Immunochemical analysis of discoidins I and II at the cell surface in wild type and aggregation-defective mutants of Dictyostelium discoideum

Failure to detect immunocytochemically reactive endogenous lectin on the cell surface of Dictyostelium discoideum

The endogenous lectins of Dictyostelium discoideum, called discoidins I and II, have been implicated in cell cohesion during the associative phase of this organism. In an effort to repeat and extend the studies of these putative cell-surface proteins, we attempted a variety of immunocytochemical techniques. Antibodies to a mixture of the purified discoidins were raised in rabbit. Both living and fixed cells were examined by indirect immunoferritin labeling using whole antiserum and by direct immunolabeling using purified specific IgG adsorbed to colloidal gold. Cells, at the appropriate stage, of strains A3, NC-4, and WS-582 were tested. In no instance were cell surface antigens detected despite meticulous efforts to duplicate the published techniques and to extend and refine them. Specific localization was found only in the cytosol and on the cytoplasmic face of certain endomembrane vesicles, and much less so on outer nuclear and mitochondrial membranes, in inadvertently disrupted cells. In no case was specific label found on either side of the plasma membrane or on food vacuoles. Exogenously supplied discoidins, bound to cells, were successfully localized by our technique. We conclude that the discoidins are not present on the cell surface, or are there in undetectable quantities, during the associative phase. We suggest that previous demonstrations of these proteins at the cell surface were artifacts resulting from the way in which the cells were handled, which caused the binding of externalized discoidins, possibly those released from lysed cells. We believe that the current notion that the discoidins play a direct role in cell cohesion by virtue of their carbohydrate-binding capacity should be reexamined. We suggest that the true role of the discoidins is solely intracellular.

Discoidins I and II: common and unique regions on two lectins implicated in cell--cell cohesion in Dictyostelium discoideum

As Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae differentiate from the noncohesive to the mutually cohesive state, they synthesize two galactose-binding lectins--discoidins I and II--which have been implicated as obligatory components of the morphogenetic cell-cell recognition and cohesion system. These proteins have been shown to have similar amino acid compositions and subunit Mr and overlapping but distinct carbohydrate recognition specificities. We have performed extensive immunochemical and biochemical analyses to study the structural relationships between these two molecules and to eventually identify structural and functional domains. Antisera raised against highly purified preparations of discoidin I and discoidin II were tested for their reactivities against each protein by both immunoprecipitation and double diffusion analyses. The patterns of crossreactivity indicated the presence of shared as well as unique antigenic determinants. This interpretation was supported by two-dimensional thin-layer peptide map analysis and by studies with purified peptides. Of approximately 10-12 peptides observed after exhaustive tryptic digestion of each radioiodinated lectin, 3 appeared to be common to both. These putative common peptides were purified, and the corresponding peptides from discoidins I and II were found to behave identically by two-dimensional thin-layer analysis, gel filtration, and susceptibility to chymotrypsin. The finding of common and unique regions in discoidins I and II suggests analogies with other families of recognition proteins and may have important functional implications for these cell-cell recognition molecules.