Mechanisms of phosphatidylserine exposure, a phagocyte recognition signal, on apoptotic T lymphocytes.

The appearance of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the cell surface during apoptosis in thymocytes and cytotoxic T lymphocyte cell lines provokes PS-dependent recognition by activated macrophages. Flow cytometric analysis of transbilayer lipid movements in T lymphocytes undergoing apoptosis reveals that downregulation of the adenosine triphosphate-dependent amino-phospholipid translocase and activation of a nonspecific lipid scramblase are responsible for PS reaching the surface from its intracellular location. Both mechanisms are expressed at the same time, and precede DNA degradation, zeiosis, and cell lysis in the apoptotic pathway.

Relation between the organization of spectrin and of membrane lipids in lymphocytes.

In lymphocytes, the cytoskeletal protein spectrin exhibits two organizational states. Because the plasma membrane lipids of lymphocytes also display two organizational states, it was asked whether there is a relation between the organization of spectrin and of membrane lipids. When mouse thymocytes were stained with merocyanine 540 (MC540), a fluorescent lipophilic probe that binds preferentially to loosely packed, disorganized lipid bilayers, some cells fluoresced brightly and some only dimly or not at all. When the same population was stained for spectrin by indirect immunofluorescence, the spectrin in some cells was uniformly distributed, while in others it was concentrated in a unipolar aggregate. Techniques enriching for mature thymocytes selected for cells displaying low MC540 fluorescence and aggregated spectrin, the same characteristics found in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Flow cytometric sorting of thymocytes based on MC540 phenotype simultaneously sorted them by spectrin phenotype. Finally, treatment with agents that alter the distribution of spectrin caused mature lymphocytes to display high MC540 fluorescence and uniform spectrin. Thus, a relation exists between the organizational states of spectrin and of membrane lipids in lymphocytes: aggregated spectrin is found in cells with tightly organized membrane lipids, uniform spectrin in those with loosely organized lipids. Spectrin may thus be involved in modulating membrane lipid organization in lymphocytes as it is in erythrocytes. Since loosely organized lipids may promote adhesion of blood cells to reticuloendothelial cells, spectrin may thereby be involved in transducing an internally generated adhesion signal to the lymphocyte surface.

Studies on the mechanism of polyethylene glycol-mediated cell fusion using fluorescent membrane and cytoplasmic probes.

The mechanism by which polyethylene glycol (PEG) mediates cell fusion has been studied by examining the movements of membrane lipids and proteins, as well as cytoplasmic markers, from erythrocytes to monolayers of cultured cells to which they have been fused. Fluorescence and freeze-fracture electron microscopy and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching have yielded the following results: (a) In the presence of both fusogenic and nonfusogenic PEG membranes are brought together at closely apposed contact regions. (b) Fluorescent lipid probes quickly spread from the membranes of erythrocytes to cultured cells in the presence of both fusogenic and nonfusogenic PEG. (c) Proteins of the erythrocyte membranes were never observed to diffuse into the cultured cell membrane. (d) Water-soluble proteins did not diffuse from the erythrocyte interior into the target cell cytoplasm until the PEG was removed. These data suggest that the coordinate action of two distinct components is necessary for fusion as mediated by PEG. Presumably, the polymer itself promotes close apposition of the adjacent cell membranes but the fusion stimulus is provided by the additives contained in commercial PEG.

A subfamily of P-type ATPases with aminophospholipid transporting activity.

The appearance of phosphatidylserine on the surface of animal cells triggers phagocytosis and blood coagulation. Normally, phosphatidylserine is confined to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane by an aminophospholipid translocase, which has now been cloned and sequenced. The bovine enzyme is a member of a previously unrecognized subfamily of P-type adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) that may have diverged from the primordial enzyme before the separation of the known families of ion-translocating ATPases. Studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae suggest that aminophospholipid translocation is a general function of members of this family.

Imaging macrophages in trehalose with SIMS.

Phagocytosis is a major component of the animal immune system where apoptotic cellular material, metabolites, and waste are safely processed. Further, efficient phagocytosis by macrophages is key to maintaining healthy vascular systems and preventing atherosclerosis. Single-cell images of macrophage phagocytosis of red blood cells, RBCs, and polystyrene microspheres have been chemically mapped with TOF-SIMS. We demonstrate here cholesterol and phosphocholine localizations as relative to time and activity.

Membrane phase state and the rearrangement of hematopoietic cell surface receptors.

Transformed murine hematopoietic cells of several lineages bound the fluorescent membrane probe merocyanine 540, whereas their normal counterparts did not. Similar selective binding was reproduced in artificial liposomes which bound this probe above their phase transition temperature, but not below it. The regions of the membrane to which merocyanine 540 binds along with the receptors for the lectin concanavalin A, but not the receptors for the lectin wheat germ agglutinin, were rearranged during the course of induced differentiation of erythroleukemia cells. Based on these findings, we propose a model of hematopoietic cell surface differentiation in which proteins such as concanavalin A receptors, which are destined for removal from the plasma membrane, are specifically associated with disordered, liquid-like lipid domains which can be visualized with merocyanine 540. For the specific case of erythroid differentiation, these domains and their associated proteins are collected at the region of the membrane where nuclear extrusion occurs and are eliminated from the reticulocyte plasma membrane by the enucleation event.

Multiple systems for recognition of apoptotic lymphocytes by macrophages.

In vivo, apoptotic lymphocytes are recognized and phagocytosed by macrophages well before the final stages of DNA degradation and cell lysis. The recognition process is apparently triggered by the exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the cell surface, an event which precedes cell lysis by several hours. However, multiple receptors appear to respond to this event. We demonstrate here that both activated and unactivated macrophages recognize PS, but with different receptor systems. Phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by activated (but not by unactivated) macrophages is inhibited by pure PS vesicles as well as by N-acetylglucosamine, implicating involvement of a lectin-like receptor in this case. Conversely, uptake of apoptotic lymphocytes by unactivated (but not by activated) macrophages is inhibited by PS on the surface of erythrocytes as well as by the tetrapeptide RGDS and cationic amino acids and sugars, implicating involvement of the vitronectin receptor in this case. Recognition by both classes of macrophages is blocked by the monocyte-specific monoclonal antibody 61D3. The signal recognized by activated macrophages appears to develop on the lymphocyte prior to assembly of the signal recognized by unactivated macrophages. Collectively, these results suggest that PS exposure on the surface of apoptotic lymphocytes generates a complex and evolving signal recognized by different receptor complexes on activated and unactivated macrophages.

Alteration of lipid organization following fertilization of sea urchin eggs.

The fluorescent probe merocyanine 540 was used to examine the organization of the lipids in the external leaflet of the plasma membrane after fertilization of sea urchin eggs. These lipids in unfertilized eggs are closely packed, as evidenced by their inability to bind the dye, whereas in fertilized eggs and cells of embryos up to at least the gastrula stage, the membrane becomes more loosely organized, and stains with bright ring fluorescence. Induction of late fertilization events with ammonia failed to induce this change in staining behavior. Sperm components are not required to induce this alteration since parthenogenetically activated eggs stained. However, treatment of eggs with procaine, which specifically inhibits the early event of cortical granule fusion, was effective in suppressing staining. These results indicate that cortical granule fusion after fertilization results in a change in the organization of the lipids of the plasma membrane of sea urchin eggs.

Rapid loss and restoration of lipid asymmetry by different pathways in resealed erythrocyte ghosts.

The normal asymmetric distribution of phospholipids across the plasma membrane of erythrocytes can be abolished by lysing and resealing cells in the presence of Ca2+. In the present study, using flow cytometric analysis of the binding of merocyanine 540 to monitor transbilayer phospholipid distribution, Ca(2+)-induced loss of asymmetry is shown to be independent from the aminophospholipid translocase which catalyzes movement of normally internal phospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of the membrane. Loss of asymmetry is rapid, temperature-sensitive, and occurs in an uninterrupted, intact bilayer, rather than by diffusion of lipids through the hemolytic pore. Addition of ATP during lysis reverses loss of asymmetry, and this restoration can be blocked by inhibitors of the aminophospholipid translocase. These results suggest that the ATP-dependent translocase is essential for recovery of asymmetry, in turn suggesting that separate mechanisms mediate the loss and the recovery of lipid asymmetry in erythrocytes.

Insertion of lipid domains into plasma membranes by fusion with erythrocytes.

After prelabeling the plasma membrane with several lipid-specific fluorescent probes, erythrocytes with symmetric lipid bilayers were fused with culture cells using either poly(ethylene glycol) or Sendai virus as fusogen. Several nonspecific probes were transferred to, and became uniformly distributed within, the culture cell membrane upon fusion. In contrast, when merocyanine 540, which displays preferential binding to bilayers in which the lipids are loosely packed, was used to prelabel erythrocytes, fluorescence remained localized within a small confined area of the membrane, even 24 h after fusion. These results suggest that insertion of the lipids of the erythrocyte membrane into the plasma membrane of the culture cell can produce discrete domains which persist as such for long periods following fusion. Because the inserted proteins of the erythrocyte membrane similarly do not freely diffuse throughout the culture cell membrane, interactions between membrane proteins and lipids may be involved in this singular compartmentalization.

Merocyanine 540, a fluorescent probe sensitive to lipid packing.

Binding of the lipophilic probe merocyanine 540 to artificial bilayers was assessed by measuring the enhancement of fluorescence which results when dye enters the hydrophobic environment of the membrane. Titration of a constant amount of dye with increasing amounts of vesicles revealed that much more dye binds to multilamellar and 1000-A unilamellar vesicles which are in the fluid-phase state than to comparable vesicles which are in the gel-phase state. Incorporation of cholesterol into fluid-phase vesicles at levels of greater than 20 mol% reduced dye binding, whereas cholesterol had no effect at any concentration when incorporated into gel-phase vesicles. Sonicated 200--300-A unilamellar gel-phase vesicles, which because of their reduced radius of curvature resemble fluid-phase bilayers in their more widely spaced exterior leaflet lipids, bound more dye than 1000-A unilamellar gel-phase vesicles constructed from the same lipid. These results suggest that merocyanine 540 is able to sense the degree of lipid packing of bilayers and inserts preferentially into bilayers whose lipids are more widely spaced.

Nucleosome repeat lengths in the definitive erythroid series of the adult chicken.

Morris [1] has suggested that the difference in nucleosome repeat length between chicken liver (200 base pairs) and mature chicken erythrocytes (212 base pairs) may be due to the presence of histone H5 which is found in chicken erythroid cells but not in other tissues. Levels of H5 increase during erythroid maturation in the adult chicken. To determine what influence H5 might have on repeat length, erythroid populations at various stages of maturation were isolated, and repeat lengths and levels of H5 were determined. Bone marrow cells from anemic chickens were cultured in vitro to permit non-cycling erythroblasts to mature and thus increase in density. Less dense cycling basophilic erythroblasts were then isolated by buoyant density centrifugation. This erythroblasts were then isolated by buoyant density centrifugation. This population has a repeat length of 205 base pairs and an H5 content roughly two-thirds that of mature erythrocytes, which have a repeat length of 212 base pairs. A population intermediate in maturation, consisting of cells of the anemic pheripheral blood, has a repeat length of 218 base pairs, and the predominant cell type in this population has an H5 content greater than that of mature erythrocytes. Therefore, changes in histone H5 content are reflected by the nucleosome repeat length during erythroid maturation.

Peroxidation-induced perturbations of erythrocyte lipid organization.

Peroxidation of erythrocyte membrane lipids by hydrogen peroxide perturbs the lipid bilayer and increases phagocytosis by macrophages. This study addresses the underlying mechanism of these processes, and in particular the role of malondialdehyde, a major byproduct of lipid peroxidation. When erythrocytes were treated with hydrogen peroxide or ascorbate/iron to generate malondialdehyde, or with malondialdehyde itself, only those cells treated with hydrogen peroxide showed increased phospholipid spacing and enhanced phagocytosis. This result indicates that the alterations observed are unique to hydrogen peroxide treatment, and that malondialdehyde does not play a role in inducing these changes in surface properties. Comparison of adherence to human umbilical vein endothelial cells and phagocytosis showed that increased phagocytosis was not mirrored by enhanced adherence. This result suggests that two different signals may mediate recognition of erythrocytes by macrophages and by endothelial cells.

Altered erythrocyte protein kinase C activity and membrane protein phosphorylation in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

The membrane protein kinase C (PKC) content was found to be higher in erythrocytes form patients suffering from chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) compared to normal erythrocytes. PKC activity was also higher in the cytosol and after translocation to the membrane, as assessed by histone phosphorylation. The increased PKC activity in CML erythrocytes was associated with abnormal phosphorylation of protein 4.1. Since phosphorylation-dephosphorylation mechanisms are likely candidates for controlling membrane protein associations, the altered PKC activity may be one of the factors responsible for altered thermal sensitivity and mechanical stability of CML erythrocytes.

Phosphatidylserine, a death knell.

Virtually every cell in the body restricts phosphatidylserine (PS) to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane by energy-dependent transport from the outer to the inner leaflet of the bilayer. Apoptotic cells of all types rapidly randomize the asymmetric distribution, bringing PS to the surface where it serves as a signal for phagocytosis. A myriad of phagocyte receptors have been implicated in the recognition of apoptotic cells, among them a PS receptor, yet few ligands other than PS have been identified on the apoptotic cell surface. Since apoptosis and the associated exposure of PS on the cell surface is probably over 600 million years old, it is not surprising that evolution has appropriated aspects of this process for specialized purposes such as blood coagulation, membrane fusion and erythrocyte differentiation. Failure to efficiently remove apoptotic cells may contribute to inflammatory responses and autoimmune diseases resulting from chronic, inappropriate exposure of PS.

Surface expression of phosphatidylserine on macrophages is required for phagocytosis of apoptotic thymocytes.

Cells generally maintain an asymmetric distribution of phospholipids across the plasma membrane bilayer, restricting the phospholipid, phosphatidylserine (PS), to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. When cells undergo apoptosis, this asymmetric transbilayer distribution is lost, bringing PS to the surface where it acts as a signal for engulfment by phagocytes. The fluorescent dye merocyanine 540 specifically stains the plasma membrane of apoptotic cells which have lost their asymmetric distribution of phospholipids. However, it also stains non-apoptotic macrophages, suggesting that phospholipid asymmetry may not be maintained in these cells, and thus that they may express PS on their surface. Here, the PS-binding protein, annexin V, was used to show that in fact normal macrophages do express PS on their surface. Furthermore, pre-treating macrophages with annexin V was found to inhibit phagocytosis of apoptotic thymocytes and thymocytes on which PS expression was artificially induced, but did not inhibit phagocytosis of latex beads or Fc receptor-mediated phagocytosis of opsonized erythrocytes. These results indicate that PS is constitutively expressed on the surface of macrophages and is functionally significant for the phagocytosis of PS-expressing target cells.

CD14 is a component of multiple recognition systems used by macrophages to phagocytose apoptotic lymphocytes.

Expression of the aminophospholipid phosphatidylserine (PS) on the surface of apoptotic lymphocytes and lipid-symmetric erythrocytes triggers their phagocytosis by macrophages. Phagocytosis by both activated and unactivated macrophages, which utilize different recognition systems, can be blocked by certain monoclonal antibodies directed against the LPS receptor, CD14. Here we investigate the requirement for CD14 in the phagocytosis of both apoptotic thymocytes and lipid-symmetric erythrocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages. We show that phagocytosis of lipid-symmetric erythrocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages is completely abolished when CD14 is removed from macrophages by cleaving its glycosylphosphatidylinositol tether with phospholipase C. This treatment also substantially reduces phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by both types of macrophages. Unactivated LR-9 mouse macrophages which are deficient in CD14 expression are completely unable to phagocytose either apoptotic thymocytes or lipid-symmetric erythrocytes. These results argue that CD14 is an absolute requirement for the phagocytosis of lipid-symmetric erythrocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages, despite their different recognition systems, that CD14 contributes at least substantially to the phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages, and that activated macrophages may also possess an alternate, CD14-independent mechanism for phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes.

Exposure of phosphatidylserine is a general feature in the phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by macrophages.

Although different macrophages exploit different cell surface receptors to recognize apoptotic lymphocytes, indirect evidence suggested that the phosphatidylserine (PS) that appears on the surface of lymphocytes undergoing apoptosis participates in specific recognition by all types of macrophages. To test this possibility directly, annexin V, a protein that specifically binds to PS, was used to mask this phospholipid on the apoptotic cell surface. Preincubation of apoptotic lymphocytes with annexin V blocked phagocytosis by elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages, macrophages of the mouse J774 cell line and mouse bone marrow macrophages. Similarly, annexin V was able to inhibit phagocytosis of lipid-symmetric erythrocytes, another target cell upon which PS is exposed. Together these results demonstrate directly that macrophages of all types depend on the PS exposed on the surface of apoptotic lymphocytes for recognition and phagocytosis.

Regulation of phosphatidylserine exposure and phagocytosis of apoptotic T lymphocytes.

In lymphocytes, an asymmetric distribution of phospholipids across the plasma membrane is maintained by an ATP-dependent translocase which specifically transports aminophospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of the bilayer. During apoptosis, this enzyme is down-regulated and a lipid flipsite, termed the scramblase, is activated. Together, these events lead to the appearance of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the cell surface. In DO11.10 T lymphocyte hybridoma cells undergoing apoptosis, the kinetics of PS externalization are paralleled by the development of PS-sensitive phagocytosis by macrophages. This parallel is also observed when PS externalization is effected directly by application of a Ca2+ ionophore, suggesting that PS externalization is not only necessary, but sufficient, to generate a recognition signal. The broad spectrum aspartate-directed cysteine protease (caspase) inhibitor zVAD-fmk blocks externalization of PS and terminal cell lysis after induction of apoptosis by anti-CD3 antibody, but is ineffective when apoptosis is induced in the same cells by treatment with glucocorticoid. These results suggest that apoptosis induced by glucocorticoid does not require the same zVAD-sensitive caspase steps which are required for Fas/FasL-dependent death induced by anti-CD3 antibody, and that the action of these proteases is also not required for PS externalization. Extracellular Ca2+ is required to complete the later stages of apoptosis in DO11.10 cells, and its removal restores normal transport of PS, suggesting that down-regulation of the aminophospholipid translocase and up-regulation of the scramblase are not effected by irreversible protease cleavage.

Merocyanine 540 as a flow cytometric probe of membrane lipid organization in leukocytes.

Merocyanine 540 (MC540) is a fluorescent probe that binds preferentially to membranes with loosely packed lipids. When combined with flow cytometry, it provides a novel methodology for rapidly and quantitatively assessing lipid organization in individual leukocytes. Analysis of cells stained simultaneously with MC540 and 1-[4-trimethylammoniumphenyl]-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene, to normalize for surface area, revealed that all leukocytes in peripheral blood bind equivalent amounts of dye per unit surface area. This result indicates that the lipids of the plasma membranes of all types of circulating cells are organized similarly. Upon activation with appropriate stimuli, lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophils all bound increased amounts of dye per unit surface area, indicating a change in lipid organization to a less-ordered state. Cells stained with MC540 were sorted on the basis of their fluorescence intensity yielding populations homogeneous with respect to lipid organization. Thus not only can MC540 and flow cytometry be combined for analyzing the organization of lipids in individual leukocytes, but sorted populations can be obtained for further biochemical, structural, and functional analyses.