contain high alkaline phosphatase (ALPase) activities associated with the membrane; this may be because MV originate from the plasma membrane of chondrocytes. Previous studies in our laboratory demonstrated that lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes, which appeared to be derived from chondrocytes cytosol, were located in MV of the epiphyseal growth plate of young-rabbit leg bones [1]. In the epiphyseal cartilage, alkaline phosphatase (ALPase) is enriched in the growth zone, whereas it is rarely detected in the resting zone, suggesting that MV containing ALPase are not present in the resting zone. In recent study, we divided the epiphyseal cartilages of young-rat rib bones into the growth zone and the resting zone, followed by the isolation of MV after collagenase digestion. MV containing ALPase and LDH were found in the growth zone, and surprisingly, vesicles containing LDH without ALPase were found in the resting zone [2]. The function of LDH-containing vesicles without ALPase is unknown at the present. However, these findings might accelerate the studies on cell-mediated calcification, because (1) LDH could be a marker enzyme of these vesicles, (2) LDH is found to be a specific cytosolic enzyme which is enfolded in these vesicles, suggesting that an unknown mechanism for the specific uptake of the cytosolic enzyme might be present.