Comparison of pinocytosis and phagocytosis in Acanthamoeba castellanii

Acanthamoeba, with high rates of phagocytosis and pinocytosis of the non-concentrative type, offers favorable experimental material for investigation of similarities and possible differences in these two modes of uptake. Phagocytosis was measured by the rate of uptake of latex beads and pinocytosis by the rate of uptake of radioactive inulin and albumin. The effects of the metabolic inhibitors NaN₃, NaCN, NaF, iodoacetate, 2,4-dinitrophenol and cold were found to be identical on both forms of endocytosis. Both endocytic processes were suppressed by inhibitors of aerobic metabolism and low temperature and were not appreciably affected by inhibitors of glycolysis. The cells recovered capacity to endocytose after exposure to all these compounds except 2,4-dinitrophenol, which was irreversibly toxic. Endocytosis and O₂ consumption were measured as a function of temperature. Below 5 °C both phagocytosis and pinocytosis ceased; between 9 and 15 °C uptake was less than 10% that at 29 °C. From 16 to 29 °C uptake was a linear function of temperature for both pinocytosis and phagocytosis. Curves for O₂ consumption and endocytosis both showed breaks at about 16 °C. Concanavalin A (ConA) inhibited both types of endocytosis more than 50% at concentrations as low as 5 μg/2 × 10⁵ cells/ml. Pinocytosis and phagocytosis were also measured simultaneously in the same cells. Increasing the rate of phagocytosis suppressed pinocytosis, but the combined volume of the two forms of uptake was essentially constant. In contrast, the estimated combined surface intake varied over a two-fold range. These data show no differences between phagocytosis and pinocytosis of the non-concentrative type, and suggest that control of the rate of endocytosis is determined by the volume of an internal compartment. The volume of this compartment, estimated by measuring the volume of latex beads that “saturate” the phagocytic mechanism, amounted to about 500 μm³/cell or roughly 15% of the cell volume.     

Action of cytochalasin A, a sulfhydryl-reactive agent, on sugar metabolism and membrane-bound adenosine triphosphatase of yeast.

Cytochalasin A at 10-20 mug/ml inhibits growth and sugar uptake by Saccharomyces strain 1016. The effects of cytochalasin A in intact cells were completely prevented when 1 mM cysteine or dithiothreitol was added along with cytochalasin A, but were not eliminated by thiols added after inhibition had occurred. Purified yeast hexokinase, glucose-6-P dehydrogenase, phosphofructokinase and aldolase were not sensitive to cytochalasin A (20 mug/ml). Glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenase was strongly inhibited by cytochalasin A (5 mug/ml); activity was promptly restored by thiols. Anaerobic glycolysis was inhibited by cytochalasin A or by iodoacetate; unlike iodoacetate, cytochalasin A did not cause accumulation of sugar phosphates. In contrast, cytochalasin A, but not iodoacetate, inhibited isolated membrane-bound ATPases. Cytochalasin A is a sulfhydryl-reactive agent and has membrane-related effects (adenosine triphosphatase) which may well be the basis of its interference with energy-dependent uptake of solutes.     

UPTAKE OF MAMMALIAN CHROMOSOMES BY MAMMALIAN CELLS

Chromosomes isolated from mouse leukemia L1210 cells were taken up by mouse macrophages, HeLa cells, and rat embryo fibroblasts following simple exposure in vitro. The process, which resembles pinocytosis or phagocytosis, was traced by autoradiography of chromosomes prelabeled with thymidine-H³, and by staining techniques and phase contrast microscopy. During the first six hours, the uptake of chromosomes was restricted to the cytoplasm, but there was some evidence of penetration into the nucleus after 16 and 26 hours of exposure. Treatment of rat fibroblasts with glucose and insulin markedly enhanced the uptake of chromosomes, whereas iodoacetate inhibited their penetration.     

Polynucleotide aggregates enhance the transport of protein at the surface of cultured mammalian cells.

It was known that polycationic polymers enhance the entry of macromolecules into cells. We now show that polynucleotides may have similar effects, when used as large aggregates. Poly(1-vinylcytosine):polyinosinic acid, an inducer of interferon production in human cells, can cause at 40 mug/ml a 75-fold enhancement of albumin uptake by sarcoma cells in culture. Most of this activity (85%) is related to the presence of aggregates retained by 0.65 mu millipore membranes. The prior finding that enhancers of albumin transport have increasing effects with increasing molecular sizes may thus extend to complexes of supramolecular sizes.     

Quantitative studies of pinocytosis. I. Kinetics of uptake of (125I)polyvinylpyrrolidone by rat yolk sac cultured in vitro

A method is described for the in vitro culture of 17.5-day rat visceral yolk sac. Tissue survival was good as judged by light and electron microscopy. The rate of pinocytic uptake of 125I-labeled polyvinylpyrrolidone by the tissue was constant both within and between experiments. Within the concentration range 0.15-24 mug/ml, the 125I- labeled polyvinylpyrrolidone neither stimulated nor inhibited pinocytosis. The system offers many advantages in the quantitative study of the physical basis of pinocytosis.     

Quantitative analysis of albumin uptake and transport in the rat microvessel endothelial monolayer

We determined the concentration dependence of albumin binding, uptake, and transport in confluent monolayers of cultured rat lung microvascular endothelial cells (RLMVEC). Transport of (125)I-albumin in RLMVEC monolayers occurred at a rate of 7.2 fmol. min(-1). 10(6) cells(-1). Albumin transport was inhibited by cell surface depletion of the 60-kDa albumin-binding glycoprotein gp60 and by disruption of caveolae using methyl-beta-cyclodextrin. By contrast, gp60 activation (by means of gp60 cross-linking using primary and secondary antibodies) increased (125)I-albumin uptake 2.3-fold. At 37 degrees C, (125)I-albumin uptake had a half time of 10 min and was competitively inhibited by unlabeled albumin (IC(50) = 1 microM). Using a two-site model, we estimated by Scatchard analysis the affinity (K(D)) and maximal capacity (B(max)) of albumin uptake to be 0.87 microM (K(D1)) and 0.47 pmol/10(6) cells (B(max1)) and 93.3 microM (K(D2)) and 20.2 pmol/10(6) cells (B(max2)). At 4 degrees C, we also observed two populations of specific binding sites, with high (K(D1) = 13.5 nM, 1% of the total) and low (K(D2) = 1.6 microM) affinity. On the basis of these data, we propose a model in which the two binding affinities represent the clustered and unclustered gp60 forms. The model predicts that fluid phase albumin in caveolae accounts for the bulk of albumin internalized and transported in the endothelial monolayer.     

Rapid stimulation of pinocytosis in human carcinoma cells A-431 by epidermal growth factor

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) uptake was used to measure fluid-phase pinocytosis in monolayers of human epithelioid carcinoma cells (A-431). Histochemistry confirmed that cell-associated HRP was restricted to intracellular vesicles. Biochemical methods showed that HRP uptake in control cultures was directly proportional to the duration of exposure. The addition of low concentrations of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to the incubation media produced a 10-fold increase in the initial rate of pinocytosis. The EGF effect was rapid (within 30 s) but transient; the rate of pinocytosis returned to control levels within 15 min. Metabolic inhibitors reduced the EGF-stimulated rate of pinocytosis by greater than 90%. A conjugate of EGF and ferritin (F:EGF) was used to simultaneously compare the intracellular locations of EGF and HRP. Much of F:EGF was internalized in approximately 100-nm vesicles, while most of the HRP was located in much larger vesicles (range 0.1--1.2 micrometer) which also contained F:EGF. The tumor-promoter 12-0-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, which shares several biological activities with EGF, was also effective in stimulating an increase in the rate of pinocytosis.     

Pinocytosis and phagocytosis: the effect of size of a particulate substrate on its mode of capture by rat peritoneal macrophages cultured in vitro

Both phagocytosis (of particles) and pinocytosis (of solutes) occur in macrophages. It is not known, however, whether particles, if they are small enough, can enter by pinocytosis, nor whether there is a minimum size of particle capable of triggering phagocytic uptake. These questions have been investigated by studying, in vitro, the uptake by rat peritoneal macrophages of particles ranging in diameter from 30 nm to 1100 nm. Percoll (30 nm diameter) and polystyrene beads (100, 300, 600, 800 or 1100 nm diameter) were 125I-iodinated and their uptake by macrophages was measured in the absence or presence of metabolic and cytoskeletal inhibitors. Since uptake, expressed as an Endocytic Index (microliter/10(6) cells per h), increased steadily with the duration of incubation and was inhibited by low temperature or metabolic inhibitors, it was concluded that true endocytosis, and not a superficial cell-association, was being measured. Rates of clearance increased with increasing particle diameter. The rate of uptake of Percoll was 10-times, and of 100 nm polystyrene beads 100-times, the rate of fluid-phase pinocytosis, as measured by the uptake of 125I-labelled polyvinylpyrrolidone. Polystyrene beads of 1100 nm diameter were captured at 700-times this rate. The differential effects of colchicine and cytochalasin B on the uptake of 125I-labelled polyvinylpyrrolidone and of 1100 nm polystyrene beads were taken as indicators of their effects on pinocytosis and phagocytosis respectively. It is concluded that Percoll, although particulate, is captured by pinocytosis. The pattern of inhibition of uptake of polystyrene particles suggests that there is no radical discontinuity between pinocytic and phagocytic uptake, but that the contribution of phagocytosis steadily increases with increasing particle diameter. The results are discussed.     

Nedd4-2 functionally interacts with ClC-5: involvement in constitutive albumin endocytosis in proximal tubule cells

Constitutive albumin uptake by the proximal tubule is achieved by a receptor-mediated process in which the Cl(-) channel, ClC-5, plays an obligate role. Here we investigated the functional interaction between ClC-5 and ubiquitin ligases Nedd4 and Nedd4-2 and their role in albumin uptake in opossum kidney proximal tubule (OK) cells. In vivo immunoprecipitation using an anti-HECT antibody demonstrated that ClC-5 bound to ubiquitin ligases, whereas glutathione S-transferase pull-downs confirmed that the C terminus of ClC-5 bound both Nedd4 and Nedd4-2. Nedd4-2 alone was able to alter ClC-5 currents in Xenopus oocytes by decreasing cell surface expression of ClC-5. In OK cells, a physiological concentration of albumin (10 mug/ml) rapidly increased cell surface expression of ClC-5, which was also accompanied by the ubiquitination of ClC-5. Albumin uptake was reduced by inhibiting either the lysosome or proteasome. Total levels of Nedd4-2 and proteasome activity also increased rapidly in response to albumin. Overexpression of ligase defective Nedd4-2 or knockdown of endogenous Nedd4-2 with small interfering RNA resulted in significant decreases in albumin uptake. In contrast, pathophysiological concentrations of albumin (100 and 1000 mug/ml) reduced the levels of ClC-5 and Nedd4-2 and the activity of the proteasome to the levels seen in the absence of albumin. These data demonstrate that normal constitutive uptake of albumin by the proximal tubule requires Nedd4-2, which may act via ubiquitination to shunt ClC-5 into the endocytic pathway.     

Pinocytosis of Ferritin from the Gut Lumen in Larvae of a Sea Star (Patiria miniata) and a Sea Urchin (Lytechinus pictus)

Pinocytosis of macromolecules from the gut lumen is demonstrated for the first time in larval stages of invertebrates. Developing sea stars ( Patiria miniata ) and sea urchins ( Lytechinus pictus ) were incubated in seawater containing ferritin, which was detected in cell organelles by transmission electron microscopy. Pinocytotic uptake of ferritin by gut cells of Patiria could be detected as soon as the larval mouth opened before the esophagus, stomach and intestine could be distinguished from one another; in contrast, no pinocytosis was detected at the comparable developmental stage (the prism larva) of Lytechinus . Pinocytosis was first detected in developing Lytechinus in pluteus larvae, especially in the stomach and intestine. In gut cells of both kinds of echinoderm larvae, the ferritin progressed rapidly from coated pits at the luminal cell membrane to secondary lysosomes (e.g. this progression took only about 10 min in stomach cells of Patiria larvae). Phagocytosis from the gut lumen was never observed after latex beads or starch granules were fed to larvae of Patiria and Lytechinus . Moreover, there was no evidence of pinocytosis of ferritin or phagocytosis of large particles by epidermal cells of larvae of either species.     

Mechanism of copper transport from plasma to hepatocytes

The effects of plasma components on the kinetics of copper transport by rat hepatocytes were examined in an attempt to determine how copper is mobilized from plasma for uptake by the liver. Specific protein-facilitated transport was indicated by saturation kinetics, competition by related substrates, and similar kinetic parameters for uptake and efflux. For copper uptake, Km = 11 +/- 0.6 microM and Vmax = 2.7 +/- 0.6 nmol Cu/(min X mg protein). Zinc is a competitive inhibitor of copper uptake, and copper competes for zinc uptake. Copper efflux from preloaded cells is biphasic. The kinetic parameters for the initial rapid phase are similar to the parameters for uptake. Copper transport by hepatocytes is strictly passive. A variety of metabolic inhibitors have no effect on uptake and initial rates are solely dependent on extracellular-intracellular concentration gradients. Albumin markedly inhibits copper uptake by a substrate removal mechanism, and histidine facilitates albumin-inhibited copper uptake. The active species that delivers copper to hepatocytes under conditions of excess albumin and excess histidine is the His2Cu complex. Experiments with [3H]His2 64Cu showed that the transported species is free ionic copper. The kinetic parameters of copper transport by hepatocytes isolated from the brindled mouse model of Menkes' disease are normal. However, these cells show a decreased capacity to accumulate copper on prolonged incubation. An intracellular metabolic defect seems to be involved.     

Dissociation by cytochalasin B of movement, DNA synthesis and transport in 3T3 cells.

Cytochalasin B was used as a tool to study the inter-relationships between cell movement, the reinitiated DNA synthesis and the enhanced transport of specific small molecules stimulated by serum in quiescent 3T3 cells. Cytochalasin at concentrations of less than 1 mug/ml inhibits serum-stimulated movement within the monolayer and migration into a wound. Even at ten times this concentration there is little effect on the increase in DNA in the culture, indicating that movement away from neighboring cells is not required for the initiation of DNA synthesis. While DNA synthesis is not inhibited by concentrations of cytochalasin up to 10 mug/ml, the increased thymidine transport which is associated with the onset of the S phase of the cell cycle is inhibited and DNA synthesis cannot be measured by the labelling of nuclei with radioactive thymidine. Cytochalasin has a differential effect on the early transport changes produced by serum addition. Glucose transport is inhibited by low concentrations of the drug (less than 1 mug/ml) while the enhanced uptake of phosphate and uridine is unaffected by a 10-fold increase in concentration. Although the doses of cytochalasin required for 50% inhibition of hexose uptake and of cell movement are the same, no causal relationship between sugar transport and locomotion can be demonstrated. Cytochalasin affects membrane functions in at least two different ways. The drug inhibits the uptake of glucose directly but affects only the S-phase associated increase in thymidine transport.     

Glucose transport in Entamoeba histolytica

That the uptake of glucose by the parasitic amoeba Entamoeba histolytica occurs by an equilibrative transport system is supported by the following observations. 1. The rate of glucose uptake is several orders of magnitude greater than the uptake by pinocytosis. 2. The uptake of glucose exhibits saturation kinetics, with K(m)=1.6mm and V(max.) ranging from 2 to 5mumol/min per ml of cells at 37 degrees C. 3. The glucose analogues 2-deoxyglucose, 3-O-methylglucose and d-xylose are transported by the glucose system although with much less affinity. Competitive inhibition was observed between pairs of substrates, with K(i) values for any sugar closely coincident with the corresponding K(m). 4. d-Xylose, a sugar not metabolized by the cells, equilibrated with 80% of the amoebal cell water. 5. Cells equilibrated with xylose exhibited countertransport of this sugar against its concentration gradient when another substrate was added to the medium. 6. Blocking of glycolysis by iodoacetate or F(-) has no immediate effect on transport. The presence of a glucose-transport system in E. histolytica contrasts with the situation found in the non-parasitic amoeba, where pinocytosis seems to be the only mechanism of solute uptake.     

Iodoacetate action on endocytic uptake of different fluid-phase markers by OK renal epithelial cells

When grown in monolayer culture, OK cells display endocytic uptake of soluble fluid-phase markers such as lucifer yellow (LY) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The response of this process to metabolic inhibitors was characterized in the present study. Inhibition of cell metabolism by cyanide produced a decrease in cell ATP content which was accompanied by a decrease in uptake of both LY and HRP, confirming the energy-dependence of fluid-phase endocytosis in OK cells. Use of iodoacetate also decreased cell ATP content but its action on endocytosis was unexpected. Cell uptake of HRP was decreased by iodoacetate, similar to the effect of cyanide, but there was a marked increase in LY uptake. Additional studies showed that cyanide did not change intracellular Na+ or intracellular K+ and did not interfere with the Na(+)-dependency of Pi uptake. In contrast, iodoacetate produced a marked increase in Na+, a decrease in K+, and abolished the Na(+)-dependency of Pi transport. The latter was due primarily to a 10-fold increase in Na(+)-independent uptake of Pi. These findings suggest, indirectly, that plasma membrane permeability to Na+, K+, Pi, and small molecules such as LY, may be increased by iodoacetate, possibly through its action as an alkylating agent. This mechanism may allow increased cell uptake of LY through a non-endocytic pathway, and may mask the inhibitory action of iodoacetate on endocytic uptake of LY. These additional effects complicate the use of iodoacetate to interrupt endocytosis.     

Phagocytosis and pinocytosis in Acanthamoeba castellanii.

Endocytotic activity of Acanthamoeba trophozoites attenuates once the cells enter stationary phase in liquid culture. Phagocytosis, monitored by the ingestion of polystyrene latex beads, essentially ceases and the uptake of [3H]inulin, known to be mediated by pinocytosis, is reduced by about half. The reduced pinocytotic activity of stationary-phase cells remains sensitive to respiratory inhibitors. Preincubation of stationary-phase cells in fresh growth medium for 1-5 h before the initiation of endocytosis has no effect on phagocytosis and only marginally increases pinocytosis. This impairment of ingestion, particularly of pinocytosis, may account for the reduced contractile vacuole activity known to characterize stationary-phase cells of this organism. The unequal responses of phagocytosis and pinocytosis to the onset of stationary-phase growth suggest that they are independent processes subject to different controls.     

Detection and isolation of a hepatic membrane receptor for ferritin

A ferritin receptor has been detected on isolated rat hepatocytes and has been partially purified from rat liver using affinity chromatography. Isolated hepatocytes exhibit approximately 30,000 ferritin binding sites/cell with a binding association constant (Ka) of 1 x 10(8) mol-1 liter. A binding assay has been developed which utilizes a hepatic ferritin receptor coupled to a microparticulate support to facilitate separation of bound and free ligand. This method yielded a Ka of 3 x 10(8) mol-1 liter for the purified hepatic ferritin receptor. Binding of ferritin to the insolubilized receptor was partially inhibited by human lactoferrin but unaffected by 200-fold molar excess of bovine albumin, rat transferrin, or human asialoorosomucoid.     

Identification of membrane proteins mediating the interaction of human platelets

Mild acid hydrolysis of phosphomannan secreted by the yeast hansenula holstii (NRRL Y- 2448) produces two phosphomannyl fragments which differ strikingly in their potency as inhibitors of pinocytosis of human β-glucuronidase by human fibroblasts. The larger molecular weight polyphosphomonoester fragment is 100,000-fold more potent an inhibitor of enzyme uptake than the smaller penta-mannosyl-monophosphate fragment. Binding to attached fibroblasts at 3 degrees C was much greater with the polyphosphomonoester fragment than with the pentamannosyl-monophosphate. The larger molecular weight fragment was also subject to adsorptive pinocytosis and was taken up by fibroblasts at a rate 30- fold greater than the rate of uptake of pentamannosyl-monophosphate. Evidence that the polyphosphomonoester fragment is taken up by the phosphomannosyl-recognition system that mediates uptake of lysosomal enzymes includes: (a) its pinocytosis is inhibited by the same compounds that competitively inhibit enzyme pinocytosis (mannose-6-phosphate and phosphomannan from saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant mnn-1); (b) alkaline phosphatase treatment greatly reduces its susceptibility to pinocytosis; (c) its pinocytosis is competitively inhibited by high-uptake human β-glucuronidase; and (d) this inhibition by high-uptake enzyme is dramatically reduced by prior treatment of the enzyme with alkaline phosphatase or endoglycosidase-H. Endoglycosidase-H treatment human β-glucuronidase dramatically reduced its susceptibility to pinocytosis by fibroblasts. The phosphomannosyl components of high- uptake enzyme released by endoglycosidase-H treatment were much less effective inhibitors of polyphosphomonoester pinocytosis than when present on the phosphomannyl-enzyme. These results suggest that high-uptake acid hydrolases may be polyvalent ligands analogous to the polyphosphomonoester mannan fragment whose pinocytosis depends on interaction of more than one phospho-mannosyl recognition marker with pinocytosis receptors on fibroblasts.     

Proteolysis of canine apolipoprotein by acid proteases in canine liver lysosomes.

Canine liver lysosomes were purified by sucrose discontinuous density gradient centrifugation and then ruptured by sonication to obtain the soluble fraction. This soluble lysosomal fraction, which contained a 25-fold increase in acid phosphatase activity per mg of total protein when compared with the original homogenate, was incubated with a subfraction (1.110 less than d less than 1.210 g/cm3, HDL3) of canine high density lipoproteins (HDL) at pH 3.8. HDL3 proteolysis by lysosomal proteases, measured as the release of peptides and amino acids by the ninhydrin reaction, followed hyperbolic curves with straight lines (r = 0.99) obtained on Lineweaver-Burk plots. Km calculated from the Lineweaver-Burk plot was 635 mug of HDL3 protein per 0.5 ml of incubation mixture. Optimum HDL3 proteolysis was observed from pH 3.8 to 4.5. Incubation with the other subcellular organelle fractions did not result in HDL3 proteolysis. To evaluate the effects of enzyme inhibitors, iodoacetate, p-chloromercuribenzoate (both specific for the endopeptidase, cathepsin B (EC 3.4.22.1)) and pepstatin (specific for the endopeptidase, cathepsin D (EC 3.4.23.5) were tested. Iodoacetate and p-chloromercuribenzoate inhibited HDL3 proteolysis 100% and bovine serum albumin proteolysis 65%. Pepstatin inhibited HDL3 proteolysis 45% and bovine serum albumin proteolysis 70%. The in vitro data presented support the hypothesis that hepatic lysosomes play an important role in HDL3 catabolism in the dog. Furthermore, results obtained from enzyme inhibition studies suggest that a specific lysosomal endopeptidase, cathepsin B, may play the key role in HDL3 proteolysis.     

The role of epsilon-amino groups of lysine of human serum albumin in heat-induced protein denaturation. Increased stability of glycosylated and alkylated albumin in aggregation during heating

Human serum albumin was glycosidated by prolonged protein incubation in phosphate buffer, pH 6.8-7.0, with excess glucose at 37 degrees C. epsilon-amino groups of lysine residues of the albumin molecule were alkylated by pyridoxal-5-phosphate in the presence of NaBH4. The solutions of glycosidated and alkylated serum albumin were incubated at different temperature values in the range of 20 to 80 degrees C in phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, over 30 min. The nondenatured monomer and the resulting aggregated were isolated by TSK-HW-55-gel column chromatography and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The stability of modified proteins elevated in parallel to the increase in the number of the ligand molecules covalently bound to albumin amino groups. The 1-3% aqueous solutions of glycosidated serum albumin containing 3-4 glucose residues and those of alkylated albumin containing 6-7 residues of pyridoxal-5-phosphate were stable on heating up to 80 degrees C and did not form aggregates. Under these conditions the initial serum albumin completely aggregated. Preincubation of the aggregated albumin with glucose at 37 degrees C resulted in protein "renaturation" to the monomeric form with a small number of dimers and trimers.     

PINOCYTOSIS IN ACANTHAMOEBA CASTELLANII : Kinetics and Morphology

The uptake of radioactively labeled albumin, inulin, leucine, and glucose by Acanthamoeba castellanii (Neff strain) was measured. The uptake is linear with time and appears to be continuous under the conditions of these experiments. Uptake is abolished at 0°C. No evidence for saturation of the uptake mechanism was obtained with either albumin or leucine. Each of the four tracer molecules enters the ameba at a similar rate when the uptake is calculated as volume of fluid ingested per unit time. The data suggest that each of these molecules enters the cell by pinocytosis. The highest rate of uptake was obtained with cells in their usual culture medium containing proteose peptone, glucose, and salts but pinocytosis also continued at a reduced rate in a simple salt solution. The calculated volume of fluid taken in during pinocytosis in culture medium was about 2 µl/hr per 10⁶ cells. The route of uptake was examined in the electron microscope using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a tracer. HRP activity was found exclusively within membrane profiles within the cytoplasm, confirming the pinocytotic mode of uptake. An estimate of the rate of surface membrane turnover due to pinocytosis was made using the biochemical and morphological data obtained. This estimate suggests that the plasma membrane turnover of one cell is on the order of several times an hour.