Histochemical analysis of the role of class I and class II Clostridium histolyticum collagenase in the degradation of rat pancreatic extracellular matrix for islet isolation.

To understand why class II Clostridium histolyticum collagenase is much more effective than class I in the isolation of rat pancreatic islets, we analyzed the role of these collagenases in pancreatic tissue dissociation. Crude collagenase was purified and then fractionated into class I and II with different enzyme activities and protein compositions. Pancreatic tissue was incubated with either class I, class II, or class I + II, with or without added protease, under conditions that eliminated endogenous proteolytic activity. The degradation of pancreatic extracellular matrix was monitored by selective histochemical staining of tissue samples. Class I and II showed similar capacities to degrade glycoproteins and degraded about one-third of the glycoproteins during 120 min of incubation. The degradation of collagens by class I and II was relatively more effective, 80 to 95% of the collagens being removed in 120 min, and also class dependent. Both in the presence and absence of protease, class II was more effective at degrading collagens than class I, but this difference in efficacy was less apparent than with islet isolation. Class I + II degraded collagens faster and more complete than did the individual classes, indicating a synergistic effect of class I and II. Evaluation of collagen degradation at various pancreatic locations did not show a selective degradation of collagens by any of the collagenase classes. The present data offer a partial explanation for the major role of class II in islet isolation.