Faculty Bibliography

Infection of two different lines of polarized epithelial cells grown as monolayers with several types of enveloped viruses results, for each virus type, in a characteristic asymmetric budding of virions. Influenza virus (WSN strain), simian virus 5, and Sendai virus bud exclusively from the free (apical) surface of the cells, while vesicular stomatitis virus acquires its envelope only from the basolateral plasma membrane. Because different viruses select specific domains of plasma membrane in the same cell type, virus-infected epithelial monolayers can provide an excellent model system for studies of the mechanisms that generate regional differences in the distribution of plasma membrane components of epithelial cells

Rat liver microsomal glycoproteins were purified by affinity chromatography on concanavalin A Sepharose columns from membrane and content fractions, separated from rough microsomes (RM) treated with low concentrations of deoxycholate (DOC). All periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive glycoproteins of RM showed affinity for concanavalin A Sepharose; even after sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) acrylamide gel electrophoresis, most of the microsomal glycoproteins bound [125I]concanavalin A added to the gels, as detected by autoradiography. Two distinct sets of glycoproteins are present in the membrane and content fractions derived from RM. SDS acrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that RM membranes contain 15--20 glycoproteins (15--22% of the total microsomal protein) which range in apparent mol wt from 23,000 to 240,000 daltons. A smaller set of glycoproteins (five to seven polypeptides), with apparent mol wt between 60,000 and 200,000 daltons, was present in the microsomal content fraction. The disposition of the membrane glycoproteins with respect to the membrane plane was determined by selective iodination with the lactoperoxidase (LPO) technique. Intact RM were labeled on their outer face with 131I and, after opening of the vesicles with 0.05% DOC, in both faces with 125I. An analysis of iodination ratios for individual proteins separated electrophoretically showed that in most membrane glycoproteins, tyrosine residues are predominantly exposed on the luminal face of the vesicles, which is the same face on which the carbohydrate moieties are exposed. Several membrane glycoproteins are also exposed on the cytoplasmic surface and therefore have a transmembrane disposition. In this study, ribophorins I and II, two integral membrane proteins (mol wt 65,000 and 63,000) characteristic of RM, were found to be transmembrane glycoproteins. It is suggested that the transmembrane disposition of the ribophorins may be related to their possible role in ribosome binding and in the vectorial transfer of nascent polypeptides into the microsomal lumen

Carbohydrate-containing structures in rat liver rough microsomes (RM) were localized and characterized using iodinated lectins of defined specificity. Binding of [125I]Con A increased six- to sevenfold in the presence of low DOC (0.04--0.05%) which opens the vesicles and allows the penetration of the lectins. On the other hand, binding of [125I]WGA and [125I]RCA increased only slightly when the microsomal vesicles were opened by DOC. Sites available in the intact microsomal fraction had an affinity for [125I]Con A 14 times higher than sites for lectin binding which were exposed by the detergent treatment. Lectin-binding sites in RM were also localized electron microscopically with lectins covalently bound to biotin, which, in turn, were visualized after their reaction with ferritin-avidin (F-Av) markers. Using this method, it was demonstrated that in untreated RM samples, binding sites for lectins are not present on the cytoplasmic face of the microsomal vesicles, even after removal of ribosomes by treatment with high salt buffer and puromycin, but are located on smooth membranes which contaminate the rough microsomal fraction. Combining this technique with procedures which render the interior of the microsomal vesicles accessible to lectins and remove luminal proteins, it was found that RM membranes contain binding sites for Con A and for Lens culinaris agglutinin (LCA) located exclusively on the cisternal face of the membrane. No sites for WGA, RCA, soybean (SBA) and Lotus tetragonobulus (LTA) agglutinins were detected on either the cytoplasmic or the luminal faces of the rough microsomes. These observations demonstrate that: (a) sugar moieties of microsomal glycoproteins are exposed only on the luminal surface of the membranes and (b) microsomal membrane glycoproteins have incomplete carbohydrate chains without the characteristic terminal trisaccharides N-acetylglucosamine comes from galactose comes from sialic acid or fucose present in most glycoproteins secreted by the liver. The orientation and composition of the carbohydrate chains in microsomal glycoproteins indicate that the passage of these glycoproteins through the Golgi apparatus, followed by their return to the endoplasmic reticulum, is not required for their biogenesis and insertion into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane

An epithelial cell line (MDCK) was used to prepare monolayers which, in vitro, develop properties of transporting epithelia. Monolayers were formed by plating cells at high densities (10(6) cells/cm2) on collagen-coated nylon cloth disks to saturate the area available for attachment, thus avoiding the need for cell division. An electrical resistance developed within 4-6 h after plating and achieved a steady-state value of 104 +/- 1.8 omega-cm2 after 24 h. Mature monolayers were morphologically and functionally polarized. They contained junctional complexes composed of desmosomes and tight junctions with properties similar to those of 'leaky' epithelia. Monolayers were capable of maintaining a spontaneous electrical potential sensitive to amiloride, produced a net water flux from the apical to basal side, and discriminated between Na+ and Cl- ions. The MDCK permeability barrier behaves as a 'thin' membrane with negatively charged sites. It has: (a) a linear conductance/concentration relationship; (b) an asymmetric instantaneous current/voltage relationship; (c) a reduced ability to discriminate between Na+ and Cl- caused by lowering the pH; and (d) a characteristic pattern of ionic selectivity which suggests that the negatively charged sites are highly hydrates and of medium field strength. Measurements of Na+ permeability of electrical and tracer methods ruled out exchange diffusion as a mechanism for ion permeation and the lack of current saturation in the I/deltapsi curves does not support the involvement of carriers. The discrimination between Na+ and Cl- was severely but reversibly decreased at low pH, suggesting that Na+-specific channels which exclude Cl- contain acidic groups dissociated at neutral pH. Bound Ca++ ions are involved in maintaining the integrity of the junctions in MDCK monolayers as was shown by a reversible drop of resistance and opening of the junctions in Ca++-free medium containing EGTA. Several other epithelial cell lines are capable of developing a significant resistance under the conditions used to obtain MDCK monolayers

Rat liver rough microsomes (RM) contain two integral membrane proteins which are not found in smooth microsomes (SM) and appear to be related to the presence of ribosome-binding sites. These proteins, of molecular weight 65,000 and 63,000, were designated ribophorins I and II, respectively. They were not released from the microsomal membranes by alkali or acid treatment, or when the ribosomes were detached by incubation with puromycin in a high salt medium. The anionic detergent sodium deoxycholate caused solubilization of the ribophorins, but neutral detergents led to their recovery with the sedimentable ribosomes. Ribosomal aggregates containing both ribophorins, but few other membrane proteins, were obtained from RM treated with the nonionic detergent Kyro EOB (2.5 X10(-2) M) in a low ionic strength medium. Sedimentation patterns produced by these aggregates resembled those of large polysomes but were not affected by RNase treatment. The aggregates, however, were dispersed by mild trypsinization (10 microgram trypsin for 30 min at 0 degrees C), incubation with deoxycholate, or in a medium of high salt concentration. These treatments led to a concomitant degradation or release of the ribophorins. It was estimated, from the staining intensity of protein bands in acrylamide gels, that in the Kyro EOB aggregates there were one to two molecules of each ribophorin per ribosome. Sedimentable complexes without ribosomes containing both ribophorins could also be obtained by dissolving RM previously stripped of ribosomes by puromycin-KCl using cholate, a milder detergent than DOC. Electron microscope examination of the residue obtained from RM treated with Kyro EOB showed that the rapidly sedimenting polysome-like aggregates containing the ribophorins consisted of groups of tightly packed ribosomes which were associated with remnants of the microsomal membranes

Two proteins (ribophorins I and II), which are integral components of rough microsomal membranes and appear to be related to the bound ribosomes, were shown to be exposed on the surface of rat liver rough microsomes (RM) and to be in close proximity to the bound ribosomes. Both proteins were labeled when intact RM were incubated with a lactoperoxidase iodinating system, but only ribophorin I was digested during mild trypsinization of intact RM. Ribophorin II (63,000 daltons) was only proteolyzed when the luminal face of the microsomal vesicles was made accessible to trypsin by the addition of sublytical detergent concentrations. Only 30--40% of the bound ribosomes were released during trypsinization on intact RM, but ribosome release was almost complete in the presence of low detergent concentrations. Very low glutaraldehyde concentrations (0.005--0.02%) led to the preferential cross-linking of large ribosomal subunits of bound ribosomes to the microsomal membranes. This cross-linking prevented the release of subunits caused by puromycin in media of high ionic strength, but not the incorporation of [3H]puromycin into nascent polypeptide chains. SDS-acrylamide gel electrophoresis of cross-linked samples a preferential reduction in the intensity of the bands representing the ribophorins and the formation of aggregates which did not penetrate into the gels. At low methyl-4-mercaptobutyrimidate (MMB) concentrations (0.26 mg/ml) only 30% of the ribosomes were cross-linked to the microsomal membranes, as shown by the puromycin-KCl test, but membranes could still be solubilized with 1% DOC. This allowed the isolation of the ribophorins together with the sedimentable ribosomes, as was shown by electrophoresis of the sediments after disruption of the cross-links by reduction. Experiments with RM which contained only inactive ribosomes showed that the presence of nascent chains was not necessary for the reversible cross-linking of ribosomes to the membranes. These observations suggest that ribophorins are in close proximity to the bound ribosomes, as may be expected from components of the ribosome-binding sites