scholarly journals Distribution of G-proteins in rat liver plasma-membrane domains and endocytic pathways

1989 ◽  
Vol 261 (3) ◽  
pp. 905-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Ali ◽  
G Milligan ◽  
W H Evans

1. The distribution of the alpha- and beta-subunits of nucleotide-binding G-proteins among rat liver sinusoidal, lateral and canalicular plasma membranes, endosomes, Golgi membranes and lysosomes was investigated. 2. Pertussis-toxin-catalysed ADP-ribosylation identified a 41 kDa inhibitory alpha-subunit in all liver plasma-membrane functional domains as well as in endosomes. An antibody to a synthetic peptide corresponding to a C-terminal sequence of the inhibitory alpha-subunit also identified the 41 kDa polypeptide in all plasma-membrane domains, in ‘early’ and ‘late’ endosomes and in Golgi membranes; this polypeptide was not detected in lysosomes. The antibody-binding studies showed that bile-canalicular plasma membranes had the highest content of the inhibitory alpha-subunit. 3. Immunofluorescent microscopy confirmed the presence of the inhibitory alpha-subunit in all regions of the hepatocyte's cell surface. 4. An antibody recognizing the beta-subunit showed that a 36 kDa polypeptide was present in all plasma membranes and in ‘early’ and ‘late’ endosomes; it was not detected in lysosomes. The relative distribution among the fractions of this polypeptide was similar to the distribution of the inhibitory alpha-subunit. 5. The presence of high levels of the G-protein inhibitory alpha-subunit in bile-canalicular plasma membranes was confirmed by demonstration of its co-fractionation with marker enzymes in Nycodenz gradients and by free-flow electrophoresis. The significance of this location is discussed.

1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (5) ◽  
pp. 1239-1248 ◽  
Author(s):  
E S Sztul ◽  
D Biemesderfer ◽  
M J Caplan ◽  
M Kashgarian ◽  
J L Boyer

Controversy has recently developed over the surface distribution of Na+,K+-ATPase in hepatic parenchymal cells. We have reexamined this issue using several independent techniques. A monoclonal antibody specific for the endodomain of alpha-subunit was used to examine Na+,K+-ATPase distribution at the light and electron microscope levels. When cryostat sections of rat liver were incubated with the monoclonal antibody, followed by either rhodamine or horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-mouse secondary, fluorescent staining or horseradish peroxidase reaction product was observed at the basolateral surfaces of hepatocytes from the space of Disse to the tight junctions bordering bile canaliculi. No labeling of the canalicular plasma membrane was detected. In contrast, when hepatocytes were dissociated by collagenase digestion, Na+,K+-ATPase alpha-subunit was localized to the entire plasma membrane. Na+,K+-ATPase was quantitated in isolated rat liver plasma membrane fractions by Western blots using a polyclonal antibody against Na+,K+-ATPase alpha-subunit. Plasma membranes from the basolateral domain of hepatocytes possessed essentially all of the cell's estimated Na+,K+-ATPase catalytic activity and contained a 96-kD alpha-subunit band. Canalicular plasma membrane fractions, defined by their enrichment in alkaline phosphatase, 5' nucleotidase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and leucine aminopeptidase had no detectable Na+,K+-ATPase activity and no alpha-subunit band could be detected in Western blots of these fractions. We conclude that Na+,K+-ATPase is limited to the sinusoidal and lateral domains of hepatocyte plasma membrane in intact liver. This basolateral distribution is consistent with its topology in other ion-transporting epithelia.


1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 876-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia L. Chang ◽  
John R. Riordan ◽  
Mario A. Moscarello ◽  
Jennifer M. Sturgess

To study membrane biogenesis and to test the validity of the endomembrane flow hypothesis, incorporation of 32P and [Me-3H]choline in vivo into membranes of the rat liver was followed. Rough microsomal, Golgi-rich, and plasma membrane fractions were monitored with marker enzyme assays and shown with morphometric analysis to contain 82% rough microsomes, at least 70% Golgi complexes, and 88% plasma membranes, respectively. Membrane subfractions from the rough microsomal and Golgi-rich fractions were prepared by sonic disruption.At 5 to 30 min after 32P injection, the specific radioactivity of phosphatidylcholine was higher in the rough microsomal membranes than in the Golgi membranes. From 1 to 3 h, the specific activity of phosphatidylcholine in Golgi membranes became higher and reached the maximum at about 3 h. Although the plasma membrane had the lowest specific radioactivity throughout 0.25–3 h, it increased rapidly thereafter to attain the highest specific activity at 5 h. Both rough microsomal and plasma membranes reached their maxima at 5 h.The specific radioactivity of [32P]phosphatidylethanolamine in the three membrane fractions was similar to that of [32P]phosphatidylcholine except from 5 to 30 min, when the specific radioactivity of phosphatidylethanolamine in the Golgi membranes was similar to the rough microsomal membranes.At 15 min to 5 h after [Me-3H]choline injection, more than 90% of the radioactivity in all the membranes was acid-precipitable. The specific radioactivities of the acid-precipitated membranes, expressed as dpm per milligram protein, reached the maximum at 3 h. After [Me-3H]choline injection, the specific radioactivity of phosphatidylcholine separated from the lipid extract of the acid-precipitated membranes (dpm per micromole phosphorus) did not differ significantly in the three membrane fractions. The results indicated rapid incorporation of choline into membrane phosphatidylcholine by the rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and plasma membranes simultaneously.The data with both 32P and [Me-3H]choline precursors did not support the endomembrane flow hypothesis. The Golgi complexes apparently synthesized phosphatidylethanolamine and incorporated choline into phosphatidylcholine as well as the endoplasmic reticulum. The results are discussed with relevance to current hypotheses on the biogenesis and transfer of membrane phospholipids.


1990 ◽  
Vol 271 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Enrich ◽  
P Tabona ◽  
W H Evans

1. Polypeptides of liver plasma membrane fractions enriched in three surface domains of hepatocytes, blood-sinusoidal, lateral and bile canalicular, were analysed by isoelectric focusing (IEF) and non-equilibrium pH gel electrophoresis (NEPHGE) across a wide pH range, followed by SDS/PAGE. The overall Coomassie Blue-stained polypeptide patterns in the fractions were different. lateral plasma membrane fractions contained a characteristically higher number of polypeptides focusing at the basic pH range, whereas few basic polypeptides were present in sinusoidal plasma membrane fractions. The glycoproteins in these plasma membrane fractions stained by a lectin overlay technique with radio-iodinated concanavalin A, wheat-germ agglutinin and a slug lectin, were also different. 2. The polypeptides and glycoproteins of ‘early’ and ‘late’ endosome fractions were also compared by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Their composition was shown by Coomassie Blue staining, lectin overlay staining and in membranes metabolically labelled with [35S]methionine to be generally similar. The glycoproteins of sinusoidal plasma membranes and early and late endosomes were generally similar, but major differences in polypeptides of molecular mass 20-50 kDa, pI 7.5-8.5, in plasma membranes and endosomes were demonstrated, with a specific population of basic (pI 8-9) low-molecular-mass polypeptides being present at highest levels in ‘late’ endosomal fractions (shown by Coomassie Blue staining). 3. Analysis of the distribution of three specific membrane glycoproteins identified by using immunoblotting techniques showed that the asialoglycoprotein and the divalent-cation-sensitive mannose 6-phosphate receptors were present in sinusoidal plasma membrane and in early and late endocytic fractions: they were not detected in canalicular plasma membrane fractions. In contrast, 5′-nucleotidase was detected in all fractions examined. The role of the endocytic compartment in regulating trafficking pathways between the plasma membrane domains of the hepatocyte is discussed.


1980 ◽  
Vol 186 (3) ◽  
pp. 749-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
C A Doberska ◽  
A J S MacPherson ◽  
B R Martin

1. Cholera toxin was shown to require the presence of GTP to activate rat liver plasma-membrane adenylate cyclase. ATP did not affect the activation process. 2. Cholera toxin catalysed the incorporation of 32P from NAD labelled in the alpha-phosphate group of the ADP moiety into a rat liver plasma-membrane protein with a subunit mol.wt. of 42 500. This is taken to demonstrate ADP-ribosylation. The ADP-ribosylation of this protein also required GTP and was unaffected by ATP. 3. Nicotinamide inhibited both the activation of adenylate cyclase by cholera toxin and the ADP-ribosylation of the protein of 42 500 subunit mol wt. Neither the activation nor the ADP-ribosylation could be reversed by treatment with nicotinamide in the presence of cholera toxin.


1998 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Liisa Tuhkanen ◽  
Markku Tammi ◽  
Alpo Pelttari ◽  
Ulla M. Ågren ◽  
Raija Tammi

We used immunogold staining and stereology to examine the ultrastructural localization and to estimate the relative content of CD44 in different strata and cell types of normal human epidermis. We found that CD44 existed almost exclusively on the plasma membranes; only rare labeling occurred on vesicular structures within the cytoplasm. Quantitation of the immunogold particles indicated that the labeling density of melanocytes corresponded to that of basal keratinocytes, and Langerhans cells displayed a labeling density of ∼10% that of the surrounding spinous cells. Among keratinocyte strata, the highest labeling density occurred on spinous cells, suggesting upregulation of CD44 after detachment from the basement membrane. The plasma membrane distribution of CD44 was compartmentalized, with little signal on cell–cell and cell-substratum contact sites such as desmosomes, the plasma membrane domain facing the basement membrane, and the close apposition of terminally differentiating granular cells. In contrast, CD44 was abundant on plasma membrane domains facing an open intercellular space, rich in hyaluronan. This distribution is in line with a role of CD44 as a hyaluronan receptor, important in the maintenance of the intercellular space for nutritional and cell motility functions in stratified epithelia.


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