Modulation by zinc chloride of concanavalin A binding to rat thymocytes and early inhibition of lectin-induced blastogenesis.

Zinc chloride was shown to modulate the number and mobility of concanavalin A receptors of rat thymocytes at 4 °C. Zinc was able to induce the exposition at the cell surface of the same number of receptors that can be exposed by high doses of concanavalin A. It only weakly restricted their mobility. Moreover, zinc chloride was shown to inhibit rat thymocyte stimulation by succinyl-concanavalin A. This inhibition occurred most effectively if zinc was present during the first few hours after mitogen addition to cell cultures, as assessed by [³H]uridine incorporation in RNA and [³H]thymidine incorporation in DNA. The time at which DNA synthesis took place was not modified by zinc. Blast transformation in the presence of zinc was characterized by fewer blast cells which otherwise appeared identical to blast cells in control cultures. The possible action on membrane-cytoskeleton interactions is discussed.     

Cooperative binding of concanavalin A to thymocytes at 4 degrees C and micro-redistribution of concanavalin A receptors.

The mode of binding of 125I-labelled concanavalin A and succinyl-concanavalin A to rat thymocytes at 4 degrees C was investigated. Simultaneously, the free binding sites of the cell-bound lectin molecules were quantified by horseradish peroxidase binding. Concanavalin A showed cooperative binding while succinyl-concanavalin A did not. The number of molecules of concanavalin A bound to the cell surface when it was saturated was twice the number of molecules of succinyl-concanavalin A. We interpret these results as showing that the binding of native concanavalin A to thymocytes at 4 degrees C brings about a cooperative modification of the membrane which leads to appearance of new receptors. Divalent succinyl-concanavalin A has no such effect. Horseradish peroxidase binding to cell-bound lectin was shown to be related to the immobilization of membrane receptors; the more they are immobilized, the more receptor-associated lectin can bind horseradish peroxidase. This allowed us to establish that post-binding events, which we called micro-redistribution, occurred at 4 degrees C when either concanavalin A or succinyl-concanavalin A binds to cells. A cooperative restriction of the micromobility of cell receptors is produced by increasing concentrations of concanavalin A. Succinyl-concanavalin A does not restrict cell receptor mobility at any concentration tested. The results are discussed in terms of cell stimulation and cell agglutination.     

Accelerated calcium ion uptake in murine thymocytes induced by concanavalin A.

The mechanism of enhancement of Ca2+ uptake by the T cell mitogen concanavalin A (Con A) was studied in murine thymocytes. Native Con A enhanced the rate of Ca2+ uptake as much as 9-fold, an increase being observed within five minutes after Con A addition. The effect of Con A was reversed completely by alpha-methyl mannopyranoside (alpha-MM). Increased Ca2+ uptake was observed with increasing concentrations of Con A, between 2 and 400 microgram/ml, indicating that the stimulation of Ca2+ uptake is not restricted to mitogenic lectin concentrations (0.5-2 microgram/ml). Succinyl Con A exhibits only a slight effect in the same concentration ranges as native Con A. Ca2+ uptake, both in the absence and presence of Con A, is strongly dependent on energy metabolism and is carrier mediated. The augmentation of Ca2+ uptake by native Con A is due to an enhanced Vmax. Uptake of the anion, CrO42-, by thymocytes, found to be a non-saturable process, was also enhanced by Con A. The effect of Con A on CrO42- permeability appears to be independent of its effect on Ca2+ uptake.     

Unidirectional K+ fluxes in rat thymocytes stimulated by concanavalin A.

Unidirectional K+ fluxes were estimated in isolated rat thymocytes by 42K exchange kinetics. The cells were either preloaded with isotope and the release of it measured during incubation for one hour at 38 degrees C, or the cellular uptake of isotope during a similar incubation was measured. The influx rate of untreated thymocytes was: 2.3-10(-12) moles cm-2-s-1 and efflux rate: 1.8-10(-12) moles cm-2-s-1. When con A was added to the cells, influx was raised 74% and efflux 65%. Maximal effect was obtained when the concentration of con A was 15 mug/ml, but concentrations as low as 0.75 mug/ml were effective. Hydrocortisone resistant thymocytes responded at least was well as untreated cells to con A, which also raised RNA synthesis rate in the former cells 2.5 times. Using an extracellular marker, 51CrEDTA, intracellular concentrations of some ions was estimated in the thymocytes after one hour incubation: Na+: 30 mmoles/kg water, K+: 177 mmoles/kg water and Cl-:43 mmoles/kg water. Cellular water content: 69%. These values were not found significantly altered when con A was present. Since con A raised influx and efflux to the same extent and no net flux of K+ could be detected, it is proposed that both active and passive transport of K+ was increased by con A. The increased fluxes induced by con A, can apparently not be reversed by removal of con A from the incubation medium or by addition of the inhibiting hapten, alpha-methyl-D-mannoside.     

Effect of concanavalin A on the level of sulfhydryl groups in thymocytes

Fluorescein mercury acetate (FMA), a fluorescent probe, is used for the investigation of SH-groups of thymocytes' plasma membrane. It is found that mitogenic lectin Con A decreases the amount of membrane SH-groups and increases the fluorescence polarization degree of FMA (PFMA). The value of PFMA increases also during the incubation of cells with potassium ferricyanide and H2O2 but it decreases in the presence of NADH. The analysis of the data permits a conclusion that the thymocyte activation by Con A results in the selective oxidation of certain SH-groups with the formation of disulphide cross-linking between the plasma membrane receptors bound with the lectin molecules.     

The importance of membrane-bound ribosomes during the activation of thymocytes by concanavalin A.

Concanavalin A (ConA) seleclively enhanced the incorporation of [³H]leucine into a range of proteins of thymocytes incubated in vitro. At the same time ConA seemed to selectively enhance the synthesis of proteins that occurred on membrane-bound ribosomes (extracted from the mitochondrial fraclion with 1% Triton X-100 buffer). The protein synthetic ‘commitment’ of ribosomes was assessed from the stability of ribosomes in 500 mM KC1 before and after puromycin treatment. This indirect method was necessary because of some polysome degradation in the case of membrane-bound ribosomes. Membrane-bound ribosomes were found to be more than 3 times as ‘committed’ as were free ribosomes and ConA increased their commitment by 37–54%. These observations indicate the potential importance of membrane-bound ribosomes in the regulation of thymocyte protein synthesis, particularly during ‘antigenic’ activation, even though this ribosome fraction constituted less than 20% of the total ribosome population.     

Quantitative analysis of the proliferative activity induced in murine thymocytes by concanavalin A.

A quantitative analysis of the proliferative response induced in murine thymocytes by concanavalin A (Con A) is described. Exogenous 3H-thymidine labels 35 to 40% of the newly incorporated TMP residues under optimal conditions. The density label 5-bromo-2-deoxuridine (BrUdR) does not affect DNA metabolism in this system. With this nucleoside, it is shown that newly synthesized DNA is the result of semi-conservative replication, not repair. Double labeling of DNA provides a monitor for cells traversing the cell cycle (S phase to subsequent S phase). The average cycle time is 12.5 hr, and the shortest cell cycle time is 10 hr. The growing fraction of active cells is about two-thirds. The data show that different subpopulations of thymocytes begin proliferating after various times in culture. Once effectively stimulated by Con A, some of the cells can traverse the cell cycle at least twice more after the mitogen is removed.     

Metabolism of extracellular adenine nucleotides and adenosine uptake by rat thymocytes; the effect of concanavalin A

Thymocytes under cultivation conditions are established to catabolyze rapidly extracellular ATP and AMP which do not penetrate through the plasma membrane. Thymocytes uptake adenosine produced from adenosine nucleotides. Concanavalin A inhibits the extracellular hydrolysis of AMP and adenosine uptake by thymocytes.     

Periodate induced cross-linking of concanavalin A-reactive membrane proteins of rabbit thymocytes.

Purified plasma membranes of rabbit thymocytes are exposed to sodium periodate and galactose oxidase at conditions similar to those used to induce mitogenic transformation of lymphocytes. The membrane proteins are then fractionated by dodecyl sulfate poly-acrylamide gel electrophoresis. At concentrations of 0.005 M, Na IO4 cross-links 55,000 D and 110,000 D glycoproteins which are known to specifically bind concanavalin A. Galactose oxidase has a similar cross-linking effect, but, at the same time causes proteolytic degradation of membrane proteins. Our data indicate that oxidizing agents, like NaIO4 and galactose oxidase, can indeed cross-link receptors of the thymocyte plasma membrane as has often been proposed as a possible mechanism of their action.     

Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol suppresses concanavalin A induced increase in cytoplasmic free calcium in mouse thymocytes.

It has been shown that delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) suppresses thymocyte, lymph node, and splenic lymphocyte proliferation in response to a mitogenic stimulus. It has also been reported that increases occur in the cytosolic free calcium concentration (Ca2+) in mitogen treated lymphocytes. In an attempt to understand a portion of the molecular basis of the THC induced suppression of lymphocyte proliferation, we have examined the effects of THC on the Concanavalin A (Con A) induced cytosolic free Ca2+ mobilization in mouse thymocytes measured by fluorescent Ca2+ probes and spectrofluorometry. The results show that a 10 minute pretreatment with THC suppresses the normal rise in intracellular free Ca2+ in response to Con A. A THC concentration of 4 micrograms/ml (13 microM) was suppressive and the drug vehicle, DMSO, had no effect. In addition, we found that THC pretreatment did not inhibit the binding of FITC labeled Con A to the thymocytes suggesting that the drug did not interfere with lectin binding to the cell surface. To further define the nature of the Ca2+ response affected by THC, mouse thymocytes containing fura-2 were exposed to Con A either in the presence or absence of Ca(2+)-containing medium. It was observed that THC abrogated both intracellular release (measured in Ca(2+)-free medium) as well as extracellular Ca2+ influx. These results suggest that a portion of the proliferation defect in THC treated lymphocytes may be related to a drug induced inhibition of Ca2+ mobilization that normally occurs following mitogen treatment.     

Phosphoinositide metabolism and the calcium response to concanavalin A in S49 T-lymphoma cells. A comparison with thymocytes.

Comparisons were made between transformed S49 T-lymphoma cells and normal murine thymocytes in their polyphosphoinositides, inositol polyphosphates and cytosolic free calcium concentrations ([Ca2+]i), and the effects of the T-cell mitogen concanavalin A (Con A) on these properties. 1. The ratios of the polyphosphoinositides to phosphatidylinositol in both exponential-phase S49 cells and mitogen-stimulated thymocytes (G1 phase) were greater than in quiescent (G0-phase) thymocytes. 2. In response to Con A, the amount of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdInsP2) in S49 cells decreased slightly (17% in 30 min), and this was sufficient to account for the small amounts of inositol phosphates that accumulated. In contrast, it has been shown previously that Con A stimulates a rapid resynthesis of PtdInsP2 in thymocytes and the amounts of inositol phosphates released rapidly exceed the steady-state amount of the PtdInsP2 precursor [Taylor, Metcalfe, Hesketh, Smith & Moore (1984) Nature (London) 312, 462-465]. 3. The [Ca2+]i did not differ significantly in S49 cells and thymocytes before the addition of Con A, and the increases in [Ca2+]i in response to Con A were similar in both types of cell. 4. The [Ca2+]i increase in response to Con A was inhibited by similar concentrations of intracellular cyclic AMP (2-10 microM) in S49 cells and thymocytes, suggesting that similar regulatory mechanisms act on this response in both types of cell. The data demonstrate that the basal [Ca2+]i and phosphoinositide metabolism is similar in both the normal cells and their transformed counterparts. In addition, they suggest that the activated Con A receptors generate very similar signals in the two cell types, and that any perturbations of primary signal transduction to the secondary phosphoinositide and [Ca2+]i responses in the S49 phenotype are quantitative rather than qualitative.     

Effect of Ca2+-ionophore and concanavalin A on potassium permeability and membrane potential of thymocytes

The existence of Ca2+-dependent K+ channels in rat thymocytes, their activation by Ca2+-ionophore A23187 and concanavalin A, and inhibition by EGTA and quinine have been demonstrated using K+-electrode and fluorescent potential probe diS-C3-(5). The results indicate that Ca2+-dependent K+ channels take part in the increase of potassium permeability, one of the early events in mitogenic stimulation of lymphocytes.     

Trypsin-treated serum potentiates thymidine incorporation into concanavalin a stimulated thymocytes

When either heat-inactivated rat serum or culture medium supplemented with 5% rat serum is incubated with trypsin at 37° for 1–16 hours, activity is generated which potentiates the incorporation of (³H) thymidine (³H-TdR) into concanavalin A (con A) stimulated rat thymocytes. Evidence is presented that the potentiating activity is not due to residual trypsin following its sequential inactivation with soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI) and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF).     

Calcium regulates inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate production in lysed thymocytes and in intact cells stimulated with concanavalin A.

Lysed mouse thymocytes release [3H]inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate from [3H]inositol-labelled phosphatidyl inositol 4,5-bisphosphate in response to GTP gamma S, and rapidly phosphorylate [3H]inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate to [3H]inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate. The rate of phosphorylation is increased approximately 7-fold when the free [Ca2+] in the lysate is increased from 0.1 to 1 microM, the range in which the cytosolic free [Ca2+] increases in intact thymocytes in response to the mitogen concanavalin A. Stimulation of the intact cells with concanavalin A also results in a rapid and sustained increase in the amount of inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate, and a much smaller transient increase in 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Lowering [Ca2+] in the medium from 0.4 mM to 0.1 microM before addition of concanavalin A reduces accumulation of inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate by at least 3-fold whereas the increase in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate is sustained rather than transient. The data imply that in normal medium the activity of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate kinase increases substantially in response to the rise in cytosolic free [Ca2+] generated by concanavalin A, accounting for both the transient accumulation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate and the sustained high levels of inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate. Inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate is a strong candidate for the second messenger for Ca2+ entry across the plasma membrane. This would imply that the inositol polyphosphates regulate both Ca2+ entry and intracellular Ca2+ release, with feedback control of the inositol polyphosphate levels by Ca2+.     

The effect of concanavalin A on the rat electro-olfactogram. Differential inhibition of odorant response.

When the rat olfactory mucosa is treated with concanavalin A, it subsequently shows diminished sensitivity towards 60% of the 112 odorants tested (as judged by the amplitude of the electro-olfactogram response). Odorants containing four to six carbon atoms tend to show the largest (absolute) diminutions, suggesting a receptor for this kind of odorant, although the structural specificity is weak. The receptor seems to be of particular importance in the detection of thiols, carboxylic acids and hydrocarbons of the above size, since these compounds loose the highest proportion of their original signal. The concanavalin A appears to be binding to the glycan of one or more cell-surface proteins. The binding may be at, or close to, at least one odorant receptor.     

The effect of concanavalin A on the rat electro-olfactogram at various odorant concentrations.

We have studied the effect of concanavalin A (Con A) on the rat electro-olfactogram response to several odorants. Each odorant was applied over a range of concentrations. For hydrophobic odorants whose response was affected by Con A, the diminution in response was maximal at odorant concentrations of about 1 microM in the olfactory mucus. The (odour) concentration-dependence of the change is compatible with the idea that Con A inactivates one or more types of olfactory receptor that normally bind odorants with dissociation constants of the order of 100 nM. With hydrophilic odorants we had to apply concentrations very much higher than this to elicit any response from the system. At these high concentrations we could observe Con A-induced diminutions in response.