Receptor domains in the plasma membrane of cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages

Using the platinum-carbon surface replication technique, the distribution of receptors for two colloidal gold labeled lipoproteins (acetylated low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein), iron-saturated transferrin and bovine serum albumin in the plasma membrane of cultured mouse peritoneal macrophages was mapped. The plasma membrane surface of cultured peritoneal macrophages exhibits three morphologically distinct regions which have shown differences in the distribution, density and dynamics of these receptors. The flat border of the plasma membrane surfaces are the domains that appear to have the highest concentration of transferrin receptors, whereas the intermediate regions contain most of the receptors for acetylated low density lipoprotein and high density lipoprotein. Bovine serum albumin receptors are concentrated at the edge of the cells and had a uniform distribution on the rest of the cell surface. The functional significance and the mechanisms by which these regional differences in the distribution of the receptors are generated and then maintained are not yet known.