Selective virus-mediated intracellular delivery of membrane-impermeant compounds by means of plasma membrane vesicles.

The impermeability of the cell plasma membrane is a major obstacle to intracellular delivery of large hydrophilic molecules, such as many kinds of drugs. This contribution describes a general-purpose delivery system that employs the membrane fusion capacity of enveloped viruses to circumvent cell impermeability. Vesicles were generated from the plasma membrane of HEp-2 cells, a human cell line host for the Newcastle disease virus (NDV). They could be loaded with a fluorescent, high molecular weight dye (FITC/dextran, MW 70 KDa) or with the enzyme ribonuclease A (MW 14 KDa). These vesicles were found to fuse and deliver their lumen contents to cultured HEp-2 cells in the presence of NDV virions. When ribonuclease was employed as the encapsulated solute, viral replication was inhibited and death of the infected cells was accelerated. Implications and possible applications of this technique in antiviral therapy are discussed.

Resolution of the paradox of red cell shape changes in low and high pH.

The molecular basis of cell shape regulation in acidic pH was investigated in human erythrocytes. Intact erythrocytes maintain normal shape in the cell pH range 6.3-7.9, but invaginate at lower pH values. However, consistent with predicted pH-dependent changes in the erythrocyte membrane skeleton, isolated erythrocyte membranes evaginate in acidic pH. Moreover, intact cells evaginate at pH greater than 7.9, but isolated membranes invaginate in this condition. Labeling with the hydrophobic, photoactivatable probe 5-[125I]iodonaphthyl-1-azide demonstrated pH-dependent hydrophobic insertion of an amphitropic protein into membranes of intact cells but not into isolated membranes. Based on molecular weight and on reconstitution experiments using stripped inside-out vesicles, the most likely candidate for the variably labeled protein is glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Resealing of isolated membranes reconstituted both the shape changes and the hydrophobic labeling profile seen in intact cells. This observation appears to resolve the paradox of the contradictory pH dependence of shape changes of intact cells and isolated membranes. In intact erythrocytes, the demonstrated protein-membrane interaction would oppose pH-dependent shape effects of the spectrin membrane skeleton, stabilizing cell shape in moderately abnormal pH. Stabilization of erythrocyte shape in moderately acidic pH may prevent inappropriate red cell destruction in the spleen.

Interactions of a vesicular stomatitis virus G protein fragment with phosphatidylserine: NMR and fluorescence studies.

The interaction of a 19 amino acid vesicular stomatitis virus G protein fragment (GTWLNPGFPPQSCGYATVT) with phosphatidylserine-containing model membranes was investigated using solution-phase 1d and 2d 1H NMR spectroscopy and intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence. Results of these studies show that this peptide interacts with model membranes containing negatively charged phospholipids. The interaction is modulated by both ionic and hydrophobic factors and appears to be dependent on the fluidity and lipid packing of the target bilayer. The data further suggest the existence of two isomeric forms of this peptide, which react differentially with model membranes. Upon binding, 2d 1H NOESY and tryptophan fluorescence data indicate penetration of the tryptophan residue into the bilayer. A model is proposed for the interaction of the peptide with model membranes, consistent with the experimental findings.

Membrane potential and human erythrocyte shape.

Altered external pH transforms human erythrocytes from discocytes to stomatocytes (low pH) or echinocytes (high pH). The process is fast and reversible at room temperature, so it seems to involve shifts in weak inter- or intramolecular bonds. This shape change has been reported to depend on changes in membrane potential, but control experiments excluding roles for other simultaneously varying cell properties (cell pH, cell water, and cell chloride concentration) were not reported. The present study examined the effect of independent variation of membrane potential on red cell shape. Red cells were equilibrated in a set of solutions with graduated chloride concentrations, producing in them a wide range of membrane potentials at normal cell pH and cell water. By using assays that were rapid and accurate, cell pH, cell water, cell chloride, and membrane potential were measured in each sample. Cells remained discoid over the entire range of membrane potentials examined (-45 to +45 mV). It was concluded that membrane potential has no independent effect on red cell shape and does not mediate the membrane curvature changes known to occur in red cells equilibrated at altered pH.

Cytoplasmic pH and human erythrocyte shape.

Altered external pH transforms human erythrocytes from discocytes to stomatocytes (low pH) or echinocytes (high pH). The mechanism of this transformation is unknown. The preceding companion study (Gedde and Huestis) demonstrated that these shape changes are not mediated by changes in membrane potential, as has been reported. The aim of this study was to identify the physiological properties that mediate this shape change. Red cells were placed in a wide range of physiological states by manipulation of buffer pH, chloride concentration, and osmolality. Morphology and four potential predictor properties (cell pH, membrane potential, cell water, and cell chloride concentration) were assayed. Analysis of the data set by stratification and nonlinear multivariate modeling showed that change in neither cell water nor cell chloride altered the morphology of normal pH cells. In contrast, change in cell pH caused shape change in normal-range membrane potential and cell water cells. The results show that change in cytoplasmic pH is both necessary and sufficient for the shape changes of human erythrocytes equilibrated in altered pH environments.

Role of membrane lipid distribution in chlorpromazine-induced shape change of human erythrocytes.

This is a study of the morphology and transbilayer lipid distribution of human erythrocytes treated with chlorpromazine (CPZ) over extended time courses. At 0 degree C, treatment of dilauroylphosphatidyl[1-14C]choline-labeled erythrocytes with 120 microM CPZ produced an immediate stomatocytic transformation (t1/2 < 5 min) with no concurrent change in transbilayer distribution of radiolabeled lipid, as determined by bovine serum albumin extractability. At 37 degrees C, CPZ treatment of cells produced two sequential morphological effects: immediate stomatocytosis (t1/2 < 1 min) with no concurrent change in radiolabel transbilayer distribution, followed by gradual increase in stomatocytic extent over several hours, with concurrent redistribution of radiolabeled lipid to the inner monolayer. Cells pretreated with vanadate at 37 degrees C exhibited a triphasic morphological response: CPZ produced immediate stomatocytosis, followed by a transient reversion to echinocytes lasting about 2 h, before returning to stomatocytic morphologies over the next several hours. The echinocytic reversion was accompanied by exposure of phosphatidylserine on the cell surface, as indicated by increased activation of exogenous prothrombinase. These findings suggest that while CPZ induces transbilayer lipid redistribution over extended time periods (which may mediate the complex morphological transformations observed), the early stomatocytic response elicited by addition of CPZ is not due to lipid reorganization.

Hemoglobin oxidation products extract phospholipids from the membrane of human erythrocytes.

Hydrogen peroxide oxidation of human erythrocytes induces a transfer of phospholipid from the membrane into the cytosol [Brunauer, L.S., Moxness, M.S., & Huestis, W.H. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 4527-4532]. The current study examines the mechanism of lipid reorganization in oxidized cells. Exogenous phosphatidylserine was introduced into the inner monolayer of erythrocytes, and its distribution was monitored by microscopy and radioisotopic labeling. Pretreatment of cells with carbon monoxide prevented both hemoglobin oxidation and the transfer of phosphatidyserine into the cytosolic compartment. The roles of the various hemoglobin oxidation products in lipid extraction were investigated using selective oxidants. Nitrite treatment of intact cells produced almost complete conversion to methemoglobin, but no detectable lipid extraction. Treatments designed to produce the green hemoglobin derivatives, sulfhemoglobin and choleglobin, resulted in cytosolic extraction of phosphatidylserine. Ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography of oxidized cytosolic components revealed a lipid-hemoglobin complex. The interaction between lipid and hemoglobin oxidation products was verified in a model system. Purified hemoglobin, enriched in sulfhemoglobin and choleglobin by treatment with H2O2, H2S, or ascorbate, extracted phospholipid from small unilamellar phospholipid vesicles. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies demonstrated that hemoglobin oxidation products also adsorb fatty acids from solution. This newly described activity of hemoglobin may play a role in the clearance of oxidatively damaged and senescent cells from circulation.

Physical determinants of intermembrane protein transfer.

Intermembrane protein transfer between erythrocytes and phospholipid vesicles was examined under a variety of conditions to investigate physical factors governing this process. Human erythrocytes were incubated with sonicated dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine vesicles containing trace [14C]dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine. Protein-vesicle complexes were separated from cells and from membrane fragments by density gradient centrifugation. The yield of isolated protein vesicles was determined from the 14C-vesicle marker; protein compositions were analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Enzymatic removal of portions of the cytoplasmic or exoplasmic domains of cell membrane proteins had little effect on the extent of protein transfer. Membrane additives such as cholate produced a 2-fold increase in protein-vesicle yield. The selectivity of protein transfer from erythrocytes was influenced by the lipid composition of recipient vesicles: inclusion of cholesterol increased band 3 content while the presence of anionic phospholipids reduced transfer. Proteins transferred from 32P-labeled cells differed in specific radioactivity from bulk cell proteins: glycophorin, highly phosphorylated in the cell membrane, showed no detectable labeling in the corresponding protein-vesicle band. These observations suggest that cell-to-vesicle protein transfer is insensitive to bulk steric and electrostatic properties of cell membranes, but enhanced by membrane defects. Recipient membrane composition influences the selectivity of transferred proteins and may reveal subtle differences in the membrane association of protein subpopulations.

Shape response of human erythrocytes to altered cell pH.

Alteration of red blood cell (RBC) pH produces stomatocytosis (at low pH) and echinocytosis (at high pH). Cell shrinkage potentiates high pH echinocytosis, but shrinkage alone does not cause echinocytosis. Mechanisms for these shape changes have not been described. In this study, measured dependence of RBC shape on cell pH was nonlinear, with a broad pH range in which normal discoid shape was maintained. Transbilayer distribution of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine, measured by back-extraction of radiolabeled lipid, was the same in control and altered pH cells. Possible roles of pH-titratable inner monolayer phospholipids were examined by assessing pH-dependent shape in cells in which their levels had been perturbed. In metabolically depleted cells and calcium-treated cells, which have altered levels of phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, and/or phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate, low cell pH was stomatocytogenic and high cell pH was echinocytogenic, as in control cells. Thus, neither change in membrane lipid asymmetry nor normal levels of the pH-titratable inner monolayer lipids is necessary for cell pH-mediated shape change.

Wheat germ agglutinin stabilization of erythrocyte shape: role of bilayer balance and the membrane skeleton.

The effects of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), Limulus lectin, and concanavalin A on cell shape changes were examined in human erythrocytes. These agents inhibited echinocytosis in cells having elevated cytosolic Ca2+ or incorporated foreign phosphatidylcholine, but had no effect on cell stomatocytosis in response to incorporated phosphatidylserine. The role of the membrane skeleton in this selective membrane fixation was examined. WGA inhibited echinocytosis in cells previously depleted of polyphosphoinositides to reduce membrane skeleton binding to transmembrane proteins, treated with phorbol ester to enhance protein 4.1 phosphorylation, heat-treated to denature spectrin, alkylated with p-chloromercuribenzoate to dissociate glycophorin from the membrane skeleton, or subjected to elevated cell 2,3-diphosphoglycerate to alter organization of the spectrin-actin-protein 4.1 complex. Limulus lectin and increased concentrations of WGA also stabilized discoid shape in pronase-digested cells containing no detectable intact glycophorin. In contrast, cell digestion with sialidase abolished the shape-stabilizing effect of WGA. The results suggest that the membrane skeleton is not involved in WGA shape stabilization. Rather, they suggest that glycoproteins and glycolipids interact with the lectin to stabilize cell surface molecular associations, forming a superficial calyx that inhibits outward, but not inward, membrane bending.