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Biomedical subjects

E H Morgan

Publications and source records attributed to E H Morgan.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Vinblastine but not other microtubule inhibitors block transferrin endocytosis and iron uptake by reticulocytes.

The antimicrotubule reagents, colchicine, griseofulvin, nocodazole, podophylotoxin and taxol had no effect on transferrin endocytosis or iron uptake by rabbit or rat reticulocytes but were inhibitory when used at high concentrations with rat fetal liver erythroid cells. The results imply that microtubules do not have a role in endocytosis and iron uptake by reticulocytes but may have a permissive role in the fetal cells. The only reagent found to inhibit iron uptake by reticulocytes was vinblastine. It was shown to act by inhibiting the endocytosis of transferrin. It is concluded that this effect is not the result of an interaction with microtubules, but may result from a non-specific action on the cell membrane or a more specific effect, such as inhibition of calmodulin.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Effect of iron chelators on placental uptake and transfer of iron in rat.

The uptake of radiolabelled transferrin and iron by the rat placenta has been studied using two approaches. The first involved injection of a ferrous or ferric iron chelator followed by injection of label. Neither chelator decreased the amount of labelled transferrin in the placenta after 2-h incubation and only bipyridine, a ferrous iron chelator, inhibited iron transport to the fetus. Deferoxamine (DFO), a ferric iron chelator, had no effect on iron transport to the fetus but reduced iron uptake by the liver. Both bipyridine and DFO increased iron excretion into the gut and by the urinary tract to the same degree into the gut, but there was a 10-fold greater urinary excretion with bipyridine than with DFO. Injection of iron attached to the chelators showed that neither bipyridine nor DFO could donate iron to the fetus as efficiently as transferrin. The mechanism involved was further investigated by studying the effect of the chelators on uptake of transferrin-bound iron by placental cells in culture. DFO inhibited iron accumulation more effectively than bipyridine in the cultured cells. The effect was not due to a decrease in the cycling time of the receptor. The results can be explained if the iron is released from the transferrin in intracellular vesicles in the ferrous form, where it may be chelated by bipyridine and prevented from passing to the fetus or converted to the ferric form once it is inside the cell matrix.

2,2'-Dipyridyl↗
PubMed1987

Receptor-mediated endocytosis of transferrin and ferritin by guinea-pig reticulocytes. Uptake by a common endocytic pathway.

Earlier studies have shown that transferrin binds to specific receptors on the reticulocyte surface, clusters in coated pits and is then internalized via endocytic vesicles. Guinea-pig reticulocytes also have specific receptors for ferritin. In this paper ferritin and transferrin endocytosis by guinea-pig reticulocytes was studied by electron microscopy using the natural electron density of ferritin and colloidal gold-transferrin (AuTf). At 4 degrees C both ligands bound to the cell surface. At 37 degrees C progressive uptake occurred by endocytosis. AuTf and ferritin clustered in the same coated pits and small intracellular vesicles. After 60 min incubations the ligands colocalized to large multivesicular endosomes (MVE), still membrane-bound. MVE subsequently fused with the plasma membrane and released AuTf, ferritin and inclusions by exocytosis. All endocytic structures labelled with AuTf contained ferritin, but 23 to 35% of ferritin-labelled endocytic structures contained no AuTf. These data suggest that ferritin and transferrin are internalized through the same pathway involving receptors, coated pits and vesicles, but that these proteins are recycled only partly in common.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Anemia of the Belgrade rat: evidence for defective membrane transport of iron.

The mechanisms underlying the impaired utilization of transferrin-bound iron by erythroid cells in the anemia of the Belgrade laboratory rat were investigated using reticulocytes from homozygous anemic animals and transferrin labeled with 59Fe and 125I. The results were compared with those obtained using reticulocytes from phenylhydrazine-treated rats and iron-deficient rats. Each step in the iron uptake mechanism was investigated, ie, transferrin-receptor interaction, transferrin endocytosis, iron release from transferrin, and transferrin exocytosis. Although there were quantitative differences, no fundamental difference was found in any of the abovementioned aspects of cellular function when the reticulocytes from Belgrade rats were compared with those from iron-deficient animals. The basic defect in the Belgrade reticulocytes must therefore reside in subsequent steps in iron uptake, after it is released from transferrin within endocytotic vesicles, ie, in the mechanism by which it is transferred across the lining membrane of the vesicles into the cell cytosol. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of reticulocyte ghosts extracts demonstrated a prominent protein band of mol wt 69,000 that was absent or present only in low concentration extracts from the other two types of reticulocytes. This may be a result of the genetic defect.

Anemia↗
PubMed1986

Uptake and subcellular processing of 59Fe-125I-labelled transferrin by rat liver.

The uptake of transferrin and iron by the rat liver was studied after intravenous injection or perfusion in vitro with diferric rat transferrin labelled with 125I and 59Fe. It was shown by subcellular fractionation on sucrose density gradients that 125I-transferrin was predominantly associated with a low-density membrane fraction, of similar density to the Golgi-membrane marker galactosyltransferase. Electron-microscope autoradiography demonstrated that most of the 125I-transferrin was located in hepatocytes. The 59Fe had a bimodal distribution, with a larger peak at a similar low density to that of labelled transferrin and a smaller peak at higher density coincident with the mitochondrial enzyme succinate dehydrogenase. Approx. 50% of the 59Fe in the low-density peak was precipitated with anti-(rat ferritin) serum. Uptake of transferrin into the low-density fraction was rapid, reaching a maximal level after 5-10 min. When livers were perfused with various concentrations of transferrin the total uptakes of both iron and transferrin and incorporation into their subcellular fractions were curvilinear, increasing with transferrin concentrations up to at least 10 microM. Analysis of the transferrin-uptake data indicated the presence of specific transferrin receptors with an association constant of approx. 5 X 10(6) M-1, with some non-specific binding. Neither rat nor bovine serum albumin was taken up into the low-density fractions of the liver. Chase experiments with the perfused liver showed that most of the 125I-transferrin was rapidly released from the liver, predominantly in an undegraded form, as indicated by precipitation with trichloroacetic acid. Approx. 40% of the 59Fe was also released. It is concluded that the uptake of transferrin-bound iron by the liver of the rat results from endocytosis by hepatocytes of the iron-transferrin complex into low-density vesicles followed by release of iron from the transferrin and recycling of the transferrin to the extracellular medium. The iron is rapidly incorporated into mitochondria and cytosolic ferritin.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Iron metabolism during lactation and suckling in a marsupial, the quokka (Setonix brachyurus).

The iron status and transfer of iron through the milk during lactation were determined in a marsupial, the quokka, Setonix brachyurus. Lactating animals were not anaemic and had similar liver and spleen non-haem iron values to non-lactating female adult animals but about 40% less non-haem iron than male adults. The milk iron concentration was very high during the period of lactation when the young is confined to the pouch, averaging about 20 micrograms/ml (eight times the plasma iron concentration), but fell markedly at the time when the young commence to leave the pouch. Blood haemoglobin concentration increased during pouch life of the young to reach adult levels at about 180 days, and liver non-haem iron concentration increased during the same period to values nearly 20 times greater than in their mothers. After the young left the pouch the non-haem iron concentration fell rapidly to the adult level while haemoglobin concentrations were maintained. It is concluded that milk is an adequate source of iron during pouch life of the quokka and enables the animal to build up iron stores which can be utilized after leaving the pouch.

Aging↗
PubMed1986

Iron uptake and metabolism by hepatocytes.

The hepatocytes form part of the iron storage system of the body. In serving this function they exchange iron bidirectionally with the plasma iron transport protein transferrin (Tf). Iron uptake involves binding of the iron-Tf complex to cell membrane receptors and endocytosis into low-density vesicles, where the iron is released from its carrier protein before the Tf is returned undegraded to the extracellular medium. Two components of the iron uptake process can be distinguished, one saturable at low concentrations of diferric Tf and the other not saturable by increasing the Tf concentration. Both result in net uptake of iron by the cells and both appear to depend on specific binding to the cell membrane and endocytosis. Hepatocytes also obtain some iron from haptoglobin-hemoglobin, heme-hemopexin, and ferritin (Fn), in each case by interaction with membrane receptors and endocytosis. Within the cell iron from all sources enters one or more transit pools, where it is available for exchange with the iron storage protein Fn, and for release from the cell to plasma Tf or to iron chelators administered therapeutically or experimentally. Chelator-mediated iron release occurs to the plasma and/or to the bile, depending on the nature of the chelator and the source of the iron.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

The membrane effect of 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate on transferrin and iron uptake by rabbit reticulocytes.

Studies on the effect of 1-anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate on uptake of transferrin and iron by rabbit reticulocytes show that the inhibitory action of ANS is localized at the membrane level. The intravesicular pH and cellular ATP level were not affected by this anionic probe. ANS shifted the transition temperature and reduced the enthalpy changes of iron uptake by rabbit reticulocytes. These suggested that the drug reduced the membrane fluidity. Hence, ANS disturbed the physicochemical environment of the receptor for transferrin resulting in the perturbation of receptor-mediated endocytosis.

Anilino Naphthalenesulfonates↗
PubMed1985

The biosynthesis of rat transferrin. Evidence for rapid glycosylation, disulfide bond formation, and tertiary folding.

The transit time of newly synthesized transferrin in the liver is markedly longer than that of albumin. We sought to learn the basis of this difference by the use of labeled leucine and mannose in vivo and by isolation of newly formed transferrin from rough microsomes of rat liver. Albumin and alpha 1-antitrypsin, a second glycoprotein, were also studied for comparison. Minimal hepatic transit times were 17, 23, and 31 min for albumin, alpha 1-antitrypsin, and transferrin, respectively. The delay in the case of transferrin was found to occur chiefly in the rough endoplasmic reticulum and to be paralleled by an increase in the amount of transferrin relative to albumin in that organelle. Initial glycosylation of transferrin was as rapid as that of alpha 1-antitrypsin, and essentially all of the transferrin in the rough endoplasmic reticulum contained glycans which bound to concanavalin A and were removed by endoglycosidase H. Only 3% of the transferrin isolated from the rough microsomes came from the plasma by endocytosis or adsorption. Rapidity of disulfide bond formation in rough microsomes was evident from the presence of only 1.3 cysteine thiols/molecule of rough microsomal transferrin (total of 19 cystines) and the absence of mixed disulfides. Peptide patterns upon mild proteolysis were consistent with a native configuration of disulfide bond pairing. The ability of rough microsomal transferrin to bind and deliver iron through interaction with transferrin receptors on reticulocytes suggests that considerable tertiary structure is present. Thus, initial glycosylation, disulfide bridging, and tertiary folding are all rapid processes. The cause for the slow release of transferrin from the rough endoplasmic reticulum may lie with a rate-limiting transfer mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Uptake of transferrin and iron by cultured rat placental cells.

This paper describes a method for the culture of rat placental cells. The method involved separation of the basal layer from the labyrinth and sequential digestion of the cells. The cells were demonstrated not to be fibroblasts and are described in terms of their appearance under the light and electron microscopes. Transferrin and iron uptake by the cells was examined and compared with results achieved using other methods of study. The results showed that transferrin bound to receptors on the cell surface and that the transferrin, once bound, was taken into the cell. Only this internalized transferrin was capable of donating iron to the cells. The iron was accumulated within the cells and did not appear to be released to the incubation medium. The apparent dissociation constant (Ka) for transferrin was found to be 6.96 X 10(6) M-1, a value similar to that described by earlier workers. The placental cells had 3.4 X 10(11) binding sites/microgram DNA, equivalent to approximately 1 X 10(6) sites/cell. From these data, and from the rate of accumulation of iron by the cells, the receptor turnover time was estimated as being between 5 and 10 min.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

The mechanism of iron uptake by the rat placenta.

The mechanism of iron uptake from transferrin by the rat placenta in culture has been studied. Transferrin endocytosis preceded iron accumulation by the cells. Both transferrin internalisation and iron uptake were inhibited by low temperature. Transferrin endocytosis was less susceptible to the effects of metabolic inhibitors such as sodium fluoroacetate, potassium cyanide, 2,4, dinitrophenol or carbonylcyanide M-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP) than was iron uptake. Iron accumulation was decreased if the cells were incubated in the presence of weak bases such as chloroquine or ammonium chloride. These results suggest that, following internalisation, the vesicles containing the transferrin and iron became acidified, and that this acidification was a necessary prerequisite for the accumulation of iron by the cell. Further, the results indicate that the intravesicular pH was maintained at the expense of metabolic energy, suggesting that a pump may be involved. The importance of the permeability properties of the vesicle membrane in the iron uptake process was investigated by incubating the cells with labelled transferrin and iron in the presence of different cation and anion ionophores. Irrespective of the normal cation that the ionophores carried, all inhibited iron uptake without altering transferrin levels. In contrast, phloridzin, a Cl- transport inhibitor, did not affect either the levels of transferrin within the cells or the amount of iron accumulated.

Ammonium Chloride↗
PubMed1985

Transferrin and iron release from rat hepatocytes in culture.

The regulation of transferrin and iron release from the liver was studied using adult rat hepatocytes in primary monolayer culture. The cells were prelabeled by incubation with rat transferrin doubly labeled with iodine-125 and iron-59. Approximately 50% of the 125I-transferrin but only 10% of the iron-59 taken up by the cells was released during reincubation for 24 h. Less than 10% of the refluxed transferrin was catabolized as indicated by the protein-free iodine-125 values. These results suggest that at least part of iron uptake by hepatocytes is mediated by the reversible binding of transferrin in a manner comparable with erythroid cells and placenta. However, several iron chelators mobilized hepatic iron, in contrast to erythroid cells. Apotransferrin and desferrioxamine released a maximum of about 20% iron-59 with little effect on transferrin binding. A greater proportion of the iron-59 was available for chelation after shorter uptake times (1-2 h) than longer times. Hence, there are at least three iron compartments in hepatocytes in culture: rapidly refluxing iron that may be transferrin bound, a fixed pool, and a chelatable pool that may represent iron in transit between plasma transferrin and ferritin.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Calmodulin antagonists inhibit and phorbol esters enhance transferrin endocytosis and iron uptake by immature erythroid cells.

Seven antagonists of the calcium-binding protein calmodulin were found to inhibit iron and transferrin uptake by reticulocytes. This inhibition could be completely accounted for by inhibition of the endocytosis and exocytosis of transferrin. When four of the antagonists were tested with the nucleated erythroid cells from the liver of the fetal rat, inhibition of iron uptake was also observed but at higher concentrations than required for the same degree of inhibition with reticulocytes. The tumor promoters phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDB) were shown to increase the rates of iron and transferrin uptake by reticulocytes and fetal liver erythroid cells by accelerating the rates of transferrin endocytosis and exocytosis. Since these substances are known to stimulate the calcium-activated enzyme protein kinase C while calmodulin antagonists are inhibitory, it is concluded that this enzyme plays an important role in the endocytosis and intracellular cycling of transferrin, and iron uptake by immature erythroid cells. However, the possibilities that calmodulin is also involved or that the inhibitory effects of the calmodulin antagonists are due to nonspecific actions on the cell membrane cannot be excluded.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1984

The effect of monoclonal antibodies to the human transferrin receptor on transferrin and iron uptake by rat and rabbit reticulocytes.

The effect of monoclonal antibodies to the human transferrin receptor on transferrin and iron uptake by rat and rabbit reticulocytes has been examined. The antibodies used were as follows: T58/1.4, B3/25.4, 42/6.3, T56/14.3.1, and 43/31. The effects were the same, irrespective of the antibody. Transferrin and iron uptake were stimulated in both rat and rabbit reticulocytes. The stimulation was not due to an increase in the number or affinity of the receptors, but rather to an increase in the rate of turnover of the receptors. Electron microscopy suggested that the antibody acted by facilitating the formation of coated pits containing the transferrin-receptor complex.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Intravesicular pH and iron uptake by immature erythroid cells.

The intravesicular pH of intact rabbit reticulocytes was measured by two methods; one based on the intracellular:extracellular distribution of DMO (5, 5, dimethyl + oxazolidin-2,4-dione), methylamine, and chloroquine and the other by quantitative fluorescence microscopy of cell-bound transferrin. The latter method was also applied to nucleated erythroid cells from the fetal rat liver. A pH value of approximately 5.4 was obtained with both methods and in both types of cells. Treatment of the cells with lysosomotrophic agents, metabolic inhibitors, and ionophores elevated the intravesicular pH and inhibited iron uptake from transferrin. When varying concentrations of NH4Cl were used, a close correlation was observed between the inhibition of iron uptake and elevation of the intravesicular pH. At pH 5.4 iron release from rabbit iron-bicarbonate transferrin in vitro was much more rapid than from iron-oxalate transferrin. The bicarbonate complex donates its iron to rabbit reticulocytes approximately twice as quickly as the oxalate complex. It is concluded that the acidic conditions within the vesicles provide the mechanism for iron release from the transferrin molecule after its endocytosis and that the low vesicular pH is dependent on cellular metabolism.

Ammonium Chloride↗
PubMed1984

Transferrin endocytosis and the mechanism of iron uptake by reticulocytes in the toad (Bufo marinus).

Reticulocytosis was induced in toads (Bufo marinus) by treatment with phenylhydrazine. Iron and transferrin uptake and transferrin endocytosis and exocytosis by these cells were measured. The mean number of transferrin receptors per cell was found to be 4.5 X 10(5) and the affinity constant of transferrin to receptors was 0.2 X 10(7) M-1. Iron and transferrin uptake were temp.-dependent processes. An inflection point occurred at 15-16 degrees C in the Arrhenius plots of endocytosis and iron uptake. The activation energies of these two processes above and below the inflection temperature were 31 and 71 kJ/mol. It is concluded that iron uptake by immature toad erythroid cells occurs by receptor-mediated endocytosis which still functions at temps as low as 5 degrees C.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Transferrin and iron uptake by rat hepatocytes in culture.

Hepatic iron and transferrin metabolism was studied using rat transferrin doubly labeled with 59Fe and 125I and adult rat hepatocytes in primary monolayer culture. Iron uptake was linear for 48 h while transferrin uptake was biphasic. Total transferrin and iron uptake increased in a linear manner as the transferrin concentration was raised up to at least 130 microM. This indicates that transferrin and iron are taken up primarily by nonspecific processes, possibly by endocytosis (absorptive or fluid) and by the action of iron chelators. However, some evidence indicated the presence of receptors for diferric transferrin on hepatocytes: the molar ratio of iron to transferrin accumulation increased with incubation time, transferrin and iron uptake was proportional to the iron saturation of the transferrin, apotransferrin displaced bound apotransferrin but had no effect on the binding of diferric transferrin, and the molar ratio of iron to transferrin uptake decreased with increasing transferrin concentrations.

Animals↗