A general method for the introduction of enzymes, by means of immunoglobulin-coated liposomes, into lysosomes of deficient cells

Experimental enzyme replacement in genetic and other disorders

To correct a genetic defect, it would not be enough, say, to inject the missing enzyme, since the body's immune defenses would rapidly destroy it. A "Trojan horse" is needed to evade immune surveillance. The evolution of such an approach is described, as well as how it has been used to "cure" Tay-Sachs disease in culture, utilizing immunoglobulin-disguised liposomes to bring hexosaminidase A to deficient cells.

Degradation of cationized low density lipoprotein and regulation of cholesterol metabolism in homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia fibroblasts

Cultured fibroblasts derived from patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, which lack functional low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors, fail to bind, take up, or degrade the lipoprotein with high affinity; therefore LDL-cholesterol is not made available for suppression of cholesterol synthesis or activation of cholesteryl ester formation. When LDL was given a positive charge by reaction with N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine (cationized LDL), the rate of degradation of the lipoprotein was increased by more than 100-fold in the homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia fibroblasts. Degradation of cationized LDL was inhibited by chloroquine, suggesting that it occurred in cellular lysosomes. Although the cationized LDL entered the cell through a mechanism independent of the LDL receptor, the cholesterol liberated from the degradation of the lipoprotein became available for suppression of cholesterol synthesis and stimulation of cholesteryl ester formation in the homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia fibroblasts. The rate of degradation of albumin by fibroblasts was also increased by more than 100-fold when this protein was coupled to N,N-dimethyl-1,3-propanediamine. The ability to deliver a protein to lysosomes by giving it a strong positive charge may have potential relevance not only to familial hypercholesterolemia, but also to inborn errors of metabolism that involve deficiencies in lysosomal enzymes.

Lipid vesicle-cell interactions. I. Hemagglutination and hemolysis

The interaction of lipid vesicles (liposomes) of several different compositions with erythrocytes has been investigated. Lecithin liposomes, rendered positively charged with stearylamine, exhibit potent hemagglutination activity in media containing low concentrations of electrolytes. The hemagglutination titer is found to be a linear function of the zeta potential of the lipid vesicles. Hemagglutination is reduced when the surface potential of the cells is made more positive by pH adjustment or enzyme treatment. Similarly, hemagglutination is reduced by increasing concentrations of electrolytes. Hemagglutination is examined theoretically and is shown to be consistent with vesicle-cell interactions that are due to only electrostatic forces. Vesicles containing lysolecithin in addition to lecithin and stearylamine cause lysis of erythrocytes, provided the lipids of the vesicles are above the crystal-liquid crystal phase transition temperature. In addition, hemolysis requires close juxtaposition of the vesicle to the cell membrane; vesicles precoated with antibodies exhibit severely diminished hemolytic activities, only a small fraction of which can be attributed to a reduction in hemagglutination titer. Evidence is presented indicating that a single vesicle is sufficient to lyse one cell. With regard to hemagglutination and hemolysis, lipid vesicles of simple composition mimic paramyxoviruses such as Sendai virus.

The low-density lipoprotein pathway in human fibroblasts: relation between cell surface receptor binding and endocytosis of low-density lipoprotein

The studies reported here, coupled with our previous studies, indicate that LDL is ingested by cultured human fibroblasts in a process that resembles adsorptive endocytosis. The critical step is the binding of the lipoprotein to a high-affinity cell surface receptor. Uptake of LDL by this receptor-mediated process permits the cell to aquire cholesterol from the lipoprotein, and this acquisition, in turn, suppresses the cell's own cholesterol synthesis and activates the cell's system for reesterification and storage of the incoming cholesterol. In cells from patients with the receptor-negative form of homozygous FH, the cell surface receptor is functionally absent. The absence of high-affinity binding to this receptor produces a defective uptake of LDL and prevents the normal process of feedback regulation of cholesterol synthesis by the lipoprotein. The physiologic importance of the LDL pathway is indicated by the fact that patients who lack the LDL receptor (FH homozygotes) develop both profound hyper-cholesterolemia and fulminant atherosclerosis. It is likely that other defects in the LDL pathway account for other forms of hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis in man.

Lipid vesicles as carriers for introducing materials into cultured cells: influence of vesicle lipid composition on mechanism(s) of vesicle incorporation into cells

The mechanisms involved in the uptake of uni- and multi-lamellar lipid vesicles by BALB/c mouse 3T3 cells have been investigated. Vesicles are incorporated into cells both by endocytosis and by a nonendocytotic mechanism which we propose involves fusion of vesicles with the plasma membrane. The nonendocytotic pathway predominates in the uptake of negatively charged vesicles composed of phospholipids that are "fluid" (phosphatidylserine/phosphatidylcholine) at 37 degrees. Neutral fluid vesicles (phosphatidylcholine) and negatively charged vesicles prepared from "solid" phospholipids (phosphatidylserine/distearylphosphatidylcholine/dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine) are instead incorporated largely by endocytosis. Uptake of the latter classes of vesicle is reduced (80-90% inhibition) by inhibitors of cellular energy metabolism and by cytochalasin B.

Membrane perturbation: studies employing a calcium-sensitive dye, arsenazo III, in liposomes

A metallochromic dye, arsenazo III [2,7-bis-(2-arsonophenylazo)-1,8-dihydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulfonic acid], has been incorporated into the aquenous interspaces of multilamellar liposomes. multilamellar liposomes. Addition of Ca produced no shift in the absorbance spectrum of dye captured by liposomes, whereas disruption of liposomes by Triton X-100, followed by Ca, produced the spectrum chracteristic of the dye-Ca complex: evidence of latency. Addition of excess ethyleneglycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N'-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) reversed the spectal shift. Differences between spectra obtained in this sequence yielded dye efflus. To measure Ca efflux, difference spectra (+/-EGTA) were obtained from cationic liposomes containing Ca after detergent lysis (sensitivity less than 10 mmol/ml). Since liposomes were impermeable either to dye or Ca until perturbed, it was possible to test a variety of membrane-active steroids (diethylstilbesterol, deoxycorticosterone, etiocholanolone) for their capacity to provoke dye efflux from liposomes; preincorporation of cortisol stablized liposomes against dye leak. Immunoglobulin-coated liposomes containing dye were taken up by phagocytes of Mustelus canis, and phagocytic vacuoles stained red-purple after ingestions. Liposomes containing the calcium-sensitive dye constitute a simple, accurate means for determining membrane perturbation and Ca fluxes; their uptake by cells or organelles remains to be exploited further.

Interaction of phospholipid vesicles with cultured mammalian cells. II. Studies of mechanism

The mechanism of interaction of artificially generated lipid vesicles (approximately 500 A diameter) with Chinese hamster V79 cells bathed in a simple balanced salt solution was investigated. The major pathways of exogenous lipid incorporation in vesicle-treated cells are vesicle-cell fusion and vesicle-cell lipid exchange. At 37 degrees C, the fusion process is dominant, while at 2 degrees C or with energy depleted cells, exchange of lipids between vesicles and cells is important. The fusion mechanism was demonstrated using vesicles of [14C]lecithin containing trapped [13H]inulin. Consistent with a fusion hypothesis, both components became cell associated at 37 degrees C in nearly the same proportions as they were present in the applied vesicles. Additional arguments in favor of vesicle-cell fusion and against phagocytosis or adsorption of intact vesicles are presented. At 2 degrees C or with inhibitor-treated cells, the [3H]inulin uptake was largely suppressed, while the lipid uptake was reduced to a lesser extent. Evidence for vesicle-cell lipid exchange was obtained using V79 cells grown on 3H precursors for cellular lipids. [14C]lecithin vesicles, incubated with such cells, showed no change in their elution properties when subjected to molecular sieve chromatography on Sepharose 4B. However, radioactivity and thin-layer chromatographic analyses revealed that a variety of cell lipiids had been exchanged into the uniamellar vesicles. Further evidence for the fusion and exchange processes was obtained using vesicles prepared from mixtures of [3H]lecithin and [14C]cholesterol. A two-step fusion mechanism consistent with the present findings is proposed as a working model for other fusion studies.