A Cellular Reaction to Antibody in Tissue Culture Studied with Electron Microscopy

The reaction of embryonic chick heart cells grown in tissue culture to specific guinea pig antiserum has been studied with electron microscopy. Heart fragments from chick embryos were cultured with a plasma clot. After being tested with antiserum or normal serum, they were fixed with buffered osmium tetroxide and embedded in butyl methacrylate before removal from the glass culture chamber. Thin cells found by phase microscopy to have reacted were sectioned in a plane parallel to the glass surface on which they had grown. The results confirm and extend observations made previously while the reactions were occurring. The plasma membrane, like that of the red cell, becomes disrupted or less resistant to trauma following the action of antiserum. The membranes of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum vesiculate and swell. Before nuclear shrinkage becomes prominent, the outer nuclear membrane separates over a large portion of the nuclear envelope and forms one or more large swollen blebs. Thus, the outer nuclear membrane shows a reactivity similar to endoplasmic reticulum. It is suggested that the various physical and chemical changes observed to follow the action of antibody and complement on fibroblasts may be explained by osmotic pressure differences between various cell components. Some basic similarities to the action of hemolytic agents on red cells are noted.     

Insulin degradation. XXIII. Distribution of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase in isolated rat hepatocytes as studied by immuno-ferritin and electron microscopy.

The distribution of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase (glutathione: protein-disulphide oxidoreductase, EC 1.8.4.2) in isolated rat hepatocytes that had been first treated with rabbit antiserum against purified rat liver transhydrogenase and then with ferritin-conjugated goat anti-rabbit gamma-globulin was examined by electron microscopy. In cells with intact plasma membrane, the immunoferritin labeling of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase was observed on a few external microvillous projections at the outside of the cell. In cells with breaks in the plasma membrane, the immunoferritin labeling appeared extensively on smooth vesicles just inside the plasma membrane and on smooth endoplasmic reticulum extending to and including the outer nuclear membrane, in addition to the external microvillous projections. There was some immunoferritin labeling on rough endoplasmic reticulum and on the inner surface of the plasma membrane. The mitochondria and the outer surface of the plasma membrane of the cell did not show the ferritin labeling. Control parallel samples in which the antiserum was substituted with normal (i.e. non-immune) serum or with neutralized antiserum (prepared by absorption with the transhydrogenase) showed little or no immunoferritin labeling. These results are consistent with the idea that gluthalione-insulin transhydrogenase probably synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum and that the transhydrogenase accessible to cell surface (or found in the isolated plasma membrane preparations) probably represents a functional continuity between the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane.     

Insulin degradation XXIII. Distribution of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase in isolated rat hepatocytes as studied by immuno-ferritin and electron microscopy

The distribution of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase (glutathione: protein-disulphide oxidoreductase, EC 1.8.4.2) in isolated rat hepatocytes that had been first treated with rabbit antiserum against purified rat liver transhydrogenase and then with ferritin-conjugated goat anti-rabbit γ-globulin was examined by electron microscopy. In cells with antact plasma membrane, the immunoferritin labeling of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase was observed on a few external microvillous projections at the outside of the cell. In cells with breaks in the plasma membrane, the immunoferritin labeling appeared extensively on smooth vesicles just inside the plasma membrane and on smooth endoplasmic reticulum extending to and including the outer nuclear membrane, in addition to the external microvillous projections. There was some immunoferritin labeling on rough endoplasmic reticulum and on the inner surface of the plasma membrane. The mitochondria and the outer surface of the plasma membrane of the cell did not show the ferritin labeling. Control parallel samples in which the antiserum was substituted with normal (i.e. non-immune) serum or with neutralized antiserum (prepared by absorption with the transhydrogenase) showed little or no immunoferritin labeling. These results are consistent with the idea that gluthalione-insulin transhydrogenase probably synthesized in the endoplasmic reticulum and that the transhydrogenase accessible to cell surface (or found in the isolated plasma membrane preparations) probably represents a functional continuity between the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane.     

Tetrahymena strives to maintain the fluidity interrelationships of all its membranes constant. Electron microscope evidence

When cells of Tetrahymena pyriformis, strain NT-1, were chilled from their growth temperature of 39.5 degrees C to lower temperatures, the plasma membrane, outer alveolar, nuclear, outer mitochondrial, food vacuolar, and endoplasmic reticulum membranes each responded in a fashion quite characteristic of the membrane type. In most cases a distinctive rearrangement of intramembrane particles, as discerned by freeze-fracture electron microscopy, began abruptly at a definitive temperature. By comparing the freeze-fracture patterns of membranes in cells grown at 39.5, 27, and 15 degrees C, it was shown that the initial particle rearrangement in a given membrane always occurred at a fixed number of degrees below the growth temperature of the cell. Gradual chilling of a cell grown at constant temperature induced these membrane changes first in the outer alveolar membrane, then, in order of decreasing response to temperature, in the endoplasmic reticulum, outer mitochondrial membrane, nuclear envelope, and vacuolar membrane. The normally stable relationships between the physical properties of the several membrane types could in some cases be reversed, but only temporarily, by fatty acid supplementation or during the initial phases of acclimation to growth at a different temperature. The system provides a unique opportunity to study the effects of environmental change upon the physical properties of several functionally distinct but metabolically interrelated membranes within a single cell.     

Ultrastructural localisation of NADPH-diaphorase in the chick thymic medulla

Nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase positive cells in the chick thymus were studied at the electron-microscopic level. The formazan, a marker for the enzyme nitric oxide synthase, labelled cystic, undifferentiated, endocrine-like and myoid cells in the medulla. Some lymphoid and reticulo-epithelial cells were also lightly labelled. The reaction product was predominantly bound to the membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum in all the cells labelled and also to the nuclear envelope and outer membrane of mitochondria. The Golgi apparatus and the plasma membrane were free of the reaction product.     

Immunoelectron microscope localization of cytochrome P-450 on microsomes and other membrane structures of rat hepatocytes

Localization of cytochrome P-450 on various membrane fractions of rat liver cells was studied by direct immunoelectron microscopy using ferritin-conjugated antibody to the cytochrome. The outer surfaces of almost all the microsomal vesicles were labeled with ferritin particles. The distribution of the particles on each microsomal vesicle was usually heterogeneous, indicating clustering of the cytochrome, and phenobarbital treatment markedly increased the labeled regions of the microsomal membranes. The outer nuclear envelopes were also labeled with ferritin particles, while on the surface of other membrane structures such as Golgi complexes, outer mitochondrial membranes and plasma membranes the labeling was scanty and at the control level. The present observation indicates that cytochrome P-450 molecules are localized exclusively on endoplasmic reticulum membranes and outer nuclear envelopes where they are probably distributed not uniformly but heterogeneously, forming clusters or patches. The physiological significance of such microheterogeneity in the distribution of the cytochrome on endoplasmic reticulum membranes is discussed.     

Organization of the endoplasmic reticulum in renal cell lines MDCK and LLC-PK1

The spatial organization of the endoplasmic reticulum has been studied in two renal cell lines, MDCK and LLC-PK1, which originate from the distal and proximal portions of the mammalian nephron, respectively, and which form a polarized epithelium when they reach confluence in tissue culture. The two renal cell lines, grown to confluence on either solid or permeable supports, were investigated by fluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Fluorescence labeling of the endoplasmic reticulum was achieved using the cationic fluorescent dye DIOC₆ (3). In order to differentiate fluorescent labeling of the endoplasmic reticulum from that of the mitochondria, cells were also labeled with rhodamine 123. For electron microscopy, the spatial organization of the endoplasmic reticulum was examined in thick sections using the long-duration osmium impregnation technique or the ferrocyanide/osmium technique. In both cell lines, the endoplasmic reticulum formed an abundant tubular network of canaliculi that frequently abutted the basolateral domain of the plasma membrane and occasionally the apical membrane. Elements of the endoplasmic reticulum were also found in close proximity to mitochondria that, as in the nephron, formed branched structures. Canaliculi appeared circular or flattened and had an inner diameter of 10–70 nm for MDCK cells and 20–90 nm for LLC-PK1 cells. Such a three-dimensional organization might facilitate the translocation of defined lipid species between the endoplasmic reticulum and the plasma membrane, and between the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria.     

Continuity of intercellular space and endoplasmic reticulum of keratinocytes

Intracytoplasmic vacuoles were produced within keratinocytes of the epidermis by hypertonic solutions of sodium chloride, dextrose, and human albumin injected into the dermis of guinea pigs. They arose from a canalicular system which unfolded at higher osmolarities; the degree of unfolding was related to the degree of hyperosmolarity chosen. Tracers (horseradish peroxidase and colloidal silver) incorporated into the test solutions freely permeated the cisternal system and the vacuoles, demonstrating their continuity with the intercellular space. The membranes lining this cisternal system were not stained by ruthenium red and exhibited no nucleosidetriphosphatase activity which indicated that they did not represent infoldings of the plasma membrane; they were impregnated by the osmium soaking technique (which stains endoplasmic reticulum) and their dimensions were identical with those of the outer nuclear membrane and endoplasmic reticulum. It is concluded that a continuity exists between endoplasmic reticulum of keratinocytes and extracellular compartment which unfolds under hyperosmolar conditions. Since endoplasmic reticulum and perinuclear space are continuous the continuity of plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum, as demonstrated in this paper, suggest the existence of a potential path for the exchange of substances and information between the nuclear membrane and the extracellular compartment.     

The eta isoform of protein kinase C is localized on rough endoplasmic reticulum.

The eta isoform of protein kinase C, isolated from a cDNA library of mouse skin, has unique tissue and cellular distributions. It is predominantly expressed in epithelia of the skin, digestive tract, and respiratory tract in close association with epithelial differentiation. We report here that this isoform is localized on the rough endoplasmic reticulum in transiently expressing COS1 cells and constitutively expressing keratinocytes. By the use of polyclonal antibodies raised against peptides of the diverse D1 and D2/D3 regions, we found that immunofluorescent signals were strongest in the cytoplasm around the nucleus and became weaker toward the peripheral cytoplasm. Under immunoelectron microscopic examination, electron-dense signals were located on the rough endoplasmic reticulum and on the outer nuclear membrane which is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum membrane. However, no signals were detected in the nucleus, inner nuclear membrane, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, or plasma membrane. Treatment of the cells in situ with detergents suggested association of the isoform of protein kinase C with intracellular structures. By immunoblotting, a distinct single band with an M(r) of 80,000 was detected in whole-cell lysate and in rough microsomal and crude nuclear fractions, all of which contain outer nuclear membrane and/or rough endoplasmic reticulum. We further demonstrated the absence of a nuclear localization signal in the pseudosubstrate sequence. The present observation is not consistent with the report of Greif et al. (H. Greif, J. Ben-Chaim, T. Shimon, E. Bechor, H. Eldar, and E. Livneh, Mol. Cell. Biol. 12:1304-1311, 1992).     

Isolation of plasma membranes from neurons grown in primary culture

Plasma membranes from chick embryo neuronal primary cultures were isolated after subjecting 5-day-old cells, previously surface labeled with either lactoperoxidase-catalyzed radioiodination or galactose oxidase/NaB3H4, to a freeze-thaw cycle. The cellular material adhering to the culture substratum was washed, and the "wash" fractions were pooled and centrifuged at 37,000g. The resulting pellet was resuspended in 3 ml of buffer, layered on 33 ml of 33% sucrose, and centrifuged at 105,000g. Radioactivity was recovered at the top of the gradient. Sedimentation of these fractions and biochemical studies revealed that the pellet was 20- and 12-fold enriched in (Na+,K+)-adenosinetriphosphatase and 5'-nucleotidase, respectively. The preparation was devoid of inner mitochondrial (succinate dehydrogenase), outer mitochondrial (monoamine oxidase), endoplasmic reticulum (glucose-6-phosphatase), outer mitochondrial (monoamine oxidase), endoplasmic reticulum (glucose-6-phosphatase), and Golgi (UDP galactose:N-acetylglucosamine galactosyltransferase) enzymatic markers. Ultrastructural studies showed that the membrane preparation was homogeneous and lacked mitochondria endoplasmic reticulum and lysosomes. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate showed the presence of 11 protein components with molecular masses ranging from 120 to 300 kDa. This method for the isolation of plasma membranes probably depends on the capacity of the cellular material to adhere to the culture substratum and to entrap intracellular organelles during the freeze-thaw cycle. The membrane preparation seems suitable for studying the function of high-molecular-weight protein components of neuronal plasma membranes.     

A simple method for culturing chick embryo liver and kidney parenchymal cells for microscopic studies

Differentiated parenchymal cells were cultured from chick embryo livers or kidneys. Tissues were trypsinized, fragmented under a dissecting microscope, suspended in culture medium and separated into microscopic cell clumps with a syringe and wide bore needle. These cell clumps were grown in culture chambers and after light microscopic study were fixed and sectioned for electron microscopy. Both liver and kidney parenchymal cells appeared as clusters of epithelial cells containing round nuclei surrounded by numerous large mitochondria. Electron microscopy revealed well-differentiated cytoplasm which, in the liver cells, contained glycogen rosettes closely associated with smooth endoplasmic reticulum.     

ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF PLASMA-CELL TUMORS OF THE MOUSE : II. Tissue Cultures of the X5563 Tumor

The X5563 tumor has been grown in tissue culture. Cells similar to those of the original tumor migrated from the explant and attached to the glass walls of the culture vessels. Electron microscopy showed that large numbers of particles, similar in morphology to virus particles, were associated with these cells after 7 days of culture. The two principal types of particles found in the tumor in vivo appear to be present in vitro. Many more of these particles, however, were larger and showed a more complex structure. Whereas the particles were mainly localized inside endoplasmic reticulum or the Golgi zone in the tumors in vivo, in the tissue culture the majority of the particles were associated with the plasma membrane and were found outside of the cells. The relation of the particles to the granular body is discussed as well as a possible relation to the mammary tumor agent.     

Intracellular trafficking of two major Epstein-Barr virus glycoproteins, gp350/220 and gp110.

The processing and intracellular localization of the two predominant Epstein-Barr virus glycoproteins expressed in late lytic infection were investigated. Immune light or electron microscopy of frozen fixed sections revealed that gp110 colocalized to the endoplasmic reticulum and to the nuclear membrane with the endoplasmic reticulum-resident protein, heavy-chain-binding protein (BiP), while gp350/220 accumulated in low abundance in the endoplasmic reticulum and was present in higher abundance in cytoplasmic structures presumed to be Golgi and in plasma membranes. Consistent with endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear membrane localization, the bulk of gp110 was sensitive to endoglycosidase H, indicating high-mannose, pre-Golgi, N-linked glycosylation; while consistent with Golgi and plasma membrane localization, gp350/220 was mostly resistant to endoglycosidase H because of complex N- and O-linked glycosylation. gp350/220 was as abundant in extracellular enveloped virus as in the plasma membrane but was much less abundant or undetected in internal cytoplasmic or nuclear membranes. In contrast, gp110-specific antibodies did not label extracellular or intracellular virus. These data indicate that the major antigenic components of gp110 are not incorporated into or are occluded in virions and that gp350/220 is added to virus in cytoplasmic transit through a process of de-envelopment and re-envelopment at the plasma membrane or at post-Golgi vesicles. Consistent with cytoplasmic de-envelopment and re-envelopment at the plasma membrane was the finding of some free nucleocapsids in the cytoplasm of cells with intact nuclear membranes and nucleocapsids which appeared to bud through the plasma membrane.     

Immunocytochemical localization of monoamine oxidase type B in rat liver

We used an immunohistochemical method to examine the localization of monoamine oxidase type B (MAOB) in rat liver. At the light microscopic level, MAOB was highly expressed in rat liver. It was intense around portal area, and weak around central area. All the hepatocytes examined had MAOB immunoreactivity. For the first time, using a double-labeling immunofluorescence histochemical method for laser microscopy, we report that no MAOB is found in endothelial cells, hepatic stellate cells, or Kupffer's cells. When examined under transmission electron microscopy, MAOB was localized to the mitochondrial outer membrane of hepatocytes. No apparent localization of MAOB was found in the rough endoplasmic reticulum, the crystal membrane of mitochondria, the nuclear envelope, or the plasma membrane.     

Role of the nuclear envelope in synthesis, processing, and transport of membrane glycoproteins

The outer nuclear membrane is morphologically similar to rough endoplasmic reticulum. The presence of ribosomes bound to its cytoplasmic surface suggests that it could be a site of synthesis of membrane glycoproteins. We have examined the biogenesis of the vesicular stomatitis virus G protein in the nuclear envelope as a model for the biogenesis of membrane glycoproteins. G protein was present in nuclear membranes of infected Friend erythroleukemia cells immediately following synthesis and was transported out of nuclear membranes to cytoplasmic membranes with a time course similar to transport from rough endoplasmic reticulum (t 1/2 = 5-7 min). Temperature-sensitive mutations in viral membrane proteins which block transport of G protein from endoplasmic reticulum also blocked transport of G protein from the nuclear envelope. Friend erythroleukemia cells and NIH 3T3 cells differed in the fraction of newly synthesized G protein found in nuclear membranes, apparently reflecting the relative amount of nuclear membrane compared to endoplasmic reticulum available for glycoprotein synthesis. Nuclear membranes from erythroleukemia cells appeared to have the enzymatic activities necessary for cleavage of the signal sequence and core glycosylation of newly synthesized G protein. Signal peptidase activity was detected by the ability of detergent-solubilized membranes of isolated nuclei to correctly remove the signal sequence of human preplacental lactogen. RNA isolated from the nuclear envelope was highly enriched for G protein mRNA, suggesting that G protein was synthesized on the outer nuclear membrane rather than redistributing to nuclear membranes from endoplasmic reticulum before or during cell fractionation. These results suggest a mechanism for incorporation of membrane glycoproteins into the nuclear envelope and suggest that in some cell types the nuclear envelope is a major source of newly synthesized membrane glycoproteins.     

Subcellular localization of prostaglandin-forming cyclooxygenase in Swiss mouse 3T3 fibroblasts by electron microscopic immunocytochemistry

Swiss mouse 3T3 fibroblasts were grown in tissue culture, fixed with lysine-paraformaldehyde-periodate solutions containing 0 to 0.1% Tween 20, and then stained for cyclooxygenase antigenicity using rabbit anti-cyclooxygenase IgG in the peroxidase anti-peroxidase procedure. When examined by light microscopy, those cells fixed in the presence of 0.03 to 0.1% Tween 20 exhibited staining throughout the cytoplasm and around the nucleus but not on the cell surface. No staining occurred when either preimmune IgG or anti-cyclooxygenase IgG adsorbed with purified enzyme was substituted for the immune IgG. Electron microscopic examination of cells treated with fixative containing 0.05% Tween 20 and then stained for cyclooxygenase antigenicity revealed electron-dense deposits on the endoplasmic reticulum and nuclear membrane but not the mitochondrial or plasma membranes. No staining was seen in cells treated with control sera. Agents such as angiotensin II, bradykinin, antidiuretic hormone, and thrombin interact, apparently with the 3T3 cell surface to cause a release of arachidonic acid and prostaglandin E2 formation (Pong, S.S., Hong, S. L., and Levine, L. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 1408-1413). Our results establish that conversion of arachidonic acid to the prostaglandin endoperoxide precursor of PGE2 actually takes place on the endoplasmic reticulum and the nuclear envelope.     

Herpes simplex virus nucleocapsids mature to progeny virions by an envelopment --> deenvelopment --> reenvelopment pathway

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) nucleocapsids acquire an envelope by budding through the inner nuclear membrane, but it is uncertain whether this envelope is retained during virus maturation and egress or whether mature progeny virions are derived by deenvelopment at the outer nuclear membrane followed by reenvelopment in a cytoplasmic compartment. To resolve this issue, we used immunogold electron microscopy to examine the distribution of glycoprotein D (gD) in cells infected with HSV-1 encoding a wild-type gD or a gD which is retrieved to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In cells infected with wild-type HSV-1, extracellular virions and virions in the perinuclear space bound approximately equal amounts of gD antibody. In cells infected with HSV-1 encoding an ER-retrieved gD, the inner and outer nuclear membranes were heavily gold labeled, as were perinuclear enveloped virions. Extracellular virions exhibited very little gold decoration (10- to 30-fold less than perinuclear virions). We conclude that the envelope of perinuclear virions must be lost during maturation and egress and that mature progeny virions must acquire an envelope from a post-ER cytoplasmic compartment. We noted also that gD appears to be excluded from the plasma membrane in cells infected with wild-type virus.     

The lectin binding sites on the membranes of the nuclear envelope, mitochondria and the cell surface of human lymphoblastoid cells

The membranes of the cell surface, the endoplasmic reticulum, outer and inner mitochondrial leaflet and nuclear envelope were isolated from three human lymphoblastoid cell lines. Membrane components were separated by dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the gels incubated with the radioiodinated lectins from lentil, castor bean, scarlet runner bean, gorse seed and Roman snail. After gel slicing and counting, the molecular weights of the lectin binding sites were determined. About 20 glycoproteins were identified as constituents of the plasma membrane, a similar glycoprotein distribution was observed in the endoplasmic reticulum. The outer mitochondrial membrane contained some impurities from the plasma membrane, the inner mitochondrial membrane lacked specific lectin receptors. Two prominent glycoproteins with molecular weights of 70 000 and 60 000 were identified with the castor bean lectin in the nuclear envelope.     

Ultrastructural cytochemical localization of adenylate cyclase in the early chick embryo

Summary Adenylate cyclase activity was localized in various tissues of the early chick embryo using an ultrastructural histochemical technique. Reaction product was deposited on the lateral plasma membrane of all cells, but with a preferential localization at the apical terminal complex in the epiblast. There was no activity associated with the free surfaces of these or other cells in the embryo. Intracellular deposits were found in all cells associated with the endoplasmic reticulum, nuclear envelope and Golgi bodies. In the last organelle, the deposit was sometimes observed to be distributed through the stack in a non-uniform way, with the heaviest deposits occurring at the forming face. No clear difference could be detected between the cytochemical activity associated with cells in various regions of the embryo, or with embryos at different stages of early development.