Quantitative studies of pinocytosis. I. Kinetics of uptake of (125I)polyvinylpyrrolidone by rat yolk sac cultured in vitro.

A method is described for the in vitro culture of 17.5-day rat visceral yolk sac. Tissue survival was good as judged by light and electron microscopy. The rate of pinocytic uptake of 125I-labeled polyvinylpyrrolidone by the tissue was constant both within and between experiments. Within the concentration range 0.15-24 mug/ml, the 125I-labeled polyvinylpyrrolidone neither stimulated nor inhibited pinocytosis. The system offers many advantages in the quantitative study of the physical basis of pinocytosis.

Quantitative studies of pinocytosis. II. Kinetics of protein uptake and digestion by rat yolk sac cultured in vitro.

Pinocytic uptake of 125I-labeled bovine serum albumin by 17.5-day rat visceral yolk sac cultured in vitro has been examined. Uptake was followed by intracellular digestion and, after an initial period, the content of radioactivity in the tissue itself remained constant during the incubation. Radiolabel was returned to the culture medium predominantly as (125I)iodotyrosine; exocytosis of undigested protein did not occur. The rate of uptake of labeled protein, which was constant within an experiment and reproducible between experiments, was much higher than that of a nondigestible macromolecule, 125I-labeled polyvinylpyrrolidone. The higher rate of uptake was a consequence of the protein entering the cells chiefly by adsorption to the plasma membrane being internalized; 125I-labeled albumin did not stimualte, nor did 125I-labeled polyvinylpyrrolidone inhibit pinocytosis. Different preparations of 125I-labeled albumin had characteristically different rates of uptake, probably reflecting differences in affinity for plasma membrane receptors. The physiological significance of the findings is discussed.