Imaging macrophages in trehalose with SIMS.

Phagocytosis is a major component of the animal immune system where apoptotic cellular material, metabolites, and waste are safely processed. Further, efficient phagocytosis by macrophages is key to maintaining healthy vascular systems and preventing atherosclerosis. Single-cell images of macrophage phagocytosis of red blood cells, RBCs, and polystyrene microspheres have been chemically mapped with TOF-SIMS. We demonstrate here cholesterol and phosphocholine localizations as relative to time and activity.

Phosphatidylserine, a death knell.

Virtually every cell in the body restricts phosphatidylserine (PS) to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane by energy-dependent transport from the outer to the inner leaflet of the bilayer. Apoptotic cells of all types rapidly randomize the asymmetric distribution, bringing PS to the surface where it serves as a signal for phagocytosis. A myriad of phagocyte receptors have been implicated in the recognition of apoptotic cells, among them a PS receptor, yet few ligands other than PS have been identified on the apoptotic cell surface. Since apoptosis and the associated exposure of PS on the cell surface is probably over 600 million years old, it is not surprising that evolution has appropriated aspects of this process for specialized purposes such as blood coagulation, membrane fusion and erythrocyte differentiation. Failure to efficiently remove apoptotic cells may contribute to inflammatory responses and autoimmune diseases resulting from chronic, inappropriate exposure of PS.

Phospholipid scramblase activation pathways in lymphocytes.

In erythrocytes and platelets, activation of a nonspecific lipid flipsite termed the scramblase allows rapid, bidirectional transbilayer movement of all types of phospholipids. When applied to lymphoid cells, scramblase assays reveal a similar activity, with scrambling rates intermediate between those seen in platelets and erythrocytes. Scrambling activity initiated in lymphoid cells by elevation of intracellular Ca(2+) proceeds after a lag not noted in platelets or erythrocytes. The rates of transbilayer movement of phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylcholine analogues are similar whether the scramblase is activated by elevated internal Ca(2+) or by apoptosis. Elevation of internal Ca(2+) levels in apoptotic cells does not result in an additive increase in the rate of lipid movement. In lymphoid cells from a patient with Scott syndrome, scramblase cannot be activated by Ca(2+), but is induced normally during apoptosis. These findings suggest that Ca(2+) and apoptosis operate through different pathways to activate the same scramblase.

Surface expression of phosphatidylserine on macrophages is required for phagocytosis of apoptotic thymocytes.

Cells generally maintain an asymmetric distribution of phospholipids across the plasma membrane bilayer, restricting the phospholipid, phosphatidylserine (PS), to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. When cells undergo apoptosis, this asymmetric transbilayer distribution is lost, bringing PS to the surface where it acts as a signal for engulfment by phagocytes. The fluorescent dye merocyanine 540 specifically stains the plasma membrane of apoptotic cells which have lost their asymmetric distribution of phospholipids. However, it also stains non-apoptotic macrophages, suggesting that phospholipid asymmetry may not be maintained in these cells, and thus that they may express PS on their surface. Here, the PS-binding protein, annexin V, was used to show that in fact normal macrophages do express PS on their surface. Furthermore, pre-treating macrophages with annexin V was found to inhibit phagocytosis of apoptotic thymocytes and thymocytes on which PS expression was artificially induced, but did not inhibit phagocytosis of latex beads or Fc receptor-mediated phagocytosis of opsonized erythrocytes. These results indicate that PS is constitutively expressed on the surface of macrophages and is functionally significant for the phagocytosis of PS-expressing target cells.

The central role of phosphatidylserine in the phagocytosis of apoptotic thymocytes.

Apoptotic thymocytes inactivate the aminophospholipid translocase, which transports phosphatidylserine (PS) to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, and activate the scramblase, which randomizes phospholipids across the membrane and brings PS to the cell surface. Although different macrophages use at least two different systems to recognize and engulf apoptotic thymocytes, both systems recognize PS on the apoptotic target. Thymocytes treated with Ca2+ and ionophore to inactivate the translocase and activate the scramblase immediately expose PS on their surface and are immediately recognized and phagocytosed. These targets, on which PS has been artificially exposed, are recognized by the PS exposed on their surface. However, they apparently also engage the vitronectic receptor, a lectin-like receptor and CD14. All of these receptors are implicated in the phagocytosis of apoptotic thymocytes, suggesting that loss of asymmetry and/or exposure of PS is sufficient to generate the ligands recognized by those receptors. The role of PS is not confined to the target cell surface, however. PS is constitutively exposed on the surface of macrophages and is as necessary for apoptotic cell engulfment as is recognition of PS on the target cell surface.

CD14 is a component of multiple recognition systems used by macrophages to phagocytose apoptotic lymphocytes.

Expression of the aminophospholipid phosphatidylserine (PS) on the surface of apoptotic lymphocytes and lipid-symmetric erythrocytes triggers their phagocytosis by macrophages. Phagocytosis by both activated and unactivated macrophages, which utilize different recognition systems, can be blocked by certain monoclonal antibodies directed against the LPS receptor, CD14. Here we investigate the requirement for CD14 in the phagocytosis of both apoptotic thymocytes and lipid-symmetric erythrocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages. We show that phagocytosis of lipid-symmetric erythrocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages is completely abolished when CD14 is removed from macrophages by cleaving its glycosylphosphatidylinositol tether with phospholipase C. This treatment also substantially reduces phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by both types of macrophages. Unactivated LR-9 mouse macrophages which are deficient in CD14 expression are completely unable to phagocytose either apoptotic thymocytes or lipid-symmetric erythrocytes. These results argue that CD14 is an absolute requirement for the phagocytosis of lipid-symmetric erythrocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages, despite their different recognition systems, that CD14 contributes at least substantially to the phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by both activated and unactivated macrophages, and that activated macrophages may also possess an alternate, CD14-independent mechanism for phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes.

Cloning, expression, and chromosomal mapping of a human ATPase II gene, member of the third subfamily of P-type ATPases and orthologous to the presumed bovine and murine aminophospholipid translocase.

Recently, a P-type ATPase was cloned from bovine chromaffin granules (b-ATPase II) and a mouse teratocarcinoma cell line (m-ATPase II) and was shown to be homologous to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae DRS2 gene, the inactivation of which resulted in defective transport of phosphatidylserine. Here, we report the cloning from a human skeletal muscle cDNA library of a human ATPase II (h-ATPase II), orthologous to the presumed bovine and mouse aminophospholipid translocase (95.3 and 95.9% amino acid identity, respectively). Compared with the bovine and mouse counterparts, the cloned h-ATPase II polypeptide exhibits a similar membrane topology, but contains 15 additional amino acids (1163 vs 1148) located in the second intracytoplasmic loop, near the DKTGTLT-phosphorylation site. However, RT-PCR analysis performed with RNA from different human tissues and cell lines revealed that the coding sequence for these 15 residues is sometimes present and sometimes absent, most likely as a result of a tissue-specific alternative splicing event. The h-ATPase II gene, which was mapped to chromosome 4p14-p12, is expressed as a 9.5-kb RNA species in a large variety of tissues, but was not detected in liver, testis, and placenta, nor in the erythroleukemic cell line K562.

Exposure of phosphatidylserine is a general feature in the phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by macrophages.

Although different macrophages exploit different cell surface receptors to recognize apoptotic lymphocytes, indirect evidence suggested that the phosphatidylserine (PS) that appears on the surface of lymphocytes undergoing apoptosis participates in specific recognition by all types of macrophages. To test this possibility directly, annexin V, a protein that specifically binds to PS, was used to mask this phospholipid on the apoptotic cell surface. Preincubation of apoptotic lymphocytes with annexin V blocked phagocytosis by elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages, macrophages of the mouse J774 cell line and mouse bone marrow macrophages. Similarly, annexin V was able to inhibit phagocytosis of lipid-symmetric erythrocytes, another target cell upon which PS is exposed. Together these results demonstrate directly that macrophages of all types depend on the PS exposed on the surface of apoptotic lymphocytes for recognition and phagocytosis.

Regulation of phosphatidylserine exposure and phagocytosis of apoptotic T lymphocytes.

In lymphocytes, an asymmetric distribution of phospholipids across the plasma membrane is maintained by an ATP-dependent translocase which specifically transports aminophospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of the bilayer. During apoptosis, this enzyme is down-regulated and a lipid flipsite, termed the scramblase, is activated. Together, these events lead to the appearance of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the cell surface. In DO11.10 T lymphocyte hybridoma cells undergoing apoptosis, the kinetics of PS externalization are paralleled by the development of PS-sensitive phagocytosis by macrophages. This parallel is also observed when PS externalization is effected directly by application of a Ca2+ ionophore, suggesting that PS externalization is not only necessary, but sufficient, to generate a recognition signal. The broad spectrum aspartate-directed cysteine protease (caspase) inhibitor zVAD-fmk blocks externalization of PS and terminal cell lysis after induction of apoptosis by anti-CD3 antibody, but is ineffective when apoptosis is induced in the same cells by treatment with glucocorticoid. These results suggest that apoptosis induced by glucocorticoid does not require the same zVAD-sensitive caspase steps which are required for Fas/FasL-dependent death induced by anti-CD3 antibody, and that the action of these proteases is also not required for PS externalization. Extracellular Ca2+ is required to complete the later stages of apoptosis in DO11.10 cells, and its removal restores normal transport of PS, suggesting that down-regulation of the aminophospholipid translocase and up-regulation of the scramblase are not effected by irreversible protease cleavage.

Differential expression of putative transbilayer amphipath transporters.

The aminophospholipid translocase transports phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine from one side of a bilayer to another. Cloning of the gene encoding the enzyme identified a new subfamily of P-type ATPases, proposed to be amphipath transporters. As reported here, mammals express as many as 17 different genes from this subfamily. Phylogenetic analysis reveals the genes to be grouped into several distinct classes and subclasses. To gain information on the functions represented by these groups, Northern analysis and in situ hybridization were used to examine the pattern of expression of a panel of subfamily members in the mouse. The genes are differentially expressed in the respiratory, digestive, and urogenital systems, endocrine organs, the eye, teeth, and thymus. With one exception, all of the genes are highly expressed in the central nervous system (CNS); however, the pattern of expression within the CNS differs substantially from gene to gene. These results suggest that the genes are expressed in a tissue-specific manner, are not simply redundant, and may represent isoforms that transport a variety of different amphipaths.

Multiple members of a third subfamily of P-type ATPases identified by genomic sequences and ESTs.

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome contains five P-type ATPases divergent from both of the well-known subfamilies of these membrane ion transporters. This newly recognized third subfamily can be further divided into four classes of genes with nearly equal relatedness to each other. Genes of this new subfamily are also present and expressed in multicellular organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals; some, but not all, can be assigned to the classes identified in yeast. Different classes of genes and different genes within a class are expressed differentially in tissues of the mouse. The recently cloned gene for the mammalian aminophospholipid translocase belongs to this new subfamily, suggesting that other subfamily members may transport other lipids or lipid-like molecules from one leaflet of the membrane bilayer to the other.

Multiple systems for recognition of apoptotic lymphocytes by macrophages.

In vivo, apoptotic lymphocytes are recognized and phagocytosed by macrophages well before the final stages of DNA degradation and cell lysis. The recognition process is apparently triggered by the exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the cell surface, an event which precedes cell lysis by several hours. However, multiple receptors appear to respond to this event. We demonstrate here that both activated and unactivated macrophages recognize PS, but with different receptor systems. Phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by activated (but not by unactivated) macrophages is inhibited by pure PS vesicles as well as by N-acetylglucosamine, implicating involvement of a lectin-like receptor in this case. Conversely, uptake of apoptotic lymphocytes by unactivated (but not by activated) macrophages is inhibited by PS on the surface of erythrocytes as well as by the tetrapeptide RGDS and cationic amino acids and sugars, implicating involvement of the vitronectin receptor in this case. Recognition by both classes of macrophages is blocked by the monocyte-specific monoclonal antibody 61D3. The signal recognized by activated macrophages appears to develop on the lymphocyte prior to assembly of the signal recognized by unactivated macrophages. Collectively, these results suggest that PS exposure on the surface of apoptotic lymphocytes generates a complex and evolving signal recognized by different receptor complexes on activated and unactivated macrophages.

A subfamily of P-type ATPases with aminophospholipid transporting activity.

The appearance of phosphatidylserine on the surface of animal cells triggers phagocytosis and blood coagulation. Normally, phosphatidylserine is confined to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane by an aminophospholipid translocase, which has now been cloned and sequenced. The bovine enzyme is a member of a previously unrecognized subfamily of P-type adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases) that may have diverged from the primordial enzyme before the separation of the known families of ion-translocating ATPases. Studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae suggest that aminophospholipid translocation is a general function of members of this family.

Reconstitution of phospholipid scramblase activity from human blood platelets.

Cellular activation, accompanied by elevation of cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels, can induce a progressive loss of plasma membrane phospholipid asymmetry, resulting from increased transbilayer movement (flip-flop) of phospholipids. While this process has been demonstrated in a variety of different cells, it is most active in blood platelets. In order to test whether this lipid scrambling process is mediated by a membrane protein, platelet membranes were solubilized in cholate and fractionated by anion exchange chromatography, and fractions were reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles by detergent dialysis in the presence of small amounts of fluorescent (NBD) phospholipids. Using dithionite reduction to monitor the transbilayer location of NBD phospholipids, it was shown that addition of Ca2+ and ionomycin to vesicles reconstituted with a particular fraction results in transbilayer movement of the fluorescent phospholipid analogs from the vesicle's inner to outer leaflet. Lipid vesicles reconstituted in the absence of membrane protein, or reconstituted with another platelet membrane protein fraction, were devoid of this activity. Heating the active fraction or incubating it with pronase or the SH reagent pyridyldithioethylamine markedly diminished the ability of the vesicles to translocate fluorescent phospholipid analogs across the bilayer in response to Ca2+ and ionophore. These results argue that a membrane protein (or proteins) from blood platelets is required to catalyze Ca2+-induced transbilayer movement of phospholipids, suggesting its (or their) involvement in the loss of lipid asymmetry that can occur during cellular activation.

Mechanisms for recognition and phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by macrophages.

Erythrocytes have an asymmetric distribution of phospholipids across the bilayer of their plasma membranes, maintained by an ATP-dependent aminophospholipid translocase, and dissipated by activation of a non-specific lipid flipsite. Loss of asymmetry provokes recognition by the reticuloendothelial system. In vitro, enhanced phagocytosis of erythrocytes with a symmetric bilayer can be inhibited by artificial lipid vesicles made of phosphatidylserine (PS), indicating that macrophages recognize the PS that appears on the erythrocyte surface upon loss of asymmetry. It is becoming increasingly clear that these same fundamental membrane structure/function relationships established in the erythrocyte paradigm also apply to lymphocytes. All evidence suggests that lymphocytes maintain an asymmetric transbilayer distribution of phospholipids in their plasma membranes, maintained by an aminophospholipid translocase. Asymmetry is lost as part of the program of cell death, by down-regulation of the translocase and activation of the non-specific lipid flipsite, exposing PS on the cell surface. That PS exposure has functional consequences is demonstrated by the ability of artificial lipid vesicles containing PS to inhibit enhanced phagocytosis of apoptotic lymphocytes by macrophages. However, other signals besides PS are also involved in recognition of apoptotic lymphocytes. Studies with other inhibitors indicate that macrophages also utilize integrin-mediated and lectin-like recognition systems, although each is restricted to either unactivated or activated macrophages. These results indicate that although many fundamental features of recognition by the reticuloendothelial system may be analogous in erythrocytes and lymphocytes, the signals for recognition of apoptotic lymphocytes ae more complex and involve multiple recognition systems.

Mechanisms of phosphatidylserine exposure, a phagocyte recognition signal, on apoptotic T lymphocytes.

The appearance of phosphatidylserine (PS) on the cell surface during apoptosis in thymocytes and cytotoxic T lymphocyte cell lines provokes PS-dependent recognition by activated macrophages. Flow cytometric analysis of transbilayer lipid movements in T lymphocytes undergoing apoptosis reveals that downregulation of the adenosine triphosphate-dependent amino-phospholipid translocase and activation of a nonspecific lipid scramblase are responsible for PS reaching the surface from its intracellular location. Both mechanisms are expressed at the same time, and precede DNA degradation, zeiosis, and cell lysis in the apoptotic pathway.

The complex of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and calcium ions is not responsible for Ca2+-induced loss of phospholipid asymmetry in the human erythrocyte: a study in Scott syndrome, a disorder of calcium-induced phospholipid scrambling.

Elevation of cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels in human erythrocytes induces a progressive loss of membrane phospholipid asymmetry, a process that is impaired in erythrocytes from a patient with Scott syndrome. We show here that porcine erythrocytes are similarly incapable of Ca2+-induced redistribution of membrane phospholipids. Because a complex of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) and Ca2+ has been proposed as the mediator of enhanced transbilayer movement of lipids (J Biol Chem 269:6347,1994), these cell systems offer a unique opportunity for testing this mechanism. Analysis of both total PIP2 content and the metabolic-resistant pool of PIP2 that remains after incubation with Ca2+ ionophore showed no appreciable differences between normal and Scott erythrocytes. Moreover, porcine erythrocytes were found to have slightly higher levels of both total and metabolic-resistant PIP2 in comparison with normal human erythrocytes. Although loading of normal erythrocytes with exogenously added PIP2 gave rise to a Ca2+-induced increase in prothrombinase activity and apparent transbilayer movement of nitrobenzoxadiazolyl (NBD)-phospholipids, these PIP2-loaded cells were also found to undergo progressive Ca2+-dependent cell lysis, which seriously hampers interpretation of these data. Moreover, loading Scott cells with PIP2 did not abolish their impaired lipid scrambling, even in the presence of a Ca2+-ionophore. Finally, artificial lipid vesicles containing no PIP2 or 1 mole percent of PIP2 were indistinguishable with respect to transbilayer movement of NBD-phosphatidylcholine in the presence of Ca2+. Our findings suggest that Ca2+-induced redistribution of membrane phospholipids cannot simply be attributed to the steady-state concentration of PIP2, and imply that such lipid movement is regulated by other cellular processes.

Continuous analysis of the mechanism of activated transbilayer lipid movement in platelets.

Dithionite reduction of fluorescent (NBD) phospholipids was used as the basis of a continuous assay of transbilayer lipid movement to the cell surface during platelet activation. This assay reveals that virtually all previously internalized phosphatidylserine passes through the external leaflet of the membrane within 90 s after activation with Ca2+ and ionophore or with thrombin and thapsigargin. We demonstrate that this lipid scrambling is reversible, bidirectional, and insensitive to the lipid headgroup. Prolonged activation gradually results in inactivation of the scramblase. The assay also reveals that activation of the scrambling activity is sensitive to the sulfhydryl reagent pyridyldithioethylamine, suggesting the involvement of a protein in the process of activated transbilayer lipid scrambling.