Polarized apical distribution of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins in a renal epithelial cell line

Cholesterol controls the clustering of the glycophospholipid-anchored membrane receptor for 5-methyltetrahydrofolate

The folate receptor is a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored membrane protein that mediates the delivery of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate to the cytoplasm of MA104 cells. Ordinarily the receptor is sequestered into numerous discrete clusters that are associated with an uncoated pit membrane specialization called a caveola. By using two different methodological approaches, we found that the maintenance of both receptor clusters and caveolae depends upon the presence of cholesterol in the membrane. These results suggest that cholesterol plays a critical role in maintaining the caveola membrane domain and modulates the interaction of GPI-anchored membrane proteins via their phospholipid anchors.

The myelin-associated glycoproteins: membrane disposition, evidence of a novel disulfide linkage between immunoglobulin-like domains, and posttranslational palmitylation

The myelin-associated glycoproteins (MAG) are members of the immunoglobulin gene superfamily that function in the cell interactions of myelinating glial cells with axons. In this paper, we have characterized the structural features of these proteins. The disposition of MAG in the bilayer as a type 1 integral membrane protein (with an extracellularly disposed amino terminus, single transmembrane segment, and cytoplasmic carboxy terminus) was demonstrated in protease protection studies of MAG cotranslationally inserted into microsomes in vitro and in immunofluorescent studies with site specific antibodies. A genetically engineered MAG cDNA, which lacks the putative membrane spanning segment, was constructed and shown to encode a secreted protein. These results confirm the identify of this hydrophobic sequence as the transmembrane segment. Sequencing of the secreted protein demonstrated the presence of a cleaved signal sequence and the site of signal peptidase cleavage. To characterize the disulfide linkage pattern of the ectodomain, we cleaved MAG with cyanogen bromide and used a panel of antibodies to coprecipitate specific fragments under nonreducing conditions. These studies provide support for a novel disulfide linkage between two of the immunoglobulin domains of the extracellular segment. Finally, we report that MAG is posttranslationally palmitylated via an intramembranous thioester linkage. Based on these studies, we propose a model for the conformation of MAG, including its RGD sequence, which is considered with regard to its function as a cell adhesion molecule.

Transcytosis in MDCK cells: identification of glycoproteins transported bidirectionally between both plasma membrane domains

MDCK cells display fluid-phase transcytosis in both directions across the cell. Transcytosis of cell surface molecules was estimated by electron microscopic analysis of streptavidin-gold-labeled frozen sections of biotinylated cells. Within 3 h, approximately 10% of the surface molecules, biotinylated on the starting membrane domain, were detected on the opposite surface domain irrespective of the direction of transcytosis. This suggests that the transcytosis rates for surface molecules are equal in both directions across the cell as shown previously for fluid-phase markers. A biochemical assay was established to identify transcytosing glycoproteins in MDCKII-RCAr cells, a ricin-resistant mutant of MDCK. Due to a galactosylation defect, surface glycoproteins of these cells can be labeled efficiently with [3H]galactose. Transcytosis of [3H]galactose-labeled glycoproteins to the opposite membrane domain was detected by surface biotinylation. Detergent-solubilized glycoproteins derivatized with biotin were adsorbed onto streptavidin-agarose and separated by SDS-PAGE. A subset of the cell surface glycoproteins was shown to undergo transcytosis. Transport of these glycoproteins across the cell was time and temperature dependent. By comparative two-dimensional gel analysis, three classes of glycoproteins were defined. Two groups of glycoproteins were found to be transported unidirectionally by transcytosis, one from the apical to the basolateral surface and another from the basolateral to the apical surface. A third group of glycoproteins which has not been described previously, was found to be transported bidirectionally across the cell.

Polarized membrane expression of brush-border hydrolases in primary cultures of kidney proximal tubular cells depends on cell differentiation and is induced by dexamethasone

To analyze the influence of cell differentiation and the effects of hormones on the subcellular distribution of apical antigens in polarized epithelial cells, we have compared the localization of three brush border (BB) hydrolases [neutral endopeptidase (ENDO), aminopeptidase N (APN), and dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DPPIV)] in primary cultures of renal proximal tubule cells grown in various culture media. The degree of cell differentiation modulated by medium composition was estimated by measuring proximal functions, including glucose transport, specific enzymatic activities, and PTH responsiveness. In the dedifferentiated state observed in cells grown in 1% fetal calf serum (FCS)-supplemented medium, the three hydrolases are abnormally concentrated in a cytoplasmic vesicle compartment with weak expression on both membrane domains. By contrast, in serum-free hormonally defined medium (DM: insulin, 5 microgram/ml; dexamethasone, 5 x 10(-8) M), which markedly enhances morphological and functional cell differentiation, the distribution of hydrolases parallels that observed in the normal tubule. When added to the DM devoid of hormones, insulin has little polarizing effect, whereas dexamethasone dramatically increases the apical expression of the hydrolases, which then almost disappear from the basolateral membrane and cytoplasmic vesicular compartments. This glucocorticoid hormone augments the amount of immunoreactive antigen detectable on the apical domain in paraformaldehyde-fixed cells but does not change the total enzymatic activity. This suggests the presence in tubular cells of a dexamethasone-dependent polarizing machinery that requires de novo RNA and protein synthesis, and probably acts mainly by targeting a storage cytoplasmic pool of enzyme to the apical domain.

Vectorial apical delivery and slow endocytosis of a glycolipid-anchored fusion protein in transfected MDCK cells

To characterize the mechanisms that determine the apical polarity of proteins anchored by glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI), we studied the targeting of a GPI-anchored form of a herpes simplex glycoprotein, gD-1, in transfected MDCK cells. Using a biotin-based targeting assay, we found that GPI-anchored gD-1 was sorted intracellularly and delivered directly to the apical surface. Endocytosis of GPI-anchored gD-1 occurred slowly and preferentially from the apical domain, while transcytosis of the basolateral fraction did not occur at a significant rate (incompatible with being a precursor to the apical pool). Prevention of tight junction formation by incubation in medium with micromolar Ca2+ resulted in expression of GPI-anchored gD-1 on the free surface, but not on the attached surface of the cell. Our results indicate that the apical polarity of a GPI-anchored protein is generated by vectorial delivery to the apical membrane, where its distribution is maintained by slow endocytosis and by a retention system not necessarily involving the tight junction.

Priority targeting of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins to the bile-canalicular (apical) plasma membrane of hepatocytes. Involvement of 'late' endosomes

1. Liver plasma membranes originating from the sinusoidal, lateral and canalicular surface domains of hepatocytes were covalently labelled with sulpho-N-hydroxysuccinamide-biotin. After solubilization in Triton X-114, treatment with a phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C (PI-PLC), two-phase partitioning and 125I-streptavidin labelling of the proteins resolved by PAGE, six major polypeptides (molecular masses 110, 85, 70, 55, 38 and 35 kDa) were shown to be anchored in bile canalicular membrane vesicles by a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (G-PI) 'tail'. 2. Permeabilized 'early' and 'late' endocytic vesicles isolated from liver were also examined. Two polypeptides (110 and 35 kDa) were shown to be anchored by a G-PI tail in 'late' endocytic vesicles. 3. Analysis of marker enzymes in bile-canalicular vesicles treated with PI-PLC showed that 5'-nucleotidase and alkaline phosphatase, but not leucine aminopeptidase and ecto-Ca2(+)-ATPase activities were released from the membrane. A low release and recovery of alkaline phosphodiesterase activity was noted. The cleavage from the membrane of 5'-nucleotidase as a 70 kDa polypeptide was confirmed by Western blotting using an antibody to this enzyme. 4. Antibodies raised to proteins released from bile-canalicular vesicles by PI-PLC treatment, and purified by partitioning in aqueous and Triton X-114 phases, localized to the bile canaliculi in thin liver sections. Antibodies to proteins not hydrolysed by this treatment stained by immunofluorescence the sinusoidal and canalicular surface regions of hepatocytes. 5. Antibodies generated to proteins cleaved by PI-PLC treatment of canalicular vesicles were shown to identify, by Western blotting, a major 110 kDa polypeptide in these vesicles. Two polypeptides (55 and 38 kDa) were detected in MDCK and HepG-2 cultured cells. 6. Since two of the six G-PI-anchored proteins targeted to the bile-canalicular plasma membrane were also detected in 'late' endocytic vesicles, the results suggest that a junction where exocytic and endocytic traffic routes meet occurs in a 'late' endocytic compartment.

Phosphorylation of the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor required for its efficient transcytosis

The endosomal compartment of polarized epithelial cells is a major crossroads for membrane traffic. Proteins entering this compartment from the cell surface are sorted for transport to one of several destinations: recycling to the original cell surface, targeting to lysosomes for degradation, or transcytosis to the opposite surface. The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR), which is normally transcytosed from the basolateral to the apical surface, was used as a model to dissect the signals that mediate this sorting event. When exogenous receptor was expressed in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells, it was shown that phosphorylation of pIgR at the serine residue at position 664 is required for efficient transcytosis. Replacement of this serine with alanine generated a receptor that is transcytosed only slowly, and appears to be recycled. Conversely, substitution with aspartic acid (which mimics the negative charge of the phosphate group) results in rapid transcytosis. It was concluded that phosphorylation is the signal that directs the pIgR from the endosome into the transcytotic pathway.

Dynamics and longevity of the glycolipid-anchored membrane protein, Thy-1

Thy-1 and a number of other proteins are anchored to the outer hemi-leaflet of membranes by a glycolipid moiety containing ethanolamine phosphate, mannose, glucosamine, and phosphatidylinositol. They nevertheless have the striking property of being able to transduce signals across the plasma membrane. We here demonstrate, for the BW5147 murine T lymphoma, that (a) greater than 90% of Thy-1 is at the cell surface, (b) Thy-1 is about one order of magnitude less concentrated in coated pits than the transferrin receptor or H-2 antigens, (c) Thy-1 undergoes at most very limited endocytosis or diacytosis, and (d) Thy-1 has an unusually slow turnover rate. Several similar observations have also been made for a second glycolipid-anchored protein, the T cell activating protein. Thus, the absence of cytoplasmic and trans-membrane domains may result in lipid-anchored proteins being confined to the cell surface and being free from constraints which affect the turnover of transmembrane proteins.

A cadherin-like protein in eggs and cleaving embryos of Xenopus laevis is expressed in oocytes in response to progesterone

A new cadherin-like protein (CLP) was identified in oocytes, eggs, and cleavage stage embryos of Xenopus laevis. As a probe for detecting new cadherin proteins, an antiserum was raised to a 17 amino acid peptide derived from a highly conserved region in the cytoplasmic domain of all cadherins which have been sequenced to date. This antipeptide antibody recognized Xenopus E-cadherin and a polypeptide in Xenopus brain extracts similar to N-cadherin, which were independently identified by specific mAbs. In extracts of eggs and midblastula stage embryos the antipeptide antibody recognized specifically a 120-kD glycoprotein that migrated faster on SDS gels than the 140-kD E- and N-cadherin polypeptides. This 120-kD polypeptide was not recognized by the mAbs specific to E- and N-cadherin. In fact, E- and N-cadherin were not detectable in eggs or midblastula stage embryos. The possible relationship of CLP to P-cadherin, which has been identified in mouse tissues, has not yet been determined. CLP was synthesized by large, late stage oocytes. When oocytes were induced to mature in vitro with progesterone it accumulated to the same level found in normally laid eggs. It did not accumulate further to any significant extent during the early cleavage stages. CLP was detected on the surface of stage 8 blastomeres by cell surface biotinylation, but only after the tight junctions of the blastula epithelium were opened by removal of Ca2+. We conclude that CLP is a maternally encoded protein that is the major, if not only, cadherin-related protein present in the earliest stages of Xenopus development, and we propose that it may play a role in the Ca2(+)-dependent adhesion and junction formation between cleavage stage blastomeres.

Preferred apical distribution of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored proteins: a highly conserved feature of the polarized epithelial cell phenotype

We use a sensitive biotin polarity assay to survey the surface distribution of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored proteins in five model epithelial cell lines derived from different species (dog, pig, man) and tissues, i.e., kidney (MDCK I, MDCK II, LLC-PK1) and intestine (Caco-2 and SK-CO15). After biotinylation of apical or basolateral surfaces of confluent monolayers grown on polycarbonate filters, GPI-anchored proteins are identified by their shift from a Triton X-114 detergent-rich phase to a detergent-poor phase in the presence of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C. All GPI-anchored proteins detected (3-9 per cell type, at least 13 different proteins) are found to be apically polarized; no GPI-anchored protein is observed preferentially localized to the basal surface. One of the GPI-anchored proteins is identified as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Survey of MDCK II-RCAr, a mutant cell line with a pleiotropic defect in galactosylation of glycoproteins and glycolipids (that presumably affects GPI anchors) also reveals an apical polarization of all GPI-anchored proteins. In contrast, analysis of MDCK II-ConAr (a mutant cell line with an unknown defect in glycosylation) revealed five GPI-anchored proteins, two of which appeared relatively unpolarized. Our results indicate that the polarized apical distribution of GPI-anchored proteins is highly conserved across species and tissue-type and may depend on glycosylation.

Alterations in the establishment and maintenance of epithelial cell polarity as a basis for disease processes

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Polarized endocytosis by Madin-Darby canine kidney cells transfected with functional chicken liver glycoprotein receptor

We have studied the expression of the chicken hepatic glycoprotein receptor (chicken hepatic lectin [CHL]) in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, by transfection of its cDNA under the control of a retroviral promotor. Transfected cell lines stably express 87,000 surface receptors/cell with a kd = 13 nM. In confluent monolayers, approximately 40% of CHL is localized at the plasma membrane. 98% of the surface CHL is expressed at the basolateral surface where it performs polarized endocytosis and degradation of glycoproteins carrying terminal N-acetylglucosamine at a rate of 50,000 ligand molecules/h. Studies of the half-life of metabolically labeled receptor and of the stability of biotinylated cell surface receptor after internalization indicate that transfected CHL performs several rounds of uptake and recycling before it gets degraded. The successful expression of a functional basolateral receptor in MDCK cells opens the way for the characterization of the mechanisms that control targeting and recycling of proteins to the basolateral membrane of epithelial cells.

Vectorial targeting of apical and basolateral plasma membrane proteins in a human adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line

We studied the surface delivery pathways followed by newly synthesized plasma membrane proteins in intestinal cells. To this end, we developed an assay and characterized an epithelial cell line (SK-CO-15) derived from human colon adenocarcinoma. Polarized confluent monolayers (2000 omega.cm2), grown on polycarbonate filter chambers, were pulsed with radioactive methionine/cysteine and, at different times of chase, the protein fraction reaching the apical or basolateral surface was recovered by domain-selective biotinylation, immunoprecipitation, and immobilized streptavidin precipitation. Both an apical and a basolateral marker were found to be delivered vectorially to the respective surface, with a sorting efficiency of 50:1 for the basolateral marker and 14:1 for the apical marker.

Steady-state distribution and biogenesis of endogenous Madin-Darby canine kidney glycoproteins: evidence for intracellular sorting and polarized cell surface delivery

We used domain-selective biotinylation/125I-streptavidin blotting (Sargiacomo, M., M. P. Lisanti, L. Graeve, A. Le Bivic, and E. Rodriguez-Boulan. 1989 J. Membr. Biol. 107:277-286), in combination with lectin precipitation, to analyze the apical and basolateral glycoprotein composition of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells and to explore the role of glycosylation in the targeting of membrane glycoproteins. All six lectins used recognized both apical and basolateral glycoproteins, indicating that none of the sugar moieties detected were characteristic of the particular epithelial cell surface. Pulse-chase experiments coupled with domain-selective glycoprotein recovery were designed to detect the initial appearance of newly synthesized glycoproteins at the apical or basolateral cell surface. After a short pulse with a radioactive precursor, glycoproteins reaching each surface were biotinylated, extracted, and recovered via precipitation with immobilized streptavidin. Several basolateral glycoproteins (including two sulfated proteins) and at least two apical glycoproteins (one of them the major sulfated protein of MDCK cells) appeared at the corresponding surface after 20-40 min of chase, but were not detected in the opposite surface, suggesting that they were sorted intracellularly and vectorially delivered to their target membrane. Several "peripheral" apical proteins were detected at maximal levels on the apical surface immediately after the 15-min pulse, suggesting a very fast intracellular transit. Finally, domain-selective labeling of surface carbohydrates with biotin hydrazide (after periodate oxidation) revealed strikingly different integral and peripheral glycoprotein patterns, resembling the Con A pattern, after labeling with sulfo-N-hydroxy-succinimido-biotin. The approaches described here should be useful in characterizing the steady-state distribution and biogenesis of endogenous cell surface components in a variety of epithelial cell lines.

A glycophospholipid membrane anchor acts as an apical targeting signal in polarized epithelial cells

Glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol- (GPI) anchored proteins contain a large extracellular protein domain that is linked to the membrane via a glycosylated form of phosphatidylinositol. We recently reported the polarized apical distribution of all endogenous GPI-anchored proteins in the MDCK cell line (Lisanti, M. P., M. Sargiacomo, L. Graeve, A. R. Saltiel, and E. Rodriguez-Boulan. 1988. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 85:9557-9561). To study the role of this mechanism of membrane anchoring in targeting to the apical cell surface, we use here decay-accelerating factor (DAF) as a model GPI-anchored protein. Endogenous DAF was localized on the apical surface of two human intestinal cell lines (Caco-2 and SK-CO15). Recombinant DAF, expressed in MDCK cells, also assumed a polarized apical distribution. Transfer of the 37-amino acid DAF signal for GPI attachment to the ectodomain of herpes simplex glycoprotein D (a basolateral antigen) and to human growth hormone (a regulated secretory protein) by recombinant DNA methods resulted in delivery of the fusion proteins to the apical surface of transfected MDCK cells. These results are consistent with the notion that the GPI anchoring mechanism may convey apical targeting information.

Mechanism of membrane anchoring affects polarized expression of two proteins in MDCK cells

The signals that direct membrane proteins to the apical or basolateral plasma membrane domains of polarized epithelial cells are not known. Several of the class of proteins anchored in the membrane by glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) are expressed on the apical surface of such cells. However, it is not known whether the mechanism of membrane anchorage or the polypeptide sequence provides the sorting information. The conversion of the normally basolateral vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV G) to a GPI-anchored protein led to its apical expression. Conversely, replacement of the GPI anchor of placental alkaline phosphatase with the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of VSV G shifted its expression from the apical to the basolateral surface. Thus, the mechanism of membrane anchorage can determine the sorting of proteins to the apical or basolateral surface, and the GPI anchor itself may provide an apical transport signal.

Morphogenesis of the polarized epithelial cell phenotype

Polarized epithelial cells play fundamental roles in the ontogeny and function of a variety of tissues and organs in mammals. The morphogenesis of a sheet of polarized epithelial cells (the trophectoderm) is the first overt sign of cellular differentiation in early embryonic development. In the adult, polarized epithelial cells line all body cavities and occur in tissues that carry out specialized vectorial transport functions of absorption and secretion. The generation of this phenotype is a multistage process requiring extracellular cues and the reorganization of proteins in the cytoplasm and on the plasma membrane; once established, the phenotype is maintained by the segregation and retention of specific proteins and lipids in distinct apical and basal-lateral plasma membrane domains.