Redistribution of material labelled with [3H]mannose in amoebae induced to undergo pinocytosis

The synthesis, transport, and disposition of material labelled with [3H]mannose were studied by electron microscopic radioautography in normal amoebae and in cells that had internalized cell surface as a result of being induced to undergo pinocytosis. Control amoebae were injected with the precursor and placed in normal medium. The Golgi apparatus and rough endoplasmic reticulum were heavily labelled at the earliest intervals, while radioactivity of the cell surface peaked 12 h after injection of precursor. The experimental cells were injected, placed in bovine serum albumin solution from 15 to 60 min after injection, and then removed to normal medium until fixation. Incorporation of the precursor into the rough endoplasmic reticulum was near normal, but the proportions of grains associated with the Golgi apparatus and the cell surface were greatly reduced. The percentage of grains overlying vacuoles increased 12 h after injection, notably in the case of polymorphous vacuoles and dense vacuoles, both of which were identified as lysosomes with the acid phosphatase reaction. The results suggest that addition to the surface of components labelled with [3H]mannose was diminished following induction of pinocytosis. Incorporation of the precursor appeared to be shifted from cell surface material to lysosomal contents, possibly lysosomal enzymes. It is thought that this shift occurred in response to the need for the cell to digest unusually large amounts of endocytosed protein. Recycling of cell surface under these conditions is considered possible.