Recovery of function in Chinese hamster ovary cell mutants with temperature-sensitive defects in vacuolar acidification

Slowed receptor trafficking in mutant CHO lines of the End1 and End2 complementation groups

A mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell line with nonconditional kinetic defects in receptor internalization and recycling was isolated, based on selection for resistance to a transferrin-diphtheria toxin conjugate and screening for aberrant receptor trafficking. The 12-4 cell line internalizes transferrin at approximately 75% of the parental rate and recycles transferrin back to the cell surface at approximately 55% of the parental rate. Internalization of low density lipoprotein is also reduced to approximately 70% of the parental cell rate, demonstrating that the mutant phenotype affects the trafficking of multiple receptors. Characterization of somatic cell hybrids indicated that the 12-4 phenotype is recessive, and complementation analysis determined that the 12-4 cell line is a member of the End2 complementation group. End2 mutants have previously been described as defective in endosomal acidification but have not been known to be defective in receptor trafficking. We have found similar defects in another End2 mutant cell line, suggesting that slowed receptor trafficking is characteristic of End2 mutants. Interestingly, transferrin receptor recycling and internalization are also slowed in another complementation group of mutants, End1, that is also defective in endosomal acidification. This study demonstrates altered receptor trafficking in End1 and End2 cell lines, a novel aspect of the mutant phenotypes. These findings provide evidence, based on a cellular genetic approach, that proper endosome acidification is necessary for maintenance of normal receptor recycling.

Endosome acidification and receptor trafficking: bafilomycin A1 slows receptor externalization by a mechanism involving the receptor's internalization motif

To examine the relationship between endosome acidification and receptor trafficking, transferrin receptor trafficking was characterized in Chinese hamster ovary cells in which endosome acidification was blocked by treatment with the specific inhibitor of the vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, bafilomycin A1. Elevating endosome pH slowed the receptor externalization rate to approximately one-half of control but did not affect receptor internalization kinetics. The slowed receptor externalization required the receptor's cytoplasmic domain and was largely eliminated by substitutions replacing either of two aromatic amino acids within the receptor's cytoplasmic YTRF internalization motif. These results confirm, using a specific inhibitor of the vacuolar proton pump, that proper endosome acidification is necessary to maintain rapid recycling of intracellular receptors back to the plasma membrane. Moreover, receptor return to the plasma membrane is slowed in the absence of proper endosome acidification by a signal-dependent mechanism involving the receptor's cytoplasmic tyrosine-containing internalization motif. These results, in conjunction with results from other studies, suggest that the mechanism for clustering receptors in plasma membrane clathrin-coated pits may be an example of a more general mechanism that determines the dynamic distribution of membrane proteins among various compartments with luminal acidification playing a crucial role in this process.

Purification and characterization of alpha-toxin produced by Clostridium novyi type A

Our study describes the production, purification, and properties of alpha-toxin from Clostridium novyi type A 19402. The bacterium produced maximal amounts of alpha-toxin when grown at 37 degrees C for 72 h in dialysis flask cultures containing brain heart infusion supplemented with 0.75% Tween 80 and 2% glycerol. The alpha-toxin was purified by precipitation with polyethylene glycol 6000, followed by chromatography on Q-Sepharose, phenyl-agarose, and Mono-Q. By sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the toxin exhibited a single band with an M(r) of 200,000. The toxin also exhibited a single immunoprecipitin arc by crossed immunoelectrophoresis with antiserum against crude toxin. It was stable when stored at 4 degrees C and also following exposure to buffers with pHs in the range of 4 to 7. The toxin had a minimum lethal dose in mice of 5 to 10 ng, caused rounding of a variety of cells in tissue culture, and was negative in the rabbit ileal loop assay. The cytotoxic activity was inhibited by agents that affect receptor-mediated processes, and the toxin was less active on a CHO mutant cell line that is defective in endosomal acidification. The analysis of the amino acid composition revealed an unusually high proline content. The N-terminal sequence is Met-Leu-Ile-Thr-Arg-Glu-Gln-Leu-Met-Lys.

Characterization of the defect in a variant of HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells with reduced transferrin receptor expression

The mechanism by which a clone of HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells designated Tf-Gel-1 expresses reduced levels of the transferrin receptor (TfR) was investigated. Tf-Gel-1 was developed by continuous exposure of HL-60 cells to human iron-saturated transferrin covalently linked to the plant toxin gelonin (Tf-Gel); this variant was five- to sixfold more resistant to Tf-Gel than parental HL-60 cells. The amount of cell surface, as well as of solubilized, TfR and the cycling pools of TfR in Tf-Gel-1 cells, as measured by the binding of [125I]Tf, were all decreased to 20-30% of the levels present in parental cells. The growth of Tf-Gel-1 cells was independent of exogenous Fe3+ and was comparable to that of parental HL-60 cells. Despite the lower levels of TfRs, the Tf-Gel-1 clone retained the capacity to alter receptor expression, depending upon the phase of growth and the intracellular iron concentration, and to down-regulate TfRs in response to inducers of differentiation. Southern hybridization of cellular DNA with TfR cDNA did not reveal differences between parental and Tf-Gel-1 cells in the level and arrangement of the TfR gene. Basal and inducible (repressible) levels of TfR mRNA from Tf-Gel-1 cells, as measured by northern hybridization of cellular RNA with TfR cDNA, were comparable to those of parental cells. Metabolic labeling of cells with [35S]methionine, followed by immunoprecipitation of TfRs, demonstrated that the amount of radioactivity incorporated into TfRs in Tf-Gel-1 cells was reduced to a degree that approximated the decrease in [125I]Tf binding. Cell surface TfRs prepared from exponentially growing parental cells labeled with 125I by the solid-phase lactoperoxidase-glucose oxidase method existed as a doublet, with one form being phosphorylated and the other not phosphorylated. In contrast, Tf-Gel-1 cells not only contained diminished amounts of TfRs but also contained only the phosphorylated form of TfRs in the surface membrane. The decrease in the surface membrane concentration of the TfR in Tf-Gel-1 cells was specific for this glycoprotein, since the levels of other cell surface antigens, such as CD13, CD15 and CD45, were normal in Tf-Gel-1 cells. A reduction in the incorporation of [3H]mannose into the acid-insoluble fraction of cells and an increase in sensitivity to ricin suggested that Tf-Gel-1 cells possessed an aberration in carbohydrate metabolism.