Restriction of the mobility of lymphocyte immunoglobulin receptors by concanavalin A

The induction by anti-immunoglobulin of patch and cap formation on mouse lymphocytes was inhibited by the addition of concanavalin A. This effect was reversed by alpha-methyl-D-mannoside, a competitive inhibitor of the binding of concanavalin A. Concanavalin A prevented both patch and cap formation, in contrast to the metabolic inhibitor NaN(3), which prevented only cap formation. This suggests that binding of concanavalin A induces changes on or in the lymphocyte membrane that inhibit free diffusion of immunoglobulin receptors.