Lectin binding saccharides on a parasitic protozoan

Leishmania donovani promastigotes were specifically agglutinated by concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin P. Somatic-somatic, flagellar-somatic, and flagellar-flagellar type agglutination was observed with the lectins. Enzyme-treated promastigotes gave reduced lectin agglutination reactions. The results suggest that complex saccharide moieties are randomly distributed on the surface of this organism.

Effects of colchicine, cytochalasin B, and 2-deoxyglucose on the topographical organization of surface-bound concanavalin A in normal and transformed fibroblasts

The distribution of surface-bound concanavalin A on the membranes of 3T3, and simian virus 40-transformed 3T3 cultured mouse fibroblasts was examined using a shadow-cast replica technique with a hemocyanin marker. When cells were prefixed in paraformaldehyde, the binding site distribution was always random on both cell types. On the other hand, labeling of transformed cells with concanavalin A (Con A) and hemocyanin at 37 degrees C resulted in the organization of Con A binding sites (CABS) into clusters (primary organization) which were not present on the pseudopodia and other peripheral areas of the membrane (secondary organization). Treatment of transformed cells with colchicine, cytochalasin B, or 2-deoxyglucose did not alter the inherent random distribution of binding sites as determined by fixation before labeling. However, these drugs produced marked changes in the secondary (but not the primary) organization of CABS on transformed cells labeled at 37 degrees C. Colchicine treatment resulted in the formation of a caplike aggregation of binding site clusters near the center of the cell, whereas cytochalasin B and 2-deoxyglucose led to the formation of patches of CABS over the entire membrane, eliminating the inward displacement of patches observed on untreated cells. The distribution of bound Con A on normal cells (3T3) at 37 degrees C was always random, in both control and drug-treated preparations. Pretreatment of cells with Con A enhanced the effect of colchicine on cell morphology, but inhibited the morphological effects of cytochalasin B. The mechanisms that determine receptor movement and disposition are discussed.

Effects of phagocytosis and colchicine on the distribution of lectin-binding sites on cell surfaces

The effect of phagocytosis on lectin binding to plasma membranes of polymorphonuclear leukocytes was examined. The specific activities of binding sites of concanavalin A and Ricinus communis agglutinin (defined as mug of lectin bound per 100 mug of membrane protein) were measured on isolated membranes; they decreased in parallel with phagocytosis. Our data suggest that this removal occurs by concentration of binding sites into internalized membrane. Colchicine and vinblastine, which did not inhibit phagocytosis, prevented the selective removal of lectin-binding sites from the surface. It was also shown that at 37 degrees lectins induce their own internalization. This property was used to define operationally three classes of lectin receptors, one of which is most extensively removed from plasma membrane during phagocytosis. Based on other morphological studies in which it is shown that before phagocytosis the surface distribution of concanavalin-binding sites is random, it is inferred that phagocytosis alters surface topography by inducing the selective movement of binding sites into membrane undergoing internalization and that colchicine-sensitive proteins are essential for this imposed topographical reorganization.

Correlation between the mobility of inner plasma membrane structure and agglutination by concanavalin A in two cell lines of MOPC 173 plasmocytoma cells

Both the distribution of the concanavalin A-binding sites and the rearrangement of the intramembranous particles revealed by the freeze-etching technique, have been studied by means of two variants of the same cell line issued from MOPC 173 murine plasmocytoma. One variant does not agglutinate even in presence of high lectin concentration. It has been shown that the number of binding sites and affinity are almost the same in the two variants. The clustered distribution of intramembranous particles is induced by the interaction of the concanavalin A and the cell surface only in the variant which is agglutinable. From these results it became apparent that the clustered distribution of the membrane particulate components is an acquired feature of the plasma membrane accompanying cell agglutination.

The relationship of concanavalin A binding to lectin-initiated cell agglutination

We have investigated the relationship of concanavalin. A binding to the cell surface of normal and transformed cells and the subsequent agglutination of the transformed cells. At room temperature almost no differences could be detected in agglutinin binding between transformed and untransformed cells. At 0 degrees C, however, where endocytosis was negligible, the transformed cells bound three times more agglutinin. However, transformed cells and trypsin-treated normal cells do not agglutinate at 0 degrees C although the amounts of agglutinin bound at 0 degrees C are sufficient to permit agglutination when such cells are shifted up to room temperature. Both transformed and trypsin-treated normal cells show a marked increase in agglutination at 15 degrees C as compared to agglutination at 0 degrees C. From this, as well as the observation that mild glutaraldehyde fixation of the cell surface inhibited agglutination but not agglutinin binding, it was concluded that concanavalin A-mediated cell agglutination requires free movement of the agglutinin receptor sites within the plane of the cell surface.

Plasma Membrane Fluidity and Surface Motility of Mouse C-1300 Neuroblastoma Cells

Under suitable conditions, topographical redistribution of plasma membrane molecules with oligosaccharide residues specifically bound by Concanavalin-A can be induced on neuroblastoma C-1300 cells. This shows that transformed nerve cell membrane is fluid at 37 °C and provides further support for the suggestion that such fluidity may be a common property of all animal cells. As previously reported for mesenchymal cells (lymphocytes and fibroblasts), clustering of Concanavalin-A binding sites on the cell surface is dependent on temperature and on reagent concentration. The formation of larger aggregates, known as patches or polar caps, requires metabolic energy provided by the cell. In fibroblasts caps are formed in as little as 15-30 min. C-1300 neuroblastoma cells, however, need several hours of incubation before patches or, more rarely, single caps appear. The mechanism of formation of patches and caps is discussed with reference to cell membrane fluidity and the possibility that there exists a membrane motility characteristic of each cell type.

Mobility of carbohydrate-containing structures on the surface membrane and the normal differentiation of myeloid leukemic cells to macrophages and granulocytes

Clones (D(+)) of a cultured line of myeloid leukemic cells can be induced to undergo normal differentiation to mature macrophages and granulocytes. There are also clones derived from the same cell line (D(-)) that could not be induced to differentiate. The carbohydrate-binding protein concanavalin A was used as a probe to study the mobility of carbohydrate-containing sites on the surface membrane of these cells. Changes in the distribution of concanavalin A binding sites on the surface membrane can be induced by concanavalin A. With the appropriate site mobility, this induction of a new distribution resulted in a concentration of concanavalin A-membrane site complexes on one pole of the cell to form a cap. D(+) and D(-) clones showed 50 and 5% of cells with caps, respectively, although both types of cells bound a similar number of concanavalin A molecules. Treatment of cells with trypsin increased cap formation from 5 to 40% in D(-) cells, but did not change the percentage of cells with caps in D(+) cells. The results show a difference in the mobility of concanavalin A binding sites in these two types of cells and suggest a difference in the fluid state of these carbohydrate-containing structures on the surface membrane. It is suggested that a gain of the ability of myeloid leukemic cells to undergo normal differentiation is associated with an increase in the fluidity of structures on the surface membrane where the concanavalin A sites are located. Differences in fluidity of specific membrane sites may also explain differences in the response of cells to other differentiation-inducing stimuli.

Membrane changes and adenosine triphosphate content in normal and malignant transformed cells

Transformed fibroblasts had a low content of ATP when grown at a high cell density and a high content of ATP when grown at a low cell density. Concanavalin A agglutinated transformed cells with a low, but not those with a high, ATP content. Transformed cells with a high ATP content gained agglutinability after ATP depletion by inhibitors of the energy-generating systems, and those with a low ATP content lost their agglutinability after restoration of a high ATP content by glucose. Fixation of the surface membrane by formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, or LaCl(3), inhibited agglutination of cells with an ATP content that allows agglutination. Normal fibroblasts grown at a high or a low cell density were not agglutinated by concanavalin A. Depletion of the cellular ATP content of normal cells induced agglutination only in cells grown at a high, but not at a low, cell density. A similar number of concanavalin A molecules was bound to the surface membrane of agglutinating and nonagglutinating fibroblasts. It is suggested that a high content of ATP inhibits the movement of concanavalin A binding sites, and that a low content of ATP allows, in transformed cells, a new distribution of binding sites to form the clusters required for cell agglutination. Agglutinability of transformed cells is determined by ATP content, and in normal cells changes in the content of ATP are by themselves not sufficient to induce agglutination. Transformed cells, therefore, do not have a control, presumably for membrane stability, that exists in normal cells.

A comparative evaluation of the distribution of concanavalin A-binding sites on the surfaces of normal, virally-transformed, and protease-treated fibroblasts

The topographical distributions of concanavalin A-binding sites on the surfaces of 3T3, proteasetreated 3T3, and simian virus 40-transformed 3T3 cultured mouse fibroblasts appear to be different, as shown by a shadow-cast replica technique using concanavalin A and a hemocyanin marker, or as shown previously on isolated membranes with concanavalin A coupled to ferritin. However, chemical fixation of cells before labeling with concanavalin A and hemocyanin, or labeling exclusively at 4 degrees , allows one to distinguish between inherent concanavalin A-binding-site topography and potential rearrangement of sites induced by the action of the multivalent concanavalin A molecule itself. The inherent distribution of binding sites on 3T3, protease-treated 3T3, and transformed cells is actually the same on all cells, i.e., dispersed and random. Treatment of unfixed transformed or protease-treated 3T3 cells, but not normal 3T3 cells, with concanavalin A and hemocyanin at 37 degrees (or at 4 degrees with subsequent warming to 37 degrees ), however, results in clustering of binding sites, presumably due to crosslinking of neighboring lectin-binding sites by the quadrivalent concanavalin A. Thus, the underlying difference between concanavalin A-binding sites on normal as compared with transformed or protease-treated normal cells lies not in the inherent topography of binding sites, but rather in the susceptibility of the sites to aggregation by concanavalin A. The latter may reflect an increased mobility of lectin-binding sites on transformed or protease-treated cells.