Plasma-membrane-intercalated heparan sulphate proteoglycans in an osteogenic cell line (UMR 106-01 BSP)

The heparan sulphate (HS) proteoglycans associated with the cell layer of a rat osteosarcoma cell line [UMR 106-01 (BSP)] were compared with similar cell-associated proteoglycans from other cells, and their interaction with the plasma membrane was studied. HS proteoglycans were metabolically labelled by incubation of cell cultures with [3H]glucosamine or [3H]leucine and [35S]sulphate. HS proteoglycan core protein preparation generated by heparitinase digestion of the major species from UMR 106-01 (BSP) cells co-migrated on PAGE with identical preparations from ovarian granulosa cells and parathyroid cells (at approximately 70 kDa). The hydrophobic nature of the major HS proteoglycans from these diverse cell lines, based on elution position from octyl-Sepharose, were also comparable. Linkages of the HS proteoglycan to the cell membrane were investigated by labelling plasma-membrane preparations with a lipid soluble photoactivatable reagent, 3-(trifluoromethyl)-3- (m-[125I]iodophenyl)diazirine (TID), which selectively labels plasma-membrane-spanning peptide domains. Purified HS proteoglycan from UMR 106-01 (BSP) cells was shown to be accessible to the [125I]TID, and the core protein portion of the molecule was labelled, confirming its close association with the plasma membrane. Approx. 36% of 35S-labelled HS proteoglycans were released from the cell surface by phospholipase C (Bacillus thuringiensis), which specifically cleaves phosphatidylinositol-linked proteins. In the presence of insulin, the metabolism of the phospholipase C-sensitive population was unaltered; however, release of the phospholipase C-insensitive population into the medium was increased. These data indicate that a subpopulation of HS proteoglycans are covalently bound to the plasma membrane by a glycosylphosphatidylinositol structure, with the remainder representing those species directly inserted into the plasma membrane via a hydrophobic peptide domain. These observations are similar to those reported for ovarian granulosa cells [Yanagishita & McQuillan (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264 17551-17558], and thus may represent a general phenomenon for many cell types.