Electron-microscope study of Dictyostelium discoideum plasma membrane and its modifications during and after phagocytosis

1980 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-88
Author(s):  
A. Ryter ◽  
R. Hellio

The study of plasma membrane and phagosome membrane of Dictyostelium discoideum was performed using 2 lectins: concanavalin A (Con A) and Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA), and 2 markers of anionic sites: colloidal iron hydroxide (CIH) and cationized ferritin (CF). These labellings were applied to fixed partially broken cells, which had ingested a large quantity of yeast. They showed that Con A and CF labelled both the outer and inner faces of the plasma membrane, whereas CIH and WGA were deposited on the outer face only. Phagosome membranes displayed the same location as the plasma membrane for Con A, CF and CIH even in very old phagosomes. This suggests that most receptors of these 3 markers were not degraded by hydrolases. In contrast, phagosome membranes of young and old phagosomes did not react with WGA. When labellings were made on yeast phagocytozing cells, the membrane of phagocytic cups were also devoid of WGA, while it was labelled with the 3 other markers. The absence of WGA labelling was not observed during ingestion of bacteria and latex beads, suggesting a specific relationship existed between yeast cells and WGA receptors.

1980 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
R. Hellio ◽  
A. Ryter

The disappearance of Wheat Germ Agglutinin (WGA) receptors from the membrane of yeast-engulfing-phagocytic cups in Dictyostelium suggested that these receptors could play a role in yeast adsorption or ingestion. This problem was approached by comparing the fate of WGA, Concanavalin A (Con A) and cationized ferritin (CF) and their effects on the phagocytosis of yeast, bacteria and latex beads. It can be concluded that CF capped in about 30 min and inhibited phagocytosis of any kind of particles for about 15 min. Con A capped in 20–60 min and inhibited phagocytosis of all particles for 1 h 30 min. The time at which phagocytosis started to occur corresponded approximately to the moment at which large areas of plasma membrane were totally devoid of marker. WGA did not cap but induced the formation of large and tight aggregates. The surface of the peripheral cells progressively released WGA in 1 h 30 min. Afterwards, the cells were able to ingest latex beads and bacteria but did not phagocytoze yeast. The latter started to be adsorbed onto the cells and to be ingested only 1 h later. Double labelling experiments showed that CF and Con A receptors were still absent in the plasma membrane, when phagocytosis of any kind of particles started to occur. WGA-labelled cells ingested latex beads and bacteria when their plasma membrane was still devoid of WGA receptors but were able to ingest yeast only after their regeneration. These observations strongly suggest that WGA receptors may correspond to specific receptors for yeast phagocytosis.


1989 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-566
Author(s):  
P.M. Evans ◽  
D.K. Suker ◽  
I. ap Gwynn

Quantification of colloidal iron hydroxide (CIH) labelling by X-ray microanalysis was used to investigate anionic sites at the surface of Ehrlich carcinoma cells from different locations in the mouse host. Individual tumour cells from peritoneal ascites suspensions (pre-invasion stage) varied up to threefold in their ability to bind CIH and a similar degree of intra-tumour heterogeneity was observed in different experimental animals. Pretreatment of the cells with neuraminidase confirmed that binding was at least partly due to surface sialic acid. Invasive cells isolated from mesenteric tumour nodules were also heterogeneous with regard to the availability of surface anionic sites, as were tumour cells adhering to the surface of the mesentery; however, in both these populations CIH binding was significantly greater on average than for free ascites tumour cells. The results suggest that surface anionic sites are determinants of the invasiveness of malignant cells in vivo, and that both the number and topography of these sites may be important in modulating tumour cell behaviour.


1973 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garth L. Nicolson

The effects of pH, trypsin, and phospholipase C on the topographic distribution of acidic anionic residues on human erythrocytes was investigated using colloidal iron hydroxide labeling of mounted, fixed ghost membranes. After glutaraldehyde fixation at pH 6.5–7.5, the positively charged colloidal particles were bound to the membranes in small randomly distributed clusters. The clusters of anionic sites were reversibly aggregated by incubation at pH 5.5 before fixation at the same pH. These results correlate with the distribution of intramembranous particles found by Pinto da Silva (J. Cell Biol. 53:777), with the exception that the distribution of anionic sites on a majority of the fixed ghosts at pH 4.5 was aggregated instead of dispersed. The randomly distributed clusters could be nonreversibly aggregated by trypsin or phospholipase C treatment of intact ghosts before glutaraldehyde fixation. Previous glutaraldehyde fixation prevented trypsin and pH induced aggregation of the colloidal iron sites. Evidence that N-acetylneuraminic acid groups are the principal acidic residues binding colloidal iron was the elimination of greater than 85% of the colloidal iron labeling to neuraminidase-treated cell membranes. Colloidal iron binding N-acetylneuraminic acid residues may reside on membrane molecules such as glycophorin, a sialoglycoprotein which contains the majority of the N-acetylneuraminic acid found on the human erythrocyte membrane.


1975 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
P P Silva ◽  
A Martínez-Palomo ◽  
A Gonzalez-Robles

Treatment of living entamoeba histolytica cells with low concentrations of concanavalin A (con A) and peroxidase results in redistribution of the plasma membrane con A receptors to one pole of the cell where a morphologically distinct region--the uroid--is formed. Capping of con A receptors is not accompanied by parallel accumulation of ruthenium red-stainable components. In capped cells, the pattern of distribution of acidic sites ionized at pH 1.8 (labeled by colloidal iron) at the outer surface and of membrane particles (integral membrane components revealed by freeze-fracture) is not altered over the uroid region. Cytochemistry of substrate-attached microexudate located in regions adjacent to E. histolytica cells demonstrates the presence of con A binding sites and ruthenium red- and alcian blue-stainable components and the absent of colloidal iron binding sites. In a previous report we demonstrated that glycerol-induced aggregation of the plasma membrane particles is accompanied by a discontinuous distribution of colloidal iron binding sites, while con A receptors and acidic sites ionized at pH 4.0 remain uniformly distributed over the cell surface. Taken together, our experiments show that, in E. histolytica cells, peripheral membrane components may move independently of integral components and, also, that certain surface determinants may redistribute independently of others. These results point to the complexity of the membrane structure-cell surface relationship in E. histolytica plasma membranes relative to the membrane of the erythrocyte ghost where integral components (the membrane-intercalated particles) contain all antigens, receptors, and anionic sites labeled so far. We conclude that fluidity of integral membrane components (integral membrane fluidity) cannot be inferred from the demonstration of the mobility of surface components nor, conversely, can the fluidity of peripheral membrane components (peripheral membrane fluidity) be assumed from demonstration of the mobility of integral membrane components.


1981 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
C. Favard-Sereno ◽  
M.A. Ludosky ◽  
A. Ryter

The plasma membrane and its derivative, the phagosome membrane, were studied during and after ingestion of yeast of latex beads in Dictyostelium discoideum. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy, which provides information on the internal architecture of the membranes, and observation of thin sections of cells treated by cytochemical methods were used in parallel. For visualization of membrane sterols in the replicas, the cells were fixed in the presence of digitonin or the antibiotic filipin. No lateral phase separation occurred during yeast engulfment: the intramembranous particles (IMPs), phospholipids and sterols remained distributed at random in the forming phagosome membrane. In contrast architectural modifications of the membrane were observed upon phagosome internalization. Compared to the plasma membrane, the phagosome membrane displayed 2–3 times more IMPs a shift in the IMP size distribution and a higher sterol content. These changes were completed soon after phagosome closure; they were not related either to the nature of the ingested particles (yeast, latex beads) or to the pH in the membrane environment. The membrane changes too place when the phagosomes began to fuse with pre-existing digestive or autophagic vacuoles and lysosomes. Some of the experimental evidence suggests that the restructuring of the membrane may be related to the presence of hydrolases.


Author(s):  
E. Keyhani

The matrix of biological membranes consists of a lipid bilayer into which proteins or protein aggregates are intercalated. Freeze-fracture techni- ques permit these proteins, perhaps in association with lipids, to be visualized in the hydrophobic regions of the membrane. Thus, numerous intramembrane particles (IMP) have been found on the fracture faces of membranes from a wide variety of cells (1-3). A recognized property of IMP is their tendency to form aggregates in response to changes in experi- mental conditions (4,5), perhaps as a result of translational diffusion through the viscous plane of the membrane. The purpose of this communica- tion is to describe the distribution and size of IMP in the plasma membrane of yeast (Candida utilis).Yeast cells (ATCC 8205) were grown in synthetic medium (6), and then harvested after 16 hours of culture, and washed twice in distilled water. Cell pellets were suspended in growth medium supplemented with 30% glycerol and incubated for 30 minutes at 0°C, centrifuged, and prepared for freeze-fracture, as described earlier (2,3).


Author(s):  
P. Hernández-Jáuregui ◽  
A. Sosa ◽  
A. González Angulo

Glycocalyx is the name given by Bennett to the extracellular glycoprotein coat present in some cell surfaces. It appears to play an important role in cell properties such as antigenicity, cell adhesivity, specific permeability, and ATP ase activity. In the sperm this coat can be directly related to such important phenomena as capacitation and fertilization. The presence of glycocalyx in invertebrate spermatozoa has already been demonstrated. Recently Yanagimachi et al. has determined the negative charges on sperm surfaces of mammalian spermatozoa including man, using colloidal iron hydroxide. No mention was made however of the outer surface coat as composed of substances other than those confering a negative charge. The purpose of this work was therefore to determine the presence of a glycocalyx in human spermatozoa using alcian blue and lanthanum staining.


Author(s):  
E. Keyhani

The mutagenic effect of ethidium bromide on the mitochondrial DNA is well established. Using thin section electron microscopy, it was shown that when yeast cells were grown in the presence of ethidium bromide, besides alterations in the mitochondria, the plasma membrane also showed alterations consisting of 75 to 110 nm-deep pits. Furthermore, ethidium bromide induced an increase in the length and number of endoplasmic reticulum and in the number of intracytoplasmic vesicles.Freeze-fracture, by splitting the hydrophobic region of the membrane, allows the visualization of the surface view of the membrane, and consequently, any alteration induced by ethidium bromide on the membrane can be better examined by this method than by the thin section method.Yeast cells, Candida utilis. were grown in the presence of 35 μM ethidium bromide. Cells were harvested and freeze-fractured according to the procedure previously described.


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