Influence of Concanavalin A, wheat germ agglutinin, and soybean agglutinin on the fusion of myoblasts in vitro

Although muscle cell fusion was shown to be an energy-requiring process, release of myoblasts from an EGTA fusion block could be accomplished with Earle's balanced salt solution (containing 1.8 mM Ca++) free of glucose or any other energy-produced metabolite. The effect of concanavalin A, abrin, and the lectins from wheat germ, soybean, and Lens culinaris on myoblast fusion was examined with synchronized myoblast cultures upon release from fusion block. At a concentration of 15 mug/ml, these lectins were found to inhibit the fusion process to the extent of 62%, 41%, 32%, 8%, and 19%, respectively. Concanavalin A inhibition could be prevented by alpha-methyl-D-mannoside. The inhibitory effect of all the lectins except abrin could be reversed by changing to the normal, serum-containing medium. The number of binding sites was 3.4 X 10(7), 6.1 X 10(7), and 1.7 X 10(6), respectively. Although myoblasts were found to have about twice as many binding sites for wheat germ agglutinin as for concanavalin A, concanavalin A was determined to be twice as effective as wheat germ agglutinin as an inhibitor of myoblast fusion. These findngs raise the possibility that specific cell surface glycoproteins may be an important factor in this process.

Fetuin, an inhibitor of lymphocyte transformation. The interaction of fetuin with phytomitogens and a possible role for fetuin in fetal development

Fetuin, the bovine alpha-fetoprotein, contains glycopeptide sequences similar to those found on red cells. As a result, it is capable of strong physical interaction with the phytohemagglutinin isomitogens (H-PHAP) which possess two or more R (red cell binding) subunits as part of their tetrameric structures. Fetuin shows little or no interaction with L-PHAP, a phytohemagglutinin made up of four L subunits which also lack red cell affinity. Despite these differences fetuin is able to inhibit both H- and L-PHAP-induced lymphocyte transformation and is also capable of inhibiting the mitogenic effects of pokeweed mitogen, concanavalin A, antithymocyte antiserum, and the one-way mixed lymphocyte culture. In the case of L-PHAP, the inhibitory effect of fetuin is proportional to the intensity of the mitogenic stimulus. The inhibitory effects of fetuin upon lymphocyte transformation may result from perturbation or "blindfolding" of the cell membrane in a manner analogous to other immunosuppressive serum alpha-globulins. Alpha-Fetoproteins may play an immunoregulatory role during fetal development.

Concanavalin A inhibits tissue factor coagulant activity

Concanavalin A (con A) is a potent inhibitor of coagulant activity of native tissue factor. Coagulant activity is recovered by addition of alpha-methyl-D-glucoside to inhibited tissue factor. Inclusion of alpha-methyl-D-glucose during incubation of con A with tissue factor preserves coagulant activity. These data suggest that con A interacts reversibly with a carbohydrate residue in such a way as to inhibit coagulant activity of the molecule. Purified tissue factor apoprotein has been recombined with mixed brain phospholipids or purified phospholipids (phosphatidyl ethanolamine or a mixture of phosphatidyl choline with phosphatidyl serine). These preparations were also completely but reversibly inhibited by con A. Thus, purified tissue factor apoprotein appears to donate the affected carbohydrate residue.

Inactivation of herpes simplex virus by concanavalin A

The infectivity of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was inactivated after treatment with either concanavalin A (ConA) or periodate. Phytohemagglutinin, wheat germ agglutinin, pokeweed mitogen, and neuraminidase failed to inactivate the virus. The effect of ConA could be specifically inhibited or reversed by the addition of alpha-methyl-d-glucoside or alpha-methyl-d-mannoside. Evidence was obtained that HSV-1 inactivated by ConA could adsorb to host cells. Viral aggregation was not a major mechanism in the inactivation of HSV-1 by ConA. Under the experimental conditions employed, inactivation of HSV-1 was faster by ConA than by antiserum and less temperature dependent. A ConA-resistant fraction was detected which appeared to adsorb less quickly than untreated virus, and penetration of ConA-resistant fraction was strikingly slow. The presence of aggregates in the virus preparation did not appear to account for the ConA-resistant fraction. Inactivation of viral infectivity by ConA was obtained only with enveloped viruses, since HSV-1, HSV-2, pseudorabies, and vesicular stomatitis virus were inactivated and vaccinia and echovirus type 6 were not.

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.

The effect of in vivo hydrocortisone on subpopulations of human lymphocytes

This study was designed to determine the effect of in vivo hydrocortisone on subpopulations of lymphoid cells in normal humans. Subjects received a single intravenous dose of either 100 mg or 400 mg of hydrocortisone, and blood was drawn at hourly intervals for 6 h, and then again at 10 and 24 h after injection. Profound decreases in absolute numbers of circulating lymphocytes and monocytes occurred at 4-6 h after both 100 mg and 400 mg of hydrocortisone. Counts returned to normal by 24 h. The relative proportion of circulating thymus-derived lymphocytes as measured by the sheep red blood cell rosette assay decreased maximally by 4 h and returned to base line 24 h after hydrocortisone. There was a selective depletion of functional subpopulations of lymphocytes as represented by differential effects on in vitro stimulation with various mitogens and antigens. Phytohaemagglutinin response was relatively unaffected, while responses to concanavalin A were significantly diminished. Responses to pokeweed mitogen were unaffected by 100 mg of hydrocortisone, but greatly diminished by 400 mg of hydrocortisone. In vitro responses to the antigens streptokinase-streptodornase and tetanus toxoid were markedly diminished by in vivo hydrocortisone. Reconstitution of monocyte-depleted cultures with autologous monocytes partially corrected the diminished response to antigens. This transient selective depletion of monocytes and subsets of human lymphocytes by a single dose of hydrocortisone is most compatible with a redistribution of these cells out of the circulation into other body compartments.

Cell Agglutination Mediated by Concanavalin A and the Dynamic State of the Cell Surface

The binding of 131I-labelled concanavalin A (131I-Con A) to the cell surface has been studied in Ehrlich ascites tumour cells (EATC) and beef erythrocytes under various conditions. The binding of concanavalin A (Con A) to the cell surface was very specific and the available binding sites were saturated within a few minutes. The amount of 131I-Con A bound to EATC was 4.14 x 107 molecules/cell at 37 °C and 2.12 x 107 molecules/cell at 0 °C. Under these conditions, cell agglutination was observed only at 37 °C and not at 0 °C. However, the binding sites measured at 0 °C were also effective for agglutination at 37 °C. Beef erythrocytes were agglutinated by Con A only after treatment of cells with papain. The number of binding sites for Con A on the cell surface was decreased by this treatment to about half the number present on untreated cells. Various reagents such as colchicine, monoiodoacetic acid, dinitrophenol, rotenone, sodium azide and carboxyl cyanide-m-fluorophenylhydrazone (FCCP) had no effect on Con A-mediated cell agglutination. In contrast, periodate treatment produced a remarkable decrease in the agglutinability of cells. From these data, it is concluded that the cell agglutination induced by Con A was due to the topographical distribution of the surface receptors for the lectin, and not the result of energy-dependent or microtubule-dependent reaction processes. The number and the state of Con A receptors on the cell surface were in a dynamic condition, their conformation, orientation, and/or topographical distribution changing under different conditions.

Insulin-like activity of concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin--direct interactions with insulin receptors

Concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin are as effective as insulin in enhancing the rate of glucose transport and in inhibiting epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis in isolated adipocytes. These lectins, also like insulin, inhibit basal as well as epinephrine-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity of membranes obtained from homogenates of fat cells. Low concentrations of wheat germ agglutinin enhance the specific binding of insulin to receptors of fat cells and liver membranes. Higher concentrations of this plant lectin, as well as of concanavalin A, competitively displace the binding of insulin to receptors in these tissues. These effects are equally apparent in insulin-binding proteins solubilized from membranes, indicating that the plant lectins interact directly with insulin receptors. All of the effects observed with the plant lectins are reversed by simple sugars that bind specifically to these plant proteins. Agarose derivatives of the plant lectins effectively adsorb solubilized insulin-binding proteins, and these can be eluted with buffers containing specific simple sugars. The possible implications of these findings to certain biological properties (mitogenicity) of these lectins and to the mechanism of action of other growth-promoting substances are considered.

Concanavalin A, a model "antigen" for the in vitro detection of cell-bound reaginic antibody in the rat

Incubation of sensitized peritoneal or pleural cells, or isolated mast cells, taken from rats previously infected with the nematode, Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, but not of cells taken from parasite-free controls, with concanavalin A in vitro induces the release of histamine. The release mechanism triggered by Con A is virtually completed within 60 sec, depends on temperature, but not on the presence of complement, and is inhibited by sympathomimetic amines. It therefore shows striking similarities to the anaphylactic reaction induced by the specific allergen.

The mechanism by which histamine release is triggered by Con A is discussed, considering the observations that trypsinized Con A is no longer able to induce histamine release, that the presence of high concentrations of trypsinized Con A inhibits the release of histamine by subsequently added Con A or allergen, and that certain carbohydrates inhibit the release of histamine induced by both Con A and allergen. Although some of the data suggest a similarity in the structure of the antigenic determinant in the Fab fragment of IgE and the receptor site for Con A, it seems more likely that Con A is reacting mainly by cross-linking of Fc regions of the immunoglobulin molecule.

Effect of colchicine, colcemid, and vinblastine on the agglutination, by concanavalin A, of transformed cells

The sensitivity of transformed 3T3 fibroblasts to agglutination by concanavalin A is reduced by alkaloids that bind specifically to protein subunits of microtubules.