Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Cell Biology logoLink to The Journal of Cell Biology
. 1984 Aug 1;99(2):639–647. doi: 10.1083/jcb.99.2.639

Surface charge distribution on the endothelial cell of liver sinusoids

PMCID: PMC2113250  PMID: 6430915

Abstract

The topography of the charged residues on the endothelial cell surface of liver sinusoid capillaries was investigated by using electron microscopic tracers of different size and charge. The tracers used were native ferritin (pl 4.2-4.7) and its cationized (pl 8.4) and anionized (pl 3.7) derivatives, BSA coupled to colloidal gold (pl of the complex 5.1), hemeundecapeptide (pl 4.85), and alcian blue (pl greater than 10). The tracers were either injected in vivo or perfused in situ through the portal vein of the mouse liver. In some experiments, two tracers of opposite charge were sequentially perfused with extensive washing in between. The liver was processed for electron microscopy and the binding pattern of the injected markers was recorded. The electrostatic nature of the tracer binding was assessed by perfusion with high ionic strength solutions, by aldehyde quenching of the plasma membrane basic residues, and by substituting the cell surface acidic moieties with positively charged groups. Results indicate that the endothelial cells of the liver sinusoids expose on their surface both cationic and anionic residues. The density distribution of these charged groups on the cell surface is different. While the negative charge is randomly and patchily scattered all over the membrane, the cationic residues seem to be accumulated in coated pits. The charged groups co-exist in the same coated pit and bind the opposite charged macromolecule. It appears that the fixed positive and negative charges of the coated pit glycocalyx are mainly segregated in space. The layer of basic residues is located at 20-30-nm distance of the membrane, while most of the negative charges lie close to the external leaflet of the plasmalemma.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.3 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Burry R. W., Wood J. G. Contributions of lipids and proteins to the surface charge of membranes. An electron microscopy study with cationized and anionized ferritin. J Cell Biol. 1979 Sep;82(3):726–741. doi: 10.1083/jcb.82.3.726. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. De Bruyn P. P., Michelson S., Becker R. P. Endocytosis, transfer tubules, and lysosomal activity in myeloid sinusoidal endothelium. J Ultrastruct Res. 1975 Nov;53(2):133–151. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5320(75)80131-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. De Bruyn P. P., Michelson S., Becker R. P. Nonrandom distribution of sialic acid over the cell surface of bristle-coated endocytic vesicles of the sinusoidal endothelium cells. J Cell Biol. 1978 Aug;78(2):379–389. doi: 10.1083/jcb.78.2.379. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Graham R. C., Jr, Karnovsky M. J. The early stages of absorption of injected horseradish peroxidase in the proximal tubules of mouse kidney: ultrastructural cytochemistry by a new technique. J Histochem Cytochem. 1966 Apr;14(4):291–302. doi: 10.1177/14.4.291. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hoare D. G., Koshland D. E., Jr A method for the quantitative modification and estimation of carboxylic acid groups in proteins. J Biol Chem. 1967 May 25;242(10):2447–2453. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kanwar Y. S., Farquhar M. G. Anionic sites in the glomerular basement membrane. In vivo and in vitro localization to the laminae rarae by cationic probes. J Cell Biol. 1979 Apr;81(1):137–153. doi: 10.1083/jcb.81.1.137. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lagunoff D., Curran D. E. Role of bristle-coated membrane in the uptake of ferritin by rat macrophages. Exp Cell Res. 1972 Dec;75(2):337–346. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(72)90438-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. PALADE G. E. A study of fixation for electron microscopy. J Exp Med. 1952 Mar;95(3):285–298. doi: 10.1084/jem.95.3.285. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. ROSENBLUTH J., WISSIG S. L. THE DISTRIBUTION OF EXOGENOUS FERRITIN IN TOAD SPINAL GANGLIA AND THE MECHANISM OF ITS UPTAKE BY NEURONS. J Cell Biol. 1964 Nov;23:307–325. doi: 10.1083/jcb.23.2.307. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Simionescu D., Simionescu M. Differentiated distribution of the cell surface charge on the alveolar-capillary unit. Characteristic paucity of anionic sites on the air-blood barrier. Microvasc Res. 1983 Jan;25(1):85–100. doi: 10.1016/0026-2862(83)90045-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Simionescu M., Simionescu N., Silbert J. E., Palade G. E. Differentiated microdomains on the luminal surface of the capillary endothelium. II. Partial characterization of their anionic sites. J Cell Biol. 1981 Sep;90(3):614–621. doi: 10.1083/jcb.90.3.614. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Simionescu N., Simionescu M., Palade G. E. Differentiated microdomains on the luminal surface of the capillary endothelium. I. Preferential distribution of anionic sites. J Cell Biol. 1981 Sep;90(3):605–613. doi: 10.1083/jcb.90.3.605. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Simionescu N., Simionescu M., Palade G. E. Permeability of muscle capillaries to exogenous myoglobin. J Cell Biol. 1973 May;57(2):424–452. doi: 10.1083/jcb.57.2.424. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Steinman R. M., Mellman I. S., Muller W. A., Cohn Z. A. Endocytosis and the recycling of plasma membrane. J Cell Biol. 1983 Jan;96(1):1–27. doi: 10.1083/jcb.96.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Unger A., Hershko C. Hepatocellular uptake of ferritin in the rat. Br J Haematol. 1974 Oct;28(2):169–179. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1974.tb06651.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wisse E. An electron microscopic study of the fenestrated endothelial lining of rat liver sinusoids. J Ultrastruct Res. 1970 Apr;31(1):125–150. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5320(70)90150-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wisse E. An ultrastructural characterization of the endothelial cell in the rat liver sinusoid under normal and various experimental conditions, as a contribution to the distinction between endothelial and Kupffer cells. J Ultrastruct Res. 1972 Mar;38(5):528–562. doi: 10.1016/0022-5320(72)90089-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wisse E. Observations on the fine structure and peroxidase cytochemistry of normal rat liver Kupffer cells. J Ultrastruct Res. 1974 Mar;46(3):393–426. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5320(74)90064-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. van Deurs B., Nilausen K., Faergeman O., Meinertz H. Coated pits and pinocytosis of cationized ferritin in human skin fibroblasts. Eur J Cell Biol. 1982 Jun;27(2):270–278. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Cell Biology are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES