Biosynthesis of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin M (IgM). Control of polymerization by J chain

Cell suspensions of mouse plasma-cell tumours secreting IgA (immunoglobulin A) and IgM (immunoglobulin M) were incubated with radioactive leucine for various periods of time. The secreted immunoglobulins were precipitated from the culture medium with specific rabbit antisera to determine the relative distribution of radioactivity among the different molecular species, and to estimate the fraction of total radioactivity in the J chain. For IgM-secreting cells there is a balanced synthesis of 7S subunits and J chains, and the secreted product is uniformly assembled to the pentamer. In cells secreting IgA, however, the results demonstrate that the pool of intracellular J chain is less than the intracellular IgA pool. The concentration of J chain is therefore limiting and is less than the requirement for complete polymerization. The major factor that determines whether an intracellular monomer is secreted as such or is polymerized with the addition of J chain is therefore the amount of intracellular J chain. When this is limiting, as it is in cells secreting IgA, then monomer will be secreted.     

Biosynthesis of immunoglobulin A (IgA). Secretion and addition of carbohydrate to monomer and polymer forms of a mouse myeloma protein

Cell suspensions of mouse plasma-cell tumour MOPC 315 secreting predominantly IgA (immunoglobulin A) monomer and dimer were incubated with radioactive leucine, mannose, galactose and fucose for various periods of time. The amounts of secreted and intracellular immunoglobulins were measured by co-precipitation with specific antibody, and the molecular species present were assessed by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels. Analysis of the secreted myeloma protein demonstrated that monomer and dimer IgA molecules are identical with respect to carbohydrate composition and rate of secretion. Within the cell, the myeloma protein is almost entirely accounted for by monomer units which either leave the cell as such or are polymerized with the addition of J chain close to the time of secretion. The results support the concept of a stepwise addition of carbohydrate residues to IgA immunoglobulin during the process of secretion. Similar patterns of carbohydrate assembly were found for the monomer or dimer molecules. Mannose residues are added at an early stage, whereas fucose is added close to the time of secretion. Galactose is also added early, but some may also be incorporated at a later stage. Control of IgA polymerization is considered unlikely to reflect regulation at the level of carbohydrate addition, and it is suggested that the critical controlling factor is the J chain.     

Polymerization of human immunoglobulin M.

The repolymerization of human IgM following mild reductive cleavage was studied as a model for intracellular polymer assembly. Repolymerization was found to require the presence of J chain and a disulfide exchanging system which could be furnished either intrinsically by the use of the monofunctional thiol mercaptoethylamine or extrinsically by the inclusion of a protein-mercaptan mixed disulfide, and/or a disulfide exchanging enzyme. The degree of repolymerization was dependent on the extent of monomer reduction and the product covalently incorporated one J chain per five monomer units. Disulfide exchanging enzyme probably served as a source of mixed disulfides rather than as an enzymatic catalyst of the reaction. These results are discussed in terms of a tentative mechanism for IgM polymerization.     

Structural requirements for polymeric immunoglobulin assembly and association with J chain

Both IgM and IgA exist as polymeric immunoglobulins. IgM is assembled into pentamers with J chain and hexamers lacking J chain. In contrast, polymeric IgA exists mostly as dimers with J chain. Both IgM and IgA possess an 18-amino acid extension of the C terminus (the tail-piece (tp)) that participates in polymerization through a penultimate cysteine residue. The IgM (mutp) and IgA (alphatp) tail-pieces differ at seven amino acid positions. However, the tail-pieces by themselves do not determine the extent of polymerization. We now show that the restriction of polymerization to dimers requires both C(alpha)3 and alphatp and that more efficient dimer assembly occurs when C(alpha)2 is also present; the dimers contain J chain. Formation of pentamers containing J chain requires C(mu)3, C(mu)4, and the mutp. IgM-alphatp is present mainly as hexamers lacking J chain, and mumugammamu-utp forms tetramers and hexamers lacking J chain, whereas IgA-mutp is present as high order polymers containing J chain. In addition, there is heterogeneous processing of the N-linked carbohydrate on IgA-mutp, with some remaining in the high mannose state. These data suggest that in addition to the tail-piece, structural motifs in the constant region domains are critical for polymer assembly and J chain incorporation.     

The carboxyl-terminal domains of IgA and IgM direct isotype-specific polymerization and interaction with the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor

Mucosal surfaces are protected by polymeric immunoglobulins that are transported across the epithelium by the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR). Only polymeric IgA and IgM containing a small polypeptide called the "joining" (J) chain can bind to the pIgR. J chain-positive IgA consists of dimers, and some larger polymers, whereas only IgM pentamers incorporate the J chain. We made domain swap chimeras between human IgA1 and IgM and found that the COOH-terminal domains of the heavy chains (Calpha3 and Cmu4, respectively) dictated the size of the polymers formed and also which polymers incorporated the J chain. We also showed that chimeric IgM molecules engineered to contain Calpha3 were able to bind the rabbit pIgR. Since the rabbit pIgR normally does not bind IgM, these results suggest that the COOH-terminal domain of the polymeric immunoglobulins is primarily responsible for interaction with the pIgR. Finally, we made a novel chimeric IgA immunoglobulin, containing the terminal domain from IgM. This recombinant molecule formed J chain-containing pentamers that could, like IgA, efficiently form covalent complexes with the human pIgR ectodomain, known as secretory component.     

Density comparisons of heavy chains of membrane and secreted immunoglobulins of mouse.

In order to explore structural differences between membrane and secreted immunoglobulins the buoyant densities of mouse immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy (H) chains were compared by isopycnic centrifugation in CsCl containing guanidine hydrochloride. The buoyant densities, under denaturing conditions, of mouse myeloma protein MOPC 21 IgG, MOPC 315 IgA and MOPC 104E IgM H chains were consistent with their carbohydrate contents. Mouse membrane IgM and MOPC 104E-secreted IgM H chains were of equal density. The buoyant densities of MOPC 104E-secreted IgM and spleen-cell-secreted IgM H chains were indistinguishable. The IgD-like membrane H chain was denser than membrane IgM H chain, and its carbohydrate content was calculated to be 15.5%. The resolution of the technique was sufficient to conclude that the apparent 1500 mol.wt. difference, as determined by sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, between membrane and secreted IgM H chains was due to peptide rather than to carbohydrate. The results also imply that intact membrane IgM and IgD bind detergent and are thus integral membrane proteins.     

Effect of tunicamycin on IgM, IgA, and IgG secretion by mouse plasmacytoma cells

Tunicamycin, an antibiotic that prevents glycosylation of glycoproteins by blocking the formation of N-acetylglucosamine-lipid intermediates, was used to study the importance of glycosylation for the secretion of immunoglobulins by mouse plasmacytoma lines that produce immunoglobulins of different classes. Biosynthetically labeled secreted and intracellular immunoglobulins were measured by immunoprecipitation assays. Tunicamycin, at a concentration of 0.5 mug/ml produced an 81% inhibition of IgM secretion by MOPC 104E plasma cells without significantly affecting the initial rate of synthesis of intracellular IgM. No increase in the intracellular degradation of nonglycosylated IgM could be demonstrated. Tunicamycin also produced a 64% average inhibition of IgA secretion by several mouse IgA-secreting plasmacytoma lines. In contrast, despite inhibiting the incorporation of D-[14C] glucosamine into newly synthesized IgG, tunicamycin only produced a 28% average inhibition of IgG secretion, which was only slightly more than the nonspecific inhibition of secretion of the normally nonglycosylated lambda2 light chains by variant MOPC 315 plasmacytomas. These data indicate that the extent of inhibition of immunoglobulin secretion produced by tunicamycin depends on the immunoglobulin class produced by the plasma cell.     

Selective proteolysis of the J chain component in human polymeric immunoglobulin.

To clarify the losses that have been observed in the J chain portion of human IgM and IgA, were carried out studies on the enzymatic susceptibility of the J polypeptide. When Waldenstr?m macroglobulins and myeloma IgA polymers were subjected to limited proteolysis with various endopeptidases, only subtilisin was found to attack the J chain component. The pattern of cleavage was a function of the polymer species. The J chain in IgM was highly susceptible to digestion, quantitative cleavage being achieved at very low enzyme to IgM ratios and without significant changes in the remaining pentamer structure. Analyses of the digestion products showed that the initial cleavage occurred at an exposed region midway in the J sequence and was followed by extensive degradation of the carboxy-terminal segment. These findings indicated that the observed loss of the IgM J component can be explained by the inadvertent introduction of subtilisin in vitro or by the attack of in vivo enzymes with a specificity similar to subtilisin. In contrast, the IgA J chain was found to be much more resistant to subtilisin proteolysis; its cleavage required higher enzyme concentrations and was accompanied by significant degradation of the alpha-chains. Thus, it appears unlikely that the IgA J polypeptide is degraded by either in vitro or in vivo enzymes unless its accessibility is first enhanced by changes in the IgA Fc structure.     

IgA:IgM and IgA:IgA hybrid hybridomas secrete heteropolymeric immunoglobulins that are polyvalent and bispecific

Polyvalent bispecific antibodies were secreted by hybrid hybridoma cells when both parental clones expressed a naturally polymerizing immunoglobulin. Hybrid hybridomas made from IgA lambda 2 anti-trinitrophenyl (TNP) and IgA kappa anti-phosphocholine (PC) parental cells secreted polymeric IgA antibodies that bound both TNP and PC. Some of the TNP binding was dissociated from the PC binding under conditions of mild reduction and alkylation suggesting that the bispecific polymeric IgA contained disulfide-linked parental monomers as well as bispecific hybrid monomers. Hybrid hybridomas constructed from IgA lambda 2 anti-TNP and IgM kappa anti-ox erythrocyte parental cells secreted bispecific, polymeric immunoglobulin that contained mu-, alpha-, kappa-, and lambda 2-chains. The mu and kappa-chains dissociated from the alpha- and lambda 2-chains under conditions of mild reduction and alkylation, indicating that both parental monomers had been incorporated into the same polymeric immunoglobulin to form a heteropolymeric antibody molecule. Heterologous pairing of alpha and mu heavy chains in monomers was not detected. Hybrid hybridomas constructed from IgA lambda 2 and IgG3 lambda 2 or IgA lambda 2 and IgG1 kappa parents co-secreted both parental immunoglobulins, but the antibodies secreted by these clones did not form heteropolymers or exhibit heterologous heavy chain pairing. These findings establish that polyvalent, bispecific, polymeric immunoglobulin molecules can be produced by hybrid hybridomas when both parents express a naturally polymerizing class of heavy chain but not when only one parent does. Hybrid hybridomas that produce heteropolymeric immunoglobulins are sources of high avidity bispecific antibodies that may find a number of basic and practical applications. The hybridoma cells that produce these antibodies may provide useful tools for investigating the in situ determinants of immunoglobulin chain association and the regulation of antibody assembly and secretion.     

Assembly of immunoglobulin M. Blocked thiol groups of intracellular 7S subunits

We have shown previously that immunoglobulin M (IgM) is present within IgM-forming cells mainly in its 7S subunit form (IgMs), whereas only fully assembled IgM pentamers are secreted. There is no spontaneous polymerization of intracellular IgMs in cell lysates, suggesting that the 7S subunits had blocked cysteine residues. This suggestion was explored and confirmed in the present paper. Radioactive IgM (secreted) and IgMs (intracellular) were prepared by sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation after incubation of cells of the IgM-producing mouse myeloma MOPC 104E with [(3)H]leucine. We investigated the susceptibility to reduction of fully assembled mouse IgM and its reconstitution from subunits by analysis by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis under dissociating conditions. With increasing concentrations of dithioerythritol, interchain disulphide bonds were cleaved in the following order: inter-IgMs subunit, intra-IgMs subunit H-H, intra-IgMs subunit H-L. Removal of the reducing agent from IgM-reduction mixtures by filtration through Sephadex G-25 caused partial reconstitution of IgM at low protein concentrations (5-100mug/ml) and total reconstitution at higher protein concentrations (300mug/ml or more). Isolated radioactive intracellular IgMs showed no tendency to polymerize unless first treated with a reducing agent; under optimum conditions removal of the reducing agent caused 70% of the subunits to be assembled into IgM. Similar assembly occurred when IgMs was isolated from cells that had been lysed in the presence of an irreversible alkylating reagent (iodoacetamide). The intracellular IgMs cysteine residues responsible for inter-IgMs linkage therefore appear to be reversibly blocked within the cells. Assembly into IgM is thus controlled by removal of this block during secretion.     

Effect of a disulfide-interchange enzyme on the assembly of human secretory immunoglobulin A from immunoglobulin A and free secretory component.

A disulfide-interchange enzyme from rat liver microsomes was found to promote binding in vitro of human free secretory component (SC) to dimeric serum-type IgA containing J chain, as assessed by immune precipitation and gel filtration. This effect was greater withe native than with partially reduced SC. Most of the bound SC was covalently linked, as determined by electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gels in detergent. The enzyme did not promote binding of native or partially reduce SC to IgG, IgA monomer, IgA dimer without J chain, or IgM. In the case of IgM, the enzyme did, however, promote covalent bonding of previously non-covalently linked SC. The results overall suggest that a disulfide-interchange enzyme could play a role in vivo in the cell-associated assembly of secretory IgA by promoting the covalent attachment of SC to a dimer of serum-type IgA and that the J chain in the IgA dimer contributes to the enzyme effect.     

Polymeric immunoglobulin M is secreted by transfectants of non-lymphoid cells in the absence of immunoglobulin J chain.

Plasmids were constructed in which expression of genes encoding the heavy and light chains of a hapten-specific IgM antibody is under control of a heat shock promoter. Glioma, phaeochromocytoma and other non-lymphoid cell lines transfected with the plasmids were able to process and secrete immunoglobulin following heat induction. The glioma transfectants were studied in detail and were shown to secrete polymeric IgM in a yield similar to that obtained with a plasmacytoma. However, the glioma IgM was not associated with J chain and was largely composed of pentamers and hexamers. Thus, neither J chain nor other lymphoid-specific proteins are required for assembly and secretion of polymeric IgM although the absence of J chain may encourage hexamer formation.     

Direct evidence that J chain regulates the polymeric structure of IgM in antibody-secreting B cells.

IgM is secreted in two functional polymeric forms. Secreted IgM was originally thought to be exclusively a pentameric molecule containing J (joining) chain, but many B cells also secrete hexameric IgM lacking J chain. Hexameric IgM may play an important role in the immune system, since it is up to 20 times more active than pentameric IgM in initiating the complement cascade. The predominant polymeric form of IgM secreted by B cell lines, either pentameric or hexameric, correlates with the concentration of J chain present during polymerization, and cells that express high levels of J chain secrete mostly IgM pentamers. The B cell lymphoma WEHI-231 does not express J chain, and the majority of its secreted IgM is polymerized as hexamers. When a J chain-encoding cDNA was expressed in these cells, the secreted IgM was found to be almost exclusively pentameric. However, although the expression of J chain dramatically altered the phenotype of the IgM secreted by these cells, it had little effect on their secretory rate. We conclude that J chain regulates the structure and function of the IgM polymers secreted by B cells, but it is not necessary for either IgM polymerization or secretion.     

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) polymerization sites in human immunocytes: immunoelectron microscopic study

The cytoplasmic affinity of polymeric IgA for secretory component (SC) and the expression of joining (J) chain were examined in pokeweek mitogen (PWM)-stimulated human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) to determine, on the ultrastructural level, the polymerization sites of human IgA. SC-binding was found in 5.7% of transformed PBL on day 7 of culture; SC-binding was observed in a high proportion of IgA-producing cells. A low proportion of IgM-producing cells also bound to SC, while there was virtually no SC-binding by IgG-producing cells. A high proportion of IgA- and IgM-producing cells expressed intracellular J chain, while approximately half of the IgG-producing cells were positive for J chain. The number of J chain-positive cells exceeded the number of SC-binding cells among transformed PBL on day 7 of culture. Immunoelectron microscopic study of the sites of SC-binding, and of IgA and J chain expression, revealed that polymerization of human IgA and the addition of J chain occur in the perinuclear space and endoplasmic reticulum, prior to immunoglobulin secretion.     

Biosynthesis of J-Chain in Mouse IgA and IgM

RECENT evidence^1,2 suggests that the polymeric immunoglobulins, IgM, serum IgA and secretory IgA, but not IgG or monomeric serum IgA contain a third polypeptide chain, the J-chain, of molecular weight about 23,000¹ or 26,000². Each polymeric molecule irrespective of the number of monomeric (H₂L₂) subunits, is thought to contain only one molecule of J-chain. It is distinguishable from light chain by its amino-acid composition, tryptic peptide map and fast electrophoretic mobility on alkaline-urea-polyacrylamide gels^1,2, but J-chains isolated from IgM and secretory IgA are indistinguishable by these criteria².     

Differences in fragmentation between bound and unbound bovine secretory component suggest a model for its interaction with polymeric immunoglobulin.

Unbound bovine secretory component was cleaved into two-domain and one-domain fragments by trypsin within 1 h. Bovine secretory component covalently bound to bovine IgA dimer, as in secretory IgA, was much more resistant to fragmentation, which did not proceed beyond the three-domain stage even after 5 h. Bovine secretory component non-covalently bound to bovine IgM or to human IgM or IgA polymer was also relatively resistant to fragmentation, which again was largely arrested at the three-domain stage. A model for the binding of secretory component to polymeric immunoglobulin is proposed.     

Human hybrid immunoglobulin M containing immunoglobulin A

Summary Some hybridoma clones made by fusion of a human lymphoblastoid cell line, HO323 with human B lymphocytes, secreted not only IgA but also IgM-like immunoglobulin molecules. The IgM-like immunoglobulin had a molecular size of 900 K which corresponded to that of IgM. Immunochemical analyses revealed that the IgM-like immunoglobulin contained two monomeric IgA and three monomeric IgM molecules. In the IgA moieties, half of original light chains were replaced withx chains derived from the IgM, and vice versa.     

The intracellular ratio of the membrane to the secreted form of immunoglobulin M heavy chain is a measure of the developmental stage of B cell lymphomas

Tumors of B lymphocyte origin have been used as models for normal B cells “frozen” at particular stages of their development. Surface properties, amount, and intracellular location of immunoglobulin and the synthesis of J chain have all been used as indicators of developmental stages. Each requires special techniques or yields data that are difficult to compare from one experiment to the next. For these reasons, we have developed a metric for B cell development that is simple to perform and allows quick quantitative comparisons of cell lines. It has recently been established that the membrane (μ_m) and secreted (μ_s) forms of the IgM heavy chain differ at their extreme carboxy termini. The two proteins differ slightly in size and are easily distinguished when they are compared without their carbohydrate on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gels. We have examined four mouse tumors derived from the B lymphocyte lineage whose phenotypes resemble late pre-B cells (internal μ only; uninduced 70Z/3), small B lymphocytes (high levels of surface IgM; LPS-induced 70Z/3, WEHI 231), lymphoblasts (both membrane and secreted IgM; WEHI 279.1), and plasma cells (copious IgM secretion; MOPC 104E). Despite the fact the 70Z/3 and WEHI 231 secrete no detectable IgM, all of the tumors synthesize at least intracellular forms of both μ_m and μ_s. The proportion of μ_m is stable and is characteristic of each tumor. The 70Z/3 cells and WEHI 231 cells synthesize about 75% of their total μ as μ_m; WEHI 279.1 cells synthesize about 30% and MOPC 104E cells about 5% of their total μ as μ_m. The population of LPS-stimulated B lymphocytes shows a similar progression during its differentiation. The proportion of μ_m correlates with other developmentally regulated parameters (Fc receptor, Ia and plasma cell antigen levels, and J chain) and can be used as a simple metric for comparison with developing B lymphocytes and determination of the developmental stage of a B cell tumor.     

Postendocytotic sorting of the ligand for the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells

The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIg-R) is responsible for the receptor-mediated transcytosis of polymeric immunoglobulins (IgA and IgM) across various epithelia. We have expressed the cDNA for the pIg-R in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells and found that this system mimics that found in vivo (Mostov, K. E., and D. L. Deitcher. 1986. Cell. 46:613-621). We have now investigated the postendocytotic pathway of the ligand for the pIg-R. After a 5-min internalization at the basolateral surface, approximately 45% of internalized ligand recycles to the basolateral medium and 30% is transcytosed to the apical medium. We have also examined why transcytosis of ligand is unidirectional, going only from basolateral to apical, but not from apical to basolateral. Several factors could explain this, such as proteolytic cleavage of the pIg-R at the apical surface, decreased apical endocytosis of ligand, or an intracellular sorting event. In this report, we show that the protease inhibitor, leupeptin, inhibits the cleavage of the pIg-R but does not alter the unidirectionality of transcytosis. In addition, we demonstrate that there is a significant amount of apical endocytosis of ligand (70% of that observed basolaterally). Finally, we demonstrate that apically endocytosed ligand can return only to the apical surface. Thus, once ligand reaches the apical surface, it is "trapped" and cannot return to the basolateral surface. We propose that the unidirectionality of transcytosis is the result of intracellular sorting, and that this results from a signal(s) present on the pIg-R.