spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by HOURANI, B. T.
Right arrow Articles by FISCHBACH, G. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by HOURANI, B. T.
Right arrow Articles by FISCHBACH, G. D.

Journal of Cell Science, Vol 16, 473-479, Copyright © 1974 by Company of Biologists

Submitted on March 29, 1974

Acetylcholine Receptors of Cultured Muscle Cells Demonstrated with Ferritin-{alpha}-Bungarotoxin Conjugates

B. T. HOURANI 1, B. F. TORAIN 2, M. P. HENKART 2, R. L. CARTER 2, V. T. MARCHESI 3, and G. D. FISCHBACH 4

1 Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, and Behavioural Biology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, U.S.A.; University Hospital, San Diego, California, U.S.A.
2 Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, and Behavioural Biology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, U.S.A.
3 Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, and Behavioural Biology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, U.S.A.; Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
4 Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, and Behavioural Biology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014, U.S.A.; Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

{alpha}-Bungarotoxin-ferritin conjugates were used to visualize by freeze-fracture and thin-section electron microscopy toxin-binding sites, presumably acetylcholine (ACh) receptors, in membranes of muscle cells grown in tissue culture. Toxin conjugated to ferritin by a glutaraldehyde reaction and purified by column chromatography in a buffer of high ionic strength remains active in blocking the effect of iontophoretically applied ACh. The potency of the conjugates was decreased 5-10 times compared to native {alpha}-bungarotoxin. Toxin-ferritin conjugates were identified in small clusters which were not uniformly distributed over the surface membrane. Binding was inhibited by preincubation in D-tubocurare or unconjugated toxin. The relation of the clusters to the non-uniform distribution of ACh sensitivity and {alpha}-bungarotoxin binding on cultured muscle fibres is discussed.

Submitted on March 29, 1974






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1974