Selection of cell lines resistant to anti-transferrin receptor antibody: evidence for a mutation in transferrin receptor.

Some anti-murine transferrin receptor monoclonal antibodies block iron uptake in mouse cell lines and inhibit cell growth. We report here the selection and characterization of mutant murine lymphoma cell lines which escape this growth inhibition by anti-transferrin receptor antibody. Growth assays and immunoprecipitation of transferrin receptor in hybrids between independently derived mutants or between mutants and antibody-susceptible parental cell lines indicate that all of the selected lines have a similar genetic alteration that is codominantly expressed in hybrids. Anti-transferrin receptor antibodies and transferrin itself still bind to the mutant lines with saturating levels and Kd values very similar to those of the parental lines. However, reciprocal clearing experiments by immunoprecipitation and reciprocal blocking of binding to the cell surface with two anti-transferrin receptor antibodies indicate that the mutant lines have altered a fraction of their transferrin receptors such that the growth-inhibiting antibody no longer binds, whereas another portion of their transferrin receptors is similar to those of the parental lines and binds both antibodies. These results argue that the antibody-selected mutant cell lines are heterozygous in transferrin receptor expression, probably with a mutation in one of the transferrin receptor structural genes.     

Characterization of Transferrin Receptor in an Immortalized Cell Line of Rat Brain Endothelial Cells,RBE4

Abstract

The content and distribution of transferrin receptors in an immortalized cell line, RBE4, derived from rat cerebral capillary endothelial cells was investigated using the monoclonal antibody MRC OX-26 (OX-26 mAb) specific for the rat transferrin receptor. An ELISA assay was developed with which the OX-26 mAb can be determined quantiatively. The detection limit of the assay was 10 pg or 0.07 fmol of murine antibody. With this technique accurate measurement of native antibody is now possible without the need for isotope labeling (iodination). Immunostaining of confluent monolayers of RBE4 cells using an antibody directed against the tight junction associated protein ZO-1 was indicative for structural intactness of RBE4 cell mono-layers. OX-26 immunostaining demonstrated localization of the transferrin receptor at the plasma membrane and/or in the cytosol. Binding studies showed saturation of OX-26 mAb binding. The antibody binding analysis gave a dissociation constant (K_D) of 17.1 ± 1.2 nmol/l. The total amount of transferrin receptors present per cell was 70,800 ± 17,000. Our results indicate that receptor binding of OX-26 mAb can be studied using an in vitro cell culture model of rat brain mircrovessel endothelium in conjunction with an ELISA technique for detection of native antibody. This approach will be used to investigate mechanisms of transendothelial transport of OX-26 in vitro.     

Transferrin receptor expression during exponential and plateau phase growth of human tumour cells in culture

Transferrin receptor expression by the human tumour cell lines CCRF-CEM leukaemia and PMC-22B melanoma was studied, measuring the specific binding of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labelled transferrin using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. By measuring the fluorescence of cells stained at subsaturating concentrations of conjugate it was possible to calculate the average numbers of receptors per cell and the binding affinity by Scatchard analysis. These values (1.9 × 10⁵ binding sites/cell, K^A 1.2 × 10⁹ M^?1 for CCRF-CEM during exponential growth and 6.9 × 10⁴ binding sites/cell, K_A 1.4 × 10^?9 M^?1 for PMC-22B) are in close agreement with previously published data obtained using radiolabelled transferrin. The present method, however, allowed the transferrin receptor expression of individual cells within a population to be measured and thus it has been possible to test the hypothesis that transferrin receptor is a marker for cycling cells. Frequency-distribution histograms of transferrin receptor showed a wide range of values for both cell lines during exponential growth. When the extreme ranges were sorted and the cells examined for cellular DNA content it was found that those with the highest transferrin receptor expression were enriched with cells in S, G₂, and M phases of the cell cycle, whereas those with low transferrin receptor expression were mainly in G₁. However, two-parameter-correlated dot plots of transferrin receptor expression versus DNA content showed there was considerable overlap between the ranges of receptor expression for the different cell cycle compartments. Using a stathmokinetic method we have measured the proportion of quiescent cells in fed plateau phase cultures. Transferrin receptor expression was downgraded under these growth conditions but, contrary to expectation, the decline affected the population uniformly, without the emergence of a distinct, transferrin receptor-negative subpopulation corresponding to the increasing proportion of quiescent cells. Thus, although transferrin receptor expression bears some relation to cell cycle phase and reflects the proliferative activity of populations of cells, it is incapable of identifying individual cells which are out of cycle.     

Characterization of transferrin receptor in an immortalized cell line of rat brain endothelial cells, RBE4

The content and distribution of transferrin receptors in an immortalized cell line, RBE4, derived from rat cerebral capillary endothelial cells was investigated using the monoclonal antibody MRC OX-26 (OX-26 mAb) specific for the rat transferrin receptor. An ELISA assay was developed with which the OX-26 mAb can be determined quantiatively. The detection limit of the assay was 10 pg or 0.07 fmol of murine antibody. With this technique accurate measurement of native antibody is now possible without the need for isotope labeling (iodination). Immunostaining of confluent monolayers of RBE4 cells using an antibody directed against the tight junction associated protein ZO-1 was indicative for structural intactness of RBE4 cell monolayers. OX-26 immunostaining demonstrated localization of the transferrin receptor at the plasma membrane and/or in the cytosol. Binding studies showed saturation of OX-26 mAb binding. The antibody binding analysis gave a dissociation constant (KD) of 17.1 +/- 1.2 nmol/l. The total amount of transferrin receptors present per cell was 70,800 +/- 17,000. Our results indicate that receptor binding of OX-26 mAb can be studied using an in vitro cell culture model of rat brain mircrovessel endothelium in conjunction with an ELISA technique for detection of native antibody. This approach will be used to investigate mechanisms of transendothelial transport of OX-26 in vitro.     

Effects of epidermal growth factor on transferrin receptor phosphorylation and surface expression in malignant epithelial cells

The transferrin (Tf) receptor is a major transmembrane protein which provides iron for normal and malignant cell growth. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been reported to rapidly and transiently alter the number of surface Tf receptors in normal and transformed epithelial cells. To investigate mechanisms of EGF-induced changes in surface Tf display, EGF effects on surface Tf receptors were compared in two cell lines which differ in their number of EGF receptors and growth responses to EGF. In cloned A431 cells with high receptor numbers which are growth-inhibited by EGF, EGF caused a 50% decrease in Tf receptor expression after 30 min. In contrast, EGF induced a rapid, transitory increase (within 5 min) in the number of surface Tf receptors on KB carcinoma cells which returned to basal levels by 15 min. The observed changes in Tf receptor display were due to altered receptor distribution and not changes in ligand affinity or total cellular transferrin receptor pools. Anti-EGF receptor monoclonal antibody blocked effects of EGF on transferrin receptor expression. Since the antibody is internalized and causes EGF receptor down-regulation, effects on transferrin receptor expression were independent of these events. EGF-induced alterations in Tf receptor display occurred even when cells were pretreated with colchicine, suggesting that changes in surface Tf binding were not mediated by cytoskeletal components. Na orthovanadate, which mimics some early cellular effects of EGF, duplicated EGF's effects on A431 Tf receptors, but had no effect on KB cells, suggesting these responses occur by differing mechanisms. To determine whether EGF caused changes in Tf receptor phosphorylation, 32P-labelled Tf receptors were immunoprecipitated after EGF treatment. After exposure to EGF, A431 cells showed no change in Tf phosphorylation, but KB cells showed a transient, 6-fold increase in transferrin receptor phosphorylation on serine residues. In both A431 and KB cells, phorbol ester (PMA) also increased phosphorylation on transferrin receptors, but had little effect on surface Tf receptor expression. In malignant cell lines, EGE induces rapid, variable changes in transferrin receptor expression and phosphorylation which differ from the effects of PMA. These early responses to EGF appear to differ with the cell type and correlate poorly with alterations in Tf receptor phosphorylation. These results suggest Tf receptor phosphorylation does not regulate Tf receptor display in all cells.     

Effect of an anti-murine transferrin receptor-ricin A conjugate on bone marrow stem and progenitor cells treated in vitro

A monoclonal antibody with specificity for murine transferrin receptor was conjugated with the toxic A subunit of ricin. The dose range, specificity, and kinetics of inhibition of protein synthesis of the conjugate were determined on the murine T-lymphoma cell line, BW5147. When toxin was present throughout the period of culture, in vitro myeloid (CFUc) and erythroid (CFUe and BFUe) bone marrow colonies were inhibited by doses of conjugate comparable to those that inhibit protein synthesis in murine cell lines (IC50 of 5 X 10(-11)M). Bone marrow exposed briefly (30 min to 6 h) to anti-transferrin receptor antibody-ricin A conjugate was assayed for myeloid (CFUc) and erythroid (CFUe and BFUe) progenitors in vitro and for in vivo spleen colony formation (CFUs). Only CFUe were depleted by this pulse exposure, consistent with the higher frequency of proliferating cells and transferrin receptor expression in the CFUe population relative to other progenitors.     

Differences in transferrin response and numbers of transferrin receptors in rat and human mammary carcinoma lines of different metastatic potentials

We previously found that transferrin (Tf) differentially stimulated the growth of highly metastatic variant lines of murine melanoma and that these highly metastatic cells also had greater numbers of Tf receptors on their cell surfaces. In the present study we found that highly metastatic rat mammary adenocarcinoma cell lines also responded differentially to Tf in proliferation assays, and cell monolayers bound Tf in relation to their metastatic potential (MTPaB10 > MTPaB5 > MTLn3 > MTLn2 > MTC > MTF7 > MTPa). The brain-colonizing lines PaB10 and PaB5 were the most responsive to Tf and had the highest numbers of Tf receptors. Different human breast cancer cell lines also responded differentially to Tf in proliferation assays and bound different amounts of Tf to their cell surface Tf receptors. Transferrin binding, but not growth response, correlated with metastatic and invasive properties of lines selected from the human MCF-7 series (MCF7/LCC2 > MCF7/LCC1 > MCF7). In examining the transferrin binding and growth response of lines from the human MDA series, the Tf binding and growth response was MDA231 > MDA435 > MDA468. The lines MDA435 and MDA231 were metastatic in nude mouse assays, whereas the line MDA468 was not. Scatchard analysis indicated the presence of a single class of receptor for Tf on the rat and human mammary cell lines. The results suggest that neoplastic cells displaying various metastatic properties may express differing numbers of Tf receptors and respond differently to growth factors such as Tf. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Immunosuppression by cobra factor: distribution, antigen-induced blast transformation and trapping of lymphocytes during in vivo complement depletion.

In vivo administration of cobra factor (CoF), the C3-activating protein of cobra venom, suppresses thymus-dependent antibody production. In a study of possible mechanisms for this effect binding of CoF to murine spleen cells in vitro was not detected, nor was there any effect on C3 or Fc receptors. The numbers of spleen cells bearing C3 receptors, Fc receptors, θ antigen or surface immunoglobulin were not altered by in vivo complement depletion of mice with CoF. The distribution and antigen-induced trapping of transferred ⁵¹Cr-labelled syngeneic spleen cells were unaffected by treatment of either donors or recipients with CoF. Furthermore, the antigen-induced generation, trapping and specific retention of immunospecific blast cells were normal in CoF-treated mice, despite profound suppression in these animals of IgG antibody production. The majority of these blast cells 3 days after immunisation were T cells, suggesting that complement depletion interferes with the process of T-dependent antibody production at a later stage than the activation of T cells by antigen.     

Transferrin receptors on human B and T lymphosblastoid cell lines

Experiments demonstrating the existence of receptors for iron-saturated transferrin on both B and T lymphoblastoid cell lines of human origin are described. Binding of ¹²⁵I-labeled transferrin is rapid, saturable and reversible. It can be specifically inhibited by unlabeled transferrin but not by other proteins. The number of receptors on T cell lines determined by Scatchard analysis is almost double the number on B cell lines but the binding affinities are equal.The putative transferrin receptor can be removed from the cell by the proteolytic enzymes papain and trypsin, and is re-expressed during overnight incubation at 37°C. Resynthesis is inhibited by puromycin. The receptor can be solubilized by deoxycholate, and retains transferrin binding capacity when non-covalently attached to an amphipathic matrix consisting of deoxycholate-coupled poly(L-lysyl) Agarose.     

The effect of lead on iron uptake from transferrin in human erythroleukemia (K562) cells

The effect of lead on cellular iron metabolism has been investigated using human erythroleukemia (K562) cells. When the cells were cultured with 100 m Pb²⁺ for 48 h, the rate of cellular iron uptake from transferrin decreased to 46% of that in untreated cells. Scatchard analysis of the binding data revealed that this reduction was the result of a decrease in the number of transferrin receptors rather than an alteration in ligand-receptor affinity. The results of immunoprecipitation of transferrin receptors on the cell surface also confirmed the decreased expression of transferrin receptors by lead-treated cells. The down-regulation of transferrin receptors by treatment with lead did not result from a decrease in the total amount of the receptor, as determined by immunoblotting. Moreover, the biosynthesis of the receptor was unaffected by lead treatment. Thus, the down-regulation of surface transferrin receptors in lead-treated cells might be due to a redistribution of receptors rather than an actual loss of receptors from the cell. Using kinetic analysis, it was shown that redistribution of the receptor did not result from the alteration in the rates of transferrin receptor recycling. A comparison of the amounts of transferrin receptor on the cell surface and in the cycling pool revealed that the sequestration of the receptor from normal flow through the cycle might cause down-regulation of the surface receptor.     

Regulation of murine plasmacytoma transferrin receptor expression and G1 traversal by plasmacytoma cell growth factor

Many plasmacytomas arising in BALB/c mice require a specific, macrophage-derived growth factor in order to proliferate in vitro. Since transferrin receptor expression is normally regulated by tissue-specific growth factors and because expression of these receptors is required for cell proliferation, we examined the interaction of plasmacytoma growth factor (PCT-GF) on transferrin receptor expression and cell cycle progression in several PCT-GF-dependent and independent plasmacytoma cell lines maintained in vitro. We found that removal of PCT-GF results in a rapid and specific loss of transferrin receptor expression with concomitant G1 arrest in early G1. The time required for G1 arrest to become maximal correlates closely to the initial level of surface transferrin receptor expression and the rate of decay following removal of PCT-GF. The calcium channel blocker diltiazem interferes with the ability of PCT-GF to maintain transferrin receptor expression in PCT-GF-dependent cell lines and causes a G1 arrest of the cell population. When added to a PCT-GF-independent cell line, diltiazem also inhibited transferrin receptor expression and caused G1 arrest. Thus, both PCT-GF-dependent and -independent plasmacytoma cell lines require transferrin receptor expression for growth. In factor dependent cell lines, transferrin receptor expression requires exogenous PCT-GF, while in factor-independent cells, transferrin receptor expression is constitutive. In both cell types, intracellular calcium levels may play a role in receptor expression.     

Description of a murine B lymphoma tumor-specific antigen

By using monoclonal antibodies, a tumor-specific antigen (TSA 41.5) was detected on the cell surface of a B lymphoma CH-1 tumor variant, CH-1.1. This antigen is not expressed by normal lymphocytes (spleen cells, lymph node cells, thymocytes, bone marrow cells, or blast cells) of B10.A mice, the host strain of CH-1.1, or by the CH-1 lymphoma. Immunoprecipitation and biochemical characterization of TSA 41.5 with the use of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed this antigen to be a surface protein of CH-1.1 cells with an Mr of 80k and pI of 4.6. TSA 41.5 is not related to the murine transferrin receptor, and not to gp70, a viral envelope protein expressed by CH-1.1 cells, shown by comparative peptide map analysis of these three proteins. TSA 41.5 is a surface antigen unique to the CH-1.1 tumor, which is not expressed by the 19 different murine tumor lines that were tested nor by spleen cells of 15 independent mouse strains. In addition, treatment of spleen cells with bacterial lipopolysaccharide did not induce the expression of TSA 41.5. These characteristics of TSA 41.5 make it unlikely to be a product of viruses. Additional evidence against TSA 41.5 being a viral protein was obtained by the observation that antisera against viral proteins could not block the binding of the anti-TSA monoclonal antibody to its antigen. In vitro treatment of CH-1.1 cells with anti-TSA monoclonal antibody specifically inhibited the in vitro growth of the tumor cells in a dose-dependent fashion. The CH-1.1 tumor and monoclonal antibodies could be a useful murine model system for the exploration of the use of monoclonal antibodies for the in vivo treatment of cancer.     

Transferrin binding to K562 cell line : Effect of heme and sodium butyrate induction

Experiments demonstrating the existence of receptors for iron-saturated transferrin on K562 cells are described. Binding of ¹²⁵I-labelled transferrin is rapid, saturable and reversible, and can be specifically inhibited by unlabelled transferrin, but not by other proteins. The number of receptors determined by Scatchard analysis significantly decreased when K562 cells moved from the exponential to the quiescent phase of growth. Induction by hemin or sodium butyrate resulted in a marked reduction of transferrin binding. This phenomenon was due entirely to reduction in the number of receptors and was without effect on the affinity of interaction. The effect of butyrate and hemin on the number of transferrin receptors in other hematopoietic cell lines was investigated. Butyrate on the various cell lines was variable in its effect, whereas hemin constantly elicited a significant reduction in the number of transferrin receptors.     

Insulin receptors on cultured murine lymphoid tumor cell lines

Summary Eight murine lymphoid tumor cell lines have been examined for the presence of high-affinity insulin receptors. The eight cell lines included two Abelson murine leukemia virus-transformed pre-B cell lines, three plasmacytoma cell lines, and three spontaneous T-cell lymphomas from AKR mice. All of the cell lines in the B-cell series had high-affinity insulin binding sites. The apparent equilibrium association constant (K_a) for the high-affinity binding sites on these cells was 1.3–3.3 × 109 M^–1. Two of the T-cell lymphomas had high-affinity receptor levels so low as to be undetectable in the whole cell binding assay under the conditions used for assaying the other cell lines, although in binding assays performed at very high cell densities, these two cell lines did appear to have a small number of high-affinity insulin binding sites. These results indicate that the growth stimulus provided by the tumor virus in neoplastic transformation of the AKR thymic lymphocytes differs from that provided by lectins in blast transformation of lymphocytes in that the neoplastic transforming event does not always result in the emergence of large numbers of high-affinity insulin receptors. In addition, the existence of cell lines such as the T-cell lymphomas that have nearly exclusively low-affinity binding sites suggests that the low-affinity sites may represent a distinct receptor that is not freely interconvertible with the high-affinity receptor.     

Species-specific restriction of cell surface expression of mouse MARCO glycoprotein in murine cell lines

The MARCO (macrophage receptor with collagenous structure) glycoprotein belongs to the scavenger receptor type family of pattern-recognition molecules produced by a subset of marginal zone macrophages in the spleen. Stimulation with LPS leads to its appearance on macrophages located at other tissue compartments. In the present work, we report its in vitro expression by various cell lines using transient and stable (lentiviral) gene delivery aimed at investigating the signaling properties of this receptor and its analysis using a novel rat monoclonal antibody against the SRCR-domain of mouse MARCO. When trying to establish stable mouse MARCO-transfectants using lentiviral transduction and other methods, we consistently found that MARCO accumulated intracellularly in various murine host cells. In contrast, such a phenomenon was not observed in non-murine cell lines. Our observations indicate the presence of an unexpected limitation of the in vitro expression of mouse MARCO glycoprotein in murine cell lines. We believe that the failure to express MARCO on the cell surface of the many murine cell lines is likely due to the absence of endoplasmic reticulum molecular chaperones needed for the correct folding and assembly of the trimeric MARCO molecule.     

Human leukemic K562 cells: suppression of hemoglobin accumulation by a monoclonal antibody to human transferrin receptor

The receptor for transferrin plays an important role both in tumor cell growth and in hemoglobin synthesis. In this paper, we demonstrate that the monoclonal antibody 42/6 to human transferrin receptor inhibits iron uptake in the human leukemic K562 cell line and suppresses hemoglobin accumulation in K562 cells induced to erythroid differentiation by butyric acid. In contrast, only slight inhibitory effects were observed on cell proliferation of both uninduced and erythroid-induced K562 cells treated with the 42/6 monoclonal antibody. In addition, the 42/6 monoclonal antibody to human transferrin receptor does not inhibit butyric acid-induced accumulation of gamma-globin mRNA. The effect of the 42/6 monoclonal antibody on hemoglobin synthesis appears to be restricted to human cell lines, as murine Friend erythroleukemic cells undergo erythroid differentiation when cultured in the presence of hexamethylenebisacetamide plus the 42/6 monoclonal antibody. The findings reported in this paper suggest (a) a dissociation of iron transport and accumulation of heme molecules from the expression of globin genes and (b) a different requirement of iron uptake by different iron-dependent functions such as cell proliferation and hemoglobin expression.     

Rational immunotherapy with ribonuclease chimeras

Members of the pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase) family have diverse activities toward RNA that could cause them to function during host defense and physiological cell death pathways. This activity could be harnessed by coupling RNases to cell binding ligands for the purpose of engineering them into cell-type specific cytotoxins. Therefore, the cytotoxic potential of RNase was explored by linking bovine pancreatic ribonuclease A via a disulfide bond to human transferrin or antibodies to the transferrin receptor. The RNase hybrid proteins were cytotoxic to K562 human erythroleukemia cells in vitro with an IC₅₀ around 10⁻⁷ M, whereas>10⁻⁴ M of native RNase was required to inhibit protein synthesis. Cytotoxicity required both components of the conjugate since excess transferrin or ribonuclease inhibitors added to the medium protected the cells from the transferrin-RNase toxicity. Importantly, the RNase conjugates were found to have potent antitumor effects in vivo. Chimeric RNase fusion proteins were also developed. F(ab′)₂-like antibody-enzyme fusions were prepared by linking the gene for human RNase to a chimeric antitransferrin receptor heavy chain gene. The antibody enzyme fusion gene was introduced into a transfectoma that secreted the chimeric light chain of the same antibody, and cell lines were cloned that synthesized and secreted the antibody-enzyme fusion protein of the expected size at a concentration of 1–5 ng/mL. Culture supernatants from clones secreting the fusion protein caused inhibition of growth and protein synthesis toward K562 cells that express the human transferrin receptor but not toward a nonhuman derived cell line. Since human ribonucleases coupled to antibodies also exhibited receptor mediated toxicities, a new approach to selective cell killing is provided. This may allow the development of new therapeutics for cancer treatment that exhibit less systemic toxicity and, importantly, less immunogenicity than the currently employed ligand-toxin conjugates.     

Induction of Syncytia by Neuropathogenic Murine Leukemia Viruses Depends on Receptor Density, Host Cell Determinants, and the Intrinsic Fusion Potential of Envelope Protein

Infection by the neuropathogenic murine leukemia virus (MLV) TR1.3 results in hemorrhagic disease that correlates directly to in vivo syncytium formation of brain capillary endothelial cells (BCEC). This phenotype maps to amino acid 102 in the envelope (Env) protein of TR1.3. Substitution of glycine (G) for tryptophan (W) at this position (W102G Env) in the nonpathogenic MLV FB29 induces both syncytium formation and neurologic disease in vivo. Using an in vitro gene reporter cell fusion assay, we showed that fusion either with murine NIH 3T3 cells or with nonmurine target cells that expressed receptors at or below endogenous murine levels mirrored that seen in BCEC in vivo. In these instances only TR1.3 and W102G Env induced cell fusion. In contrast, when receptor levels on nonmurine cells were raised above endogenous murine levels, FB29 Env was as fusogenic as the neuropathogenic TR1.3 and W102G Env. These results indicate that TR1.3 Env and W102G Env are intrinsically more fusogenic than FB29 Env, that the induction of fusion requires a threshold number of receptors that is greater for FB29 Env than for TR1.3 or W102G Env, and that receptor density on murine NIH 3T3 cells and BCEC is below the threshold for FB29-dependent fusion. Surprisingly, receptor density on NIH 3T3 cells could not be increased by stable expression of exogenous receptors, and FB29-dependent fusion was not observed in NIH 3T3 cells that transiently expressed elevated receptor numbers. These results suggest that an additional undefined host cell factor(s) may limit both receptor expression and fusion potential in murine cells.     

Expression of the transferrin receptor on murine peritoneal macrophages is modulated by in vitro treatment with interferon gamma

The expression of transferrin receptors on murine peritoneal macrophages has been shown to be down regulated during functional activation in vivo. This observation suggested that the level of transferrin receptor expression varies in response to discrete extracellular signals known to induce macrophage activation. We have tested this concept directly and have shown that decreased transferrin receptor expression can be reproduced in vitro by treatment of inflammatory macrophages with preparations of interferon gamma derived from a T cell hybridoma supernatant. The ability of this agent to down regulate the expression of the transferrin receptor exhibited dose and time dependencies similar to those required for development of other macrophage functions in vitro. The addition of LPS produced no further decrease in receptor expression. Furthermore, murine gamma interferon, produced by recombinant DNA technology also caused a downshift in transferrin receptor expression at doses similar to those which have been shown previously to induce activation. The changes in receptor activity were the result of altered numbers of binding sites and the receptor:ligand affinity remained unaffected. These results indicate that altered expression of the transferrin receptor is one element of the pleiotypic change which macrophages undergo in response to IFN gamma. This system may, therefore, provide a useful model in which to study the biochemical basis of IFN gamma action in mononuclear phagocytes.     

Inhibition of cell growth by monoclonal anti-transferrin receptor antibodies.

Five anti-murine transferrin receptor monoclonal antibodies have been characterized with respect to immunoglobulin class, effects on binding of transferrin, and effects on AKR1 lymphoma cell growth in vitro. The immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies, but not the IgG antibodies, prevent cell growth. We suggest that the profound effects of the IgM antibodies on cell growth are probably due to extensive cross-linking of cell surface receptors. In support of this, we are able to mimic the growth-inhibiting effects of the IgM antibodies by adding antiimmunoglobulin to an IgG antibody. By flow microfluorimetry, we show that an IgG antibody by itself induces up to a 10-fold downward regulation in the cell surface transferrin receptor, which is accompanied by accelerated receptor degradation. A similar downward regulation is seen in mutant cells resistant to growth inhibition by an IgM antibody, when grown in the selecting antibody. Wild-type cells grown in the presence of IgM antibody do not show receptor downward regulation. Inhibitory effects of antibody plus antiimmuoglobulin on mutant cells are also consistent with extensive cross-linking causing inhibition of growth.