Rapid cell surface appearance of endocytic membrane proteins in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Chinese hamster ovary cell lysosomes retain pinocytized horseradish peroxidase and in situ-radioiodinated proteins

We used Chinese hamster ovary cells, a cell line of fibroblastic origin, to investigate whether lysosomes are an exocytic compartment. To label lysosomal contents, Chinese hamster ovary cells were incubated with the solute marker horseradish peroxidase. After an 18-h uptake period, horseradish peroxidase was found in lysosomes by cell fractionation in Percoll gradients and by electron microscope cytochemistry. Over a 24-h period, lysosomal horseradish peroxidase was quantitatively retained by Chinese hamster ovary cells and inactivated with a t 1/2 of 6 to 8 h. Lysosomes were radioiodinated in situ by soluble lactoperoxidase internalized over an 18-h uptake period. About 70% of the radioiodine incorporation was pelleted at 100,000 X g under conditions in which greater than 80% of the lysosomal marker enzyme beta-hexosaminidase was released into the supernatant. By one-dimensional electrophoresis, about 18 protein species were present in the lysosomal membrane fraction, with radioiodine incorporation being most pronounced into species of 70,000 to 75,000 daltons. After a 30-min or 2-h chase at 37 degrees C, radioiodine that was incorporated into lysosomal membranes and contents was retained in lysosomes. These observations indicate that lysosomes labeled by fluid-phase pinocytosis are a terminal component of endocytic pathways in fibroblasts.

Chinese hamster ovary cell lysosomes retain pinocytized horseradish peroxidase and in situ-radioiodinated proteins

We used Chinese hamster ovary cells, a cell line of fibroblastic origin, to investigate whether lysosomes are an exocytic compartment. To label lysosomal contents, Chinese hamster ovary cells were incubated with the solute marker horseradish peroxidase. After an 18-h uptake period, horseradish peroxidase was found in lysosomes by cell fractionation in Percoll gradients and by electron microscope cytochemistry. Over a 24-h period, lysosomal horseradish peroxidase was quantitatively retained by Chinese hamster ovary cells and inactivated with a t 1/2 of 6 to 8 h. Lysosomes were radioiodinated in situ by soluble lactoperoxidase internalized over an 18-h uptake period. About 70% of the radioiodine incorporation was pelleted at 100,000 X g under conditions in which greater than 80% of the lysosomal marker enzyme beta-hexosaminidase was released into the supernatant. By one-dimensional electrophoresis, about 18 protein species were present in the lysosomal membrane fraction, with radioiodine incorporation being most pronounced into species of 70,000 to 75,000 daltons. After a 30-min or 2-h chase at 37 degrees C, radioiodine that was incorporated into lysosomal membranes and contents was retained in lysosomes. These observations indicate that lysosomes labeled by fluid-phase pinocytosis are a terminal component of endocytic pathways in fibroblasts.

Evidence for both prelysosomal and lysosomal intermediates in endocytic pathways

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP), an enzyme internalized by fluid phase pinocytosis, has been used to study the process by which pinosome contents are delivered to lysosomes in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Pinosome contents were labeled by allowing cells to internalize HRP for 3-5 min. Following various chase times, cells were either processed for HRP and acid phosphatase (AcPase) cytochemistry or homogenized and fractionated in Percoll gradients. In Percoll gradients, pinosomes labeled by a 3-5 min HRP pulse behaved as a vesicle population more dense than plasma membrane and less dense than lysosomes. In pulse-chase experiments, internalized HRP was chased rapidly (3-6 min chase) to a density position intermediate between the "initial" pinocytic vesicle population and lysosomes. With longer chase periods, a progressive accumulation of HRP in more dense vesicles was observed. Correspondence between the HRP distribution and lysosomal marker distribution was reached after a approximately 1-h chase. By electron microscope cytochemistry of intact cells, the predominant class of HRP-positive vesicles after pulse uptakes or a 3-min chase period was characterized by a peripheral rim of reaction product and was AcPase negative. After 10-120-min chase periods, the predominant class of HRP-positive vesicles was characterized by luminal deposits and HRP activity was frequently observed in multivesicular bodies. HRP-positive vesicles after a 10- or 30-min chase were AcPase-positive. No HRP activity was detected in Golgi apparatus. Together these observations indicate that progressive processing of vesicular components of the vacuolar apparatus occurs at both a prelysosomal and lysosomal stage.

Initial events during phagocytosis by macrophages viewed from outside and inside the cell: membrane-particle interactions and clathrin

The initial events during phagocytosis of latex beads by mouse peritoneal macrophages were visualized by high-resolution electron microscopy of platinum replicas of freeze-dried cells and by conventional thin-section electron microscopy of macrophages postfixed with 1% tannic acid. On the external surface of phagocytosing macrophages, all stages of particle uptake were seen, from early attachment to complete engulfment. Wherever the plasma membrane approached the bead surface, there was a 20-nm-wide gap bridged by narrow strands of material 12.4 nm in diameter. These strands were also seen in thin sections and in replicas of critical-point-dried and freeze-fractured macrophages. When cells were broken open and the plasma membrane was viewed from the inside, many nascent phagosomes had relatively smooth cytoplasmic surfaces with few associated cytoskeletal filaments. However, up to one-half of the phagosomes that were still close to the cell surface after a short phagocytic pulse (2-5 min) had large flat or spherical areas of clathrin basketwork on their membranes, and both smooth and clathrin-coated vesicles were seen fusing with or budding off from them. Clathrin-coated pits and vesicles were also abundant elsewhere on the plasma membranes of phagocytosing and control macrophages, but large flat clathrin patches similar to those on nascent phagosomes were observed only on the attached basal plasma membrane surfaces. These resulted suggest that phagocytosis shares features not only with cell attachment and spreading but also with receptor-mediated pinocytosis.

Exocytosis of pinocytic contents by Chinese hamster ovary cells

The extent of exocytosis of pinocytic vesicle contents was studied in suspension-cultured Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a pinocytic content marker. HRP was shown to be internalized via fluid-phase pinocytosis in CHO cells. After an HRP pulse of 2.5-10 min a rapid decrease of 30-50% in cell-associated HRP activity was observed within 10-20 min at 37 degrees C. During this time the loss of cell-associated HRP was accompanied by an equivalent increase in extracellular HRP. After this rapid exocytosis of HRP, the remaining peroxidase activity decreased with a t1/2 of 6-8 h, the known lysosomal half-life of HRP. In pulse-chase experiments HRP was chased into a nonexocytic compartment. Based on cell fractionation and electron microscopic experiments, this nonexocytic compartment was identified as a lysosome and the compartment from which exocytosis occurs as a pinosome. The occurrence of pinocytic content exocytosis in cultured fibroblasts suggests that exocytosis of pinocytic vesicle contents is a general phenomenon.