Galactose-particle receptor on liver macrophages. Quantitation of particle uptake

Liver macrophages have been shown previously to bind and ingest gold particles coated with asialoglycoproteins via a N-acetyl-D-galactosamine / D-galactose-specific lectin (Kolb-Bachofen, V., Schlepper-Schäfer, J., Vogell, W. and Kolb, H. (1982) Cell 29, 859-866). We present here a quantitative analysis of lectin-dependent particle endocytosis. We used a conjugate of asialofetuin with colloidal gold as ligand, the cellular uptake of which could be followed by spectrophotometry. Freshly isolated Kupffer cells from the rat liver ingest asialofetuin at a rate of approx. 4200 particles/cell per min. Uptake is inhibited by saccharides related in structure to D-galactose and depends on the presence of Ca2+. The rate of endocytosis is zero below 10 degrees C, shows a modest increase until 20 degrees C and a steep increase between 20 and 37 degrees C. Uptake is energy-dependent and strongly inhibited by cytochalasin B but only slightly by colchicine.