Exosome formation during maturation of mammalian and avian reticulocytes: evidence that exosome release is a major route for externalization of obsolete membrane proteins

We have assessed whether exosome formation is a significant route for loss of plasma membrane functions during sheep reticulocyte maturation in vitro. Although the recovery of transferrin binding activity in exosomes is at best approximately 25-30% of the lost activity, recoveries of over 50% of the lost receptor can be obtained if 125I-labelled transferrin receptor is measured using an that receptor instability may contribute to the less than quantitative recovery of the transferrin receptor. Significantly higher (75-80%) levels of the nucleoside transporter can be recovered in exosomes during red cell maturation using 3H-nitrobenzylthioinosine binding to measure the nucleoside transporter. These data suggest that exosome formation is a major route for removal of plasma membrane proteins during reticulocyte maturation and plasma membrane remodelling. We have also shown that both in vivo and in vitro, embryonic chicken reticulocytes form exosomes which contain the transferrin receptor. Thus, exosome formation is not restricted to mammalian red cells, but also occurs in red cells, which retain organelles, such as nuclei and mitochondria, into the mature red cell stage.     

In vitro acylation of the transferrin receptor

In vitro fatty acylation of the transferrin receptor with [3H]tetradecanoate or [3H]tetradecanoyl-CoA has been demonstrated for isolated sheep reticulocyte plasma membranes. Although less than 5% of the receptor was labeled in vitro, the acylated protein could be readily observed after sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis. The acylated transferrin receptor in the reticulocyte membrane was specifically precipitated with a monoclonal antibody and was absent from mature red cell membranes. Incorporation of fatty acid was dependent on ATP, and fatty acid was 5-10 times less effective as an acyl donor than the acyl-CoA derivative, pointing out the strong potential of this reagent for in vitro acylation of membrane proteins. During in vitro maturation of reticulocytes, the receptor is released in vesicles into the incubation medium. Using reticulocytes labeled with [3H]tetradecanoate, it can be shown that the 3H-labeled receptor is transferred from the cells to the vesicles without loss of acyl groups, suggesting that the vesiculation process does not involve deacylation.     

Effect of pH and iron content of transferrin on its binding to reticulocyte receptors

The effect of pH on the binding of apotransferrin and diferric transferrin to reticulocyte membrane receptors was investigated using rabbit transferrin and rabbit reticulocyte ghosts, intact cells and a detergent-solubilized extract of reticulocyte membranes. The studies were performed within the pH range 4.5–8.0. The binding of apotransferrin to ghosts and membrane extracts and its uptake by intact reticulocytes was high at pH levels below 6.5 but decreased to very low values as the pH was raised above 6.5. By contrast, diferric transferrin showed a high level of binding and uptake between pH 7.0 and 8.0 in addition to binding only slightly less than did apotransferrin at pH values below 6.5. It is proposed that the high affinity of apotransferrin for its receptor at lower pH values and low affinity at pH 7.0 or above allow transferrin to remain bound to the receptor when it is within acidic intracellular vesicles, even after loss of its iron, but also allow ready release from the cell membrane when it is exteriorized by exocytosis after iron uptake. The binding of transferrin to the receptor throughout the endocytosis-exocytosis cycle may protect it from proteolytic breakdown and aid in its recycling to the outer cell membrane     

Hepatocytes and reticulocytes have different mechanisms for the uptake of iron from transferrin

The uptake of iron from transferrin by isolated rat hepatocytes and rat reticulocytes has been compared. The results show the following. 1) Reticulocytes and hepatocytes express plasma membrane NADH:ferricyanide oxidoreductase activity. The activity, expressed per 10(6) cells, is approximately 60-fold higher in the hepatocyte than in the reticulocyte. 2) Hepatocyte plasma membrane NADH:ferricyanide oxidoreductase activity and uptake of iron from transferrin are stimulated by low oxygen concentration and inhibited by iodoacetate. In reticulocytes, similar changes are seen in NADH:ferricyanide oxidoreductase activity, but not on iron uptake. 3) Ferricyanide inhibits the uptake of iron from transferrin by hepatocytes, but has no effect on iron uptake by reticulocytes. 4) Perturbants of endocytosis and endosomal acidification have no inhibitory effect on hepatocyte iron uptake, but inhibit reticulocyte iron uptake. 5) Hydrophilic iron chelators effectively inhibit hepatocyte iron uptake, but have no effect on reticulocyte iron uptake. Hydrophobic iron chelators generally inhibit both hepatocyte and reticulocyte iron uptake. 6) Divalent metal cations with ionic radii similar to or less than the ferrous iron ion are effective inhibitors of hepatocyte iron uptake with no effect on reticulocyte iron uptake. The results are compatible with hepatocyte uptake of iron from transferrin by a reductive process at the cell surface and reticulocyte iron uptake by receptor-mediated endocytosis.     

Isolation and characterization of a transferrin binding protein from rat plasma

A transferrin binding protein was isolated from normal rat placenta and from iron-deficient rat plasma using a human transferrin affinity column. The yield of the isolated pure protein from iron-deficient rat plasma was about 0.5 micrograms/ml plasma. The major protein had a molecular mass of 85 kDa and contained carbohydrate. Reduction with mercaptoethanol did not change the molecular mass of the plasma transferrin binding protein whereas the native placental transferrin receptor of 180 kDa was reduced to 90 kDa. The transferrin binding protein reacted with both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies raised against rat transferrin receptor. Immunoblotting of both normal and iron deficient rat plasma showed that the transferrin binding protein had a molecular mass of 85 kDa. In vitro digestion of purified rat placental transferrin receptor and red blood cells with trypsin provided an identical peptide profile, suggesting that the transferrin binding protein in rat plasma is derived from proteolysis of the extracellular portion of the transferrin receptor of the erythroid tissues.     

Electron microscopic evidence for externalization of the transferrin receptor in vesicular form in sheep reticulocytes

Using ferritin-labeled protein A and colloidal gold-labeled anti-rabbit IgG, the fate of the sheep transferrin receptor has been followed microscopically during reticulocyte maturation in vitro. After a few minutes of incubation at 37 degrees C, the receptor is found on the cell surface or in simple vesicles of 100-200 nm, in which the receptor appears to line the limiting membrane of the vesicles. With time (60 min or longer), large multivesicular elements (MVEs) appear whose diameter may reach 1-1.5 micron. Inside these large MVEs are round bodies of approximately 50-nm diam that bear the receptor at their external surfaces. The limiting membrane of the large MVEs is relatively free from receptor. When the large MVEs fuse with the plasma membrane, their contents, the 50-nm bodies, are released into the medium. The 50-nm bodies appear to arise by budding from the limiting membrane of the intracellular vesicles. Removal of surface receptor with pronase does not prevent exocytosis of internalized receptor. It is proposed that the exocytosis of the approximately 50-nm bodies represents the mechanism by which the transferrin receptor is shed during reticulocyte maturation.     

The bacterial receptor protein, transferrin-binding protein B, does not independently facilitate the release of metal ion from human transferrin.

Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria of the Pasteurellaceae and Neisseriaceae acquire iron for growth from host transferrin through the action of specific surface receptors. Iron is removed from transferrin by the receptor at the cell surface and is transported across the outer membrane to the periplasm. A periplasmic binding protein-dependent pathway subsequently transports iron into the cell. The transferrin receptor is composed of a largely surface-exposed lipoprotein, transferrin binding protein B, and a TonB-dependent integral outer membrane protein, transferrin binding protein A. To examine the role of transferrin binding protein B in the iron removal process, complexes of recombinant transferrin binding protein B and transferrin were prepared and compared with transferrin in metal-binding and -removal experiments. A polyhistidine-tagged form of recombinant transferrin binding protein B was able to purify a complex with transferrin that was largely monodisperse by dynamic light scattering analysis. Gallium was used instead of iron in the metal-binding studies, since it resulted in increased stability of recombinant transferrin binding protein B in the complex. Difference absorption spectra were used to monitor removal of gallium by nitrilotriacetic acid. Kinetic and equilibrium binding studies indicated that transferrin binds gallium more tightly in the presence of transferrin binding protein B. Thus, transferrin binding protein B does not facilitate metal ion removal and additional components are required for this process.     

Overexpression of hemochromatosis protein, HFE, alters transferrin recycling process in human hepatoma cells

HFE is a MHC class 1-like protein that is mutated in hereditary hemochromatosis. In order to elucidate the role of HFE protein on cellular iron metabolism, functional studies were carried out in human hepatoma cells (HLF) overexpressing a fusion gene of HFE and green fluorescent protein (GFP). The expression of HFE-GFP was found to be localized on cell membrane and perinuclear compartment by fluorescent microscopy. By co-immunoprecipitation and Western blotting, HFE-GFP protein formed a complex with endogenous transferrin receptor and beta(2)-microglobulin, suggesting that this fusion protein has the function of HFE reported previously. We then examined the (59)Fe uptake and release, and internalization and recycling of (125)I-labeled transferrin in order to elucidate the functional roles of HFE in the cell system. In the transfectants, HFE protein decreased the rate of transferrin receptor-dependent iron ((59)Fe) uptake by the cells, but did not change the rate of iron release, indicating that HFE protein decreased the rate of iron influx. Scatchard analysis of transferrin binding to HFE-transfected cells showed an elevation of the dissociation constant from 1.9 to 4. 3 nM transferrin, indicating that HFE protein decreased the affinity of transferrin receptor for transferrin, while the number of transferrin receptors decreased from 1.5x10(5)/cell to 1. 2x10(5)/cell. In addition, the rate of transferrin recycling, especially return from endosome to surface, was decreased in the HFE-transfected cells by pulse-chase study with (125)I-labeled transferrin. Our results strongly suggest an additional role of HFE on transferrin receptor recycling in addition to the decrease of receptor affinity, resulting in the reduced cellular iron.     

Reconstitution of the transferrin receptor in lipid vesicles. Effect of cholesterol on the binding of transferrin

Purified rabbit reticulocyte transferrin receptors were incorporated into phosphatidylcholine vesicles containing varying amounts of cholesterol. The binding of transferrin to the receptor in the reconstituted vesicles had three distinct characteristics: (1) The binding of transferrin exhibited the two components characteristic of transferrin binding to erythroid cells, a saturable, specific component and a nonsaturable, nonspecific component. (2) Transferrin binding exhibited positive cooperativity at low cholesterol/phospholipid (C/P) molar ratios. However, the cooperativity diminished and then disappeared as the C/P molar ratios were increased to the levels found in circulating red blood cells. (3) The amount of specific transferrin binding to the reconstituted vesicles also decreased as the C/P molar ratio was increased. These results indicate that in the reconstituted system the lipid environment plays a significant role in the expression of transferrin receptors.     

Crystal structure of the N-lobe of lactoferrin binding protein B from Moraxella bovis

Lactoferrin (Lf) is a bi-lobed, iron-binding protein found on mucosal surfaces and at sites of inflammation. Gram-negative pathogens from the Neisseriaceae and Moraxellaceae families are capable of using Lf as a source of iron for growth through a process mediated by a bacterial surface receptor that directly binds host Lf. This receptor consists of an integral outer membrane protein, lactoferrin binding protein A (LbpA), and a surface lipoprotein, lactoferrin binding protein B (LbpB). The N-lobe of the homologous transferrin binding protein B, TbpB, has been shown to facilitate transferrin binding in the process of iron acquisition. Currently there is little known about the role of LbpB in iron acquisition or how Lf interacts with the bacterial receptor proteins. No structural information on any LbpB or domain is available. In this study, we express and purify from Escherichia coli the full-length LbpB and the N-lobe of LbpB from the bovine pathogen Moraxella bovis for crystallization trials. We demonstrate that M. bovis LbpB binds to bovine but not human Lf. We also report the crystal structure of the N-terminal lobe of LbpB from M. bovis and compare it with the published structures of TbpB to speculate on the process of Lf mediated iron acquisition.     

Receptor-mediated endocytosis of asialoglycoproteins and diferric transferrin is independent of second messengers.

The intracellular concentrations of cyclic AMP, polyphosphoinosides and free Ca2+ were unaffected during receptor-mediated endocytosis of the neoglycoprotein beta-D-galactosyl-bovine serum albumin (D-Gal-BSA) by isolated hepatocytes. Elevation of either intracellular cyclic AMP by glucagon or inositol phosphates and Ca2+ by vasopressin were without effect on the binding and internalization of D-Gal-BSA. The normal response of this cell to glucagon- and vasopressin-mediated mobilization of these second messengers was not modified in the presence of saturating concentrations of D-Gal-BSA. Receptor-mediated endocytosis of diferric transferrin (Fe3+-TRF) by both hepatocytes and HL60 cells was also shown to be independent of second messengers, although the unequivocal expression of the transferrin receptor by hepatocytes could not be satisfactorily demonstrated. The results of the present study are at variance with a suggested regulatory role for second messengers in receptor-mediated endocytosis of serum-derived ligands such as asialoglycoproteins and Fe3+-TRF. Receptor phosphorylation by protein kinase C in particular has been proposed to regulate the distribution and recycling of these receptors in actively endocytosing cells. We would suggest that if receptor phosphorylation has a regulatory role during endocytosis, it is likely to be mediated by a second-messenger-independent protein kinase analogous to casein kinase II. An alternative interpretation is that phosphorylation has no physiological significance and receptor-mediated endocytosis is a constitutive event coupled to membrane turnover.     

Receptor-mediated endocytosis and exocytosis of transferrin in Concanavalin A-stimulated rat lymphoblasts

Iron-loaded transferrin has been shown to be necessary for the support of cell proliferation in culture. This function depends upon interaction of transferrin with a specific high-affinity cell surface receptor. The present report is directed toward determining the consequences of the interaction of transferrin with this receptor on Concanavalin A-stimulated rat lymphocytes. Three specific questions have been posed: (a) Is transferrin endocytosed following binding to its specific receptor in a temperature-dependent fashion? (b) Following endocytosis, is the carrier protein released from the cell in a structurally and functionally intact form? and (c) Is the cell surface transferrin receptor also endocytosed following ligand binding? The results provide affirmative answers to all questions. Using two independent probes of the cell surface versus intracellular location of transferrin we observed that cell-bound transferrin moved from the cell surface to the inside of the cell and subsequently back to the medium. This process occurred in a temperature-dependent fashion. When cells containing only intracellular transferrin were further incubated at 37°C approximately 80% of cell-bound transferrin was released to the medium. Nearly all of this material retained reactivity with antibody to transferrin. In addition, exocytosed transferrin exhibited qualitatively and quantitatively equivalent binding reactivity with the transferrin receptor and showed identical electophoretic mobility on SDS gel electrophoresis. Finally, using similar methodology to that employed with transferrin itself, we provide evidence that the specific receptor is also endocytosed.     

Physical characterization of the transferrin receptor in human placentae

The physical properties and binding characteristics of the solubilized transferrin receptor isolated from the placental brush-border membrane of a human trophoblast cell were investigated. The receptor protein was isolated from solubilized 125I-labeled membranes by immunoprecipitation with anti-human transferrin in the presence of saturating amounts of human transferrin. Gel filtration on acrylamide agarose (AcA-22) at 23 degrees C in the absence of transferrin indicates the transferrin receptor has a Stokes radius of 4.6 nm. In the presence of transferrin, the Stokes radius of the receptor shifts to 6.3 nm. Sucrose density centrifugation studies indicate that it has a sedimentation coefficient of 9.8 S in the absence of transferrin and 11.2 S in the presence of transferrin. The molecular weight for the transferrin free receptor is calculated to be 213,000. Upon incubation with transferrin, it increases to 364,000. This is consistent with the idea that the active form of the solubilized receptor is a dimer and the dimer is in turn capable of binding two transferrin molecules.     

Promotion of transferrin folding by cyclic interactions with calnexin and calreticulin.

Calnexin, an abundant membrane protein, and its lumenal homolog calreticulin interact with nascent proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum. Because they have an affinity for monoglucosylated N-linked oligosaccharides which can be regenerated from the aglucosylated sugar, it has been speculated that this repeated oligosaccharide binding may play a role in nascent chain folding. To investigate the process, we have developed a novel assay system using microsomes freshly prepared from pulse labeled HepG2 cells. Unlike the previously described oxidative folding systems which required rabbit reticulocyte lysates, the oxidative folding of transferrin in isolated microsomes could be carried out in a defined solution. In this system, addition of a glucose donor, UDP-glucose, to the microsomes triggered glucosylation of transferrin and resulted in its cyclic interaction with calnexin and calreticulin. When the folding of transferrin in microsomes was analyzed, UDP-glucose enhanced the amount of folded transferrin and reduced the disulfide-linked aggregates. Analysis of transferrin folding in briefly heat-treated microsomes revealed that UDP-glucose was also effective in elimination of heat-induced misfolding. Incubation of the microsomes with an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, castanospermine, prolonged the association of transferrin with the chaperones and prevented completion of folding and, importantly, aggregate formation, particularly in the calnexin complex. Accordingly, we demonstrate that repeated binding of the chaperones to the glucose of the transferrin sugar moiety prevents and corrects misfolding of the protein.     

Gonococcal transferrin-binding protein 1 is required for transferrin utilization and is homologous to TonB-dependent outer membrane receptors.

The pathogenic Neisseria species are capable of utilizing transferrin as their sole source of iron. A neisserial transferrin receptor has been identified and its characteristics defined; however, the biochemical identities of proteins which are required for transferrin receptor function have not yet been determined. We identified two iron-repressible transferrin-binding proteins in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, TBP1 and TBP2. Two approaches were taken to clone genes required for gonococcal transferrin receptor function. First, polyclonal antiserum raised against TBP1 was used to identify clones expressing TBP1 epitopes. Second, a wild-type gene copy was cloned that repaired the defect in a transferrin receptor function (trf) mutant. The clones obtained by these two approaches were shown to overlap by DNA sequencing. Transposon mutagenesis of both clones and recombination of mutagenized fragments into the gonococcal chromosome generated mutants that showed reduced binding of transferrin to whole cells and that were incapable of growth on transferrin. No TBP1 was produced in these mutants, but TBP2 expression was normal. The DNA sequence of the gene encoding gonococcal TBP1 (tbpA) predicted a protein sequence homologous to the Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida TonB-dependent outer membrane receptors. Thus, both the function and the predicted protein sequence of TBP1 were consistent with this protein serving as a transferrin receptor.     

Loss of the transferrin receptor during the maturation of sheep reticulocytes in vitro. An immunological approach.

Sheep reticulocyte-specific antiserum absorbed with mature sheep red cells has been used to isolate and identify reticulocyte-specific plasma-membrane proteins and to monitor their loss during incubation in vitro. Specific precipitation of labelled plasma-membrane proteins is obtained when detergent-solubilized extracts of 125I-labelled reticulocyte plasma membranes are incubated with this antiserum and Staphyloccus aureus, but not when mature-cell plasma membranes are treated similarly. During maturation of reticulocytes in vitro (up to 4 days at 37 degrees C), there is a marked decrease in the immunoprecipitable material. The anti-reticulocyte-specific antibodies have been identified as anti-(transferrin receptor) antibodies. By using these antibodies as a probe, the transferrin receptor has been shown to have a subunit molecular weight of 93 000. The data are consistent with reported molecular weights of this receptor and with the proposal that the receptor may exist as a dimer, since [125I]iodotyrosyl-peptide maps of the 93 000- and 186 000-mol.wt. components isolated are shown to be identical. Evidence is presented for the transmembrane nature of the receptor and for the presence of different binding sites for transferrin and these antibodies on the receptor.     

Characteristics of the interaction between Hsc70 and the transferrin receptor in exosomes released during reticulocyte maturation

The transferrin receptor (TfR) of reticulocytes is released in vesicular form (exosomes) during their maturation to erythrocytes. The heat shock cognate 70-kDa protein (Hsc70) has been demonstrated to interact with the cytosolic domain of the TfR and could thus trigger the receptor toward this secretion pathway. We investigated the characteristics of the interaction between Hsc70 and the TfR in exosomes with an in vitro binding assay using TfR immobilized on Sepharose beads and purified Hsc70. The results show that Hsc70 binds to exosomal TfR with characteristics expected of a chaperone/peptide interaction. We demonstrated that heat-denatured luciferase competed for in vitro binding, dependent on the nucleotide bound to Hsc70, and that this interaction activates the ATPase activity of Hsc70. Moreover, we used immunosuppressive agents that interact with Hsc70, thus decreasing Hsc70 binding to TfR in our in vitro binding assay and enabling us to assess the role of this interaction in vivo during reticulocyte maturation.     

Role of plasma membrane phospholipids in the uptake and release of transferrin and its iron by reticulocytes

Summary The involvement of membrane phospholipids in the utilization of transferrinbound iron by reticulocytes was investigated using [⁵⁹Fe]- and [¹²⁵I]-labelled transferrin and rabbit reticulocytes which had been incubated with phospholipas A. Transferrin and iron uptake and release were all inhibited by phospholipas A which produced a marked decrease in the relative abundance of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine and equivalent increases in their lyso-compounds in the reticulocyte plasma membrane. There was a close correlation between the iron uptake rate and the rate and amount of transferrin uptake and the amount of the lysophospholipids in the membrane. Incubation of the cells with exogenous lysophosphatidylethanolamine or lysophosphatidylcholine also produced inhibition of iron and transferrin uptake. The reduced uptake produced by phospholipase A could be reversed if the lyso-compounds were removed by fatty acid-free bovine serum albumin or by reincubation in medium 199. Treatment with phospholipase A was shown to increase the amount of transferrin bound by specific receptors on the reticulocyte membrane but to inhibit the entry of transferrin into the cells.The present investigation provides evidence that the phospholipid composition of the cell membrane influences the interaction of transferrin with its receptors, the processes of endocytosis and exocytosis whereby transferrin enters and leaves the cells, and the mechanism by which iron is mobilized between its binding to transferrin and incorporation into heme. In addition, the results indicate that phosphatidylethanolamine is present in the outer half of the lipid bilayer of reticulocyte membrane.     

Identification of the segments of the mouse transferrin receptor 1 required for mouse mammary tumor virus infection

Most enveloped viruses enter cells through binding of virion surface envelope proteins to receptors found on the plasma membrane of the cell. The beta retrovirus mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) uses transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) to enter cells in a pH-dependent mechanism, probably co-trafficking with TfR1 to an acidic compartment where virus entry occurs. We have shown here that, although mouse and rat TfR1 function as entry receptors, cat, dog, hamster, or human TfR1s do not support MMTV infection. We also demonstrated that MMTV entry is independent of transferrin, iron, and the TfR1 cofactor hereditary hematochromatosis HFE protein. Using chimeric mouse/human hybrid TfR1 constructs, we determined the site of interaction with MMTV and found that it maps to two segments physically disparate from the TfR and HFE binding sites. Thus, MMTV has apparently evolved to enter cells independently of the iron status of the host.