Photoaffinity labeling of the Sarcoma 180 cell surface by daunomycin

We have used photoaffinity labeling to investigate the distribution and function of daunomycin binding sites in Sarcoma 180 cells. When native daunomycin is irradiated at 366 or 488 nm in the presence of cells, the drug is irreversibly incorporated into cellular molecules. The cellular acceptor for the photoincorporation cannot be extracted by chloroform-methanol nor can it be degraded by DNase. However, the drug acceptor is susceptible to trypsin digestion. These results show that the photoincorporation site is composed of protein but not of lipid or DNA. Furthermore, the fact that photoincorporation proceeds equally well at 0 degrees (where drug does not accumulate inside the cells) as compared to 37 degrees (where free drug concentrates in the cells) suggests that the labeling reaction occurs principally at the cell surface. The photolabeling process is not highly specific since it is not saturable at high drug concentrations and cannot be competed for by unlabeled daunomycin. When 2 X 10(5) daunomycin molecules are incorporated per Sarcoma 180 cell, the cells can still accumulate free drug. This result suggests that the photolabeling reaction does not occur at the drug transport locus. Photoincorporation of daunomycin also does not affect the viability of Sarcoma 180 cells, as judged by a cloning assay. Thus, there is probably no surface receptor for the drug which mediates cytotoxicity when occupied. This result is as expected from previous work predicting that the mechanism of daunomycin involves disruption of some generalized membrane property like fluidity. However, in a series of Sarcoma 180 sublines selected for increasing resistance to daunomycin, the photoincorporation increases in direct proportion to drug sensitivity. Consequently, daunomycin appears to be capable of photoaffinity labeling a cell surface protein which, although not directly involved in the mechanism of cytotoxicity is implicated in the expression of drug resistance.