Specific modulation of surface receptors in J.774 macrophages by anchorage

The J.774 murine macrophage cells were cultured in suspension in Teflon flasks. When allowed to attach on culture plastic dishes, a 2-3-fold increase in transferrin binding was observed. This occurred in 10 min, reached a steady state at 60 min, remained stable for several hours and was reversible after resuspension of the cells at 37 degrees C. The phenomenon was not dependent on the synthesis of new protein. An opposite change of acetyl LDL receptors was observed, with a threefold decrease of the binding 1 h after the attachment of the cells. The increase of transferrin binding affected almost equally the cell surface and the intracellular sites; therefore it could not be related to a simple shift between these two compartments. It is suggested that the attachment of the cells induced a recruitment of binding sites from a 'silent' pool of receptors. Serum factors, as well as phorbol esters and db-cAMP potentiated the effect of anchorage.