Surface polypeptides of the cultured Chinese hamster ovary cell

The organization of the plasma membrane of logarithmically growing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) suspension cells has been probed using surface label techniques in conjunction with subcellular fractionation and sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. Five components of apparent molecular weights 137,000, 121,000, 97,000, 67,000, and 57,000 have been shown to be exposed at the outer surface of the cell. These components fully meet the criteria of being (a) reactive with two or more surface label reagents, (b) enriched in a purified plasma membrane fraction, and (c) sensitive to proteolytic digestion of intact cells. Three other components of molecular weights 200,000, 44,000 and 30,000 are also reactive with certain surface label reagents, but fail to meet other criteria for cell surface components. Two polypeptides of molecular weights 180,000 and 37,000 are substantially enriched in the plasma membrane fraction, but are unreactive with surface label reagents. The organization of the CHO cell membrane and the applicability of surface label techniques to cultured cell systems are discussed.