Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1978 Jun 1;147(6):1832–1837. doi: 10.1084/jem.147.6.1832

Secretory component of epithelial cells is a surface receptor for polymeric immunoglobulins

PMCID: PMC2184320  PMID: 681880

Abstract

Epithelial cells of human fetal intestines and of a colonic carcinoma cell line (HT-29) exhibited intracellular and surface binding of polymeric immunoglobulins of IgA and IgM classes; monomeric IgA and IgG did not bind to these cells. Secretory component was identified as the receptor involved in the immunoglobulin binding. This conclusion was confirmed by the following experiments: trypsin abrogated the surface binding of polymeric immunoglobulin, reappearance of surface secretory component (SC) restored immunoglobulin binding; the appearance of SC in developing fetal tissues coincided with their potential to bind polymeric immunoglobulin; anti-SC reagents inhibited the binding of immunoglobulins to epithelial cells; and SC-containing secretory IgA did not bind to the surface of HT-29 cells.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (622.3 KB).

Selected References

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

  1. Arnold R. R., Cole M. F., Prince S., McGhee J. R. Secretory IgM antibodies to Streptococcus mutans in subjects with selective IgA deficiency. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1977 Nov;8(3):475–486. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(77)90011-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brandtzaeg P., Baklien K. Intestinal secretion of IgA and IgM: a hypothetical model. Ciba Found Symp. 1977 Apr 26;(46):77–113. doi: 10.1002/9780470720288.ch5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brandtzaeg P. Human secretory component. I. Purification of free secretory component from colostrum. Scand J Immunol. 1974;3(5):579–588. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1974.tb01291.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brandtzaeg P. Studies on J chain and binding site for secretory component in circulating human B cells. Clin Exp Immunol. 1976 Jul;25(1):50–58. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown W. R., Isobe K., Nakane P. K., Pacini B. Studies on translocation of immunoglobulins across intestinal epithelium. IV. Evidence for binding of IgA and IgM to secretory component in intestinal epithelium. Gastroenterology. 1977 Dec;73(6):1333–1339. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Huang S. W., Fogh J., Hong R. Synthesis of secretory component by human colon cancer cells. Scand J Immunol. 1976;5(3):263–268. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1976.tb00277.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Jerry L. M., Kunkel H. G., Adams L. Stabilization of dissociable IgA2 proteins by secretory component. J Immunol. 1972 Aug;109(2):275–283. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lindh E. Increased risistance of immunoglobulin A dimers to proteolytic degradation after binding of secretory component. J Immunol. 1975 Jan;114(1 Pt 2):284–286. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mestecky J., Hammack W. J., Kulhavy R., Wright G. P., Tomana M. Properties of IgA myeloma proteins isolated rom sera of patients with the hyperviscosity syndrome. J Lab Clin Med. 1977 May;89(5):919–927. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Mestecky J., Kraus F. W., Voight S. A. Proportion of human colostral immunoglobulin-A molecules containing the secretory determinant. Immunology. 1970 Feb;18(2):237–243. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mestecky J., Kulhavy R., Kraus F. W. Studies on human secretory immunoglobulin A. II. Subunit structure. J Immunol. 1972 Mar;108(3):738–747. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mestecky J., Schrohenloher R. E., Kulhavy R., Wright G. P., Tomana M. Association of S-IgA subunits. Adv Exp Med Biol. 1974;45(0):99–109. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4613-4550-3_11. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. O'Daly J. A., Craig S. W., Cebra J. J. Localization of b markers, alpha-chain and SC of SIgA in epithelial cells lining Lieberkühn crypts. J Immunol. 1971 Jan;106(1):286–288. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Ogra S. S., Ogra P. L., Lippes J., Tomasi T. B., Jr Immunohistologic localization of immunoglobulins, secretory component, and lactoferrin in the developing human fetus. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1972 Feb;139(2):570–574. doi: 10.3181/00379727-139-36188. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schrohenloher R. E., Mestecky J. Recombination of the polypeptide chains of a Waldenström's IgM that binds IgG. J Immunol. 1973 Dec;111(6):1699–1711. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. South M. A., Cooper M. D., Wollheim F. A., Hong R., Good R. A. The IgA system. I. Studies of the transport and immunochemistry of IgA in the saliva. J Exp Med. 1966 Apr 1;123(4):615–627. doi: 10.1084/jem.123.4.615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Strober W., Krakauer R., Klaeveman H. L., Reynolds H. Y., Nelson D. L. Secretory component deficiency. A disorder of the IgA immune system. N Engl J Med. 1976 Feb 12;294(7):351–356. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197602122940701. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tomasi T. B., Czerwinski D. S. Naturally occurring polymers of IgA lacking J chain. Scand J Immunol. 1976;5(6-7):647–653. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1976.tb03014.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES