Coincident expression and distribution of melanotransferrin and transferrin receptor in human brain capillary endothelium.

One method of iron transport across the blood brain barrier (BBB) involves the transferrin receptor (TR), which is localized to the specialized brain capillary endothelium. The melanotransferrin (MTf) molecule, also called p97, has been widely described as a melanoma specific molecule, however, its expression in brain tissues has not been addressed. MTf has a high level of sequence homology to transferrin (Tf) and lactoferrin, but is unusual because it predominantly occurs as a membrane bound, glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchored molecule, but can also occur as a soluble form. We have recently demonstrated that GPI-anchored MTf provides a novel route for cellular iron uptake which is independent of Tf and its receptor. Here we consider whether MTf may have a role in the transport of iron across the BBB. The distributions of MTf, Tf and the TR were studied immunohistochemically in human brain tissues. The distributions of MTf and TR were remarkably similar, and quite different from that of Tf. In all brain tissues examined, MTf and the TR were highly localized to capillary endothelium, while Tf itself was mainly localized to glial cells. These data suggest that MTf may play a role in iron transport within the human brain.

Reactive microglia specifically associated with amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease brain tissue express melanotransferrin.

Several investigations have implicated the involvement of metals in neuropathologies. In particular, the disruption of iron metabolism and iron transport molecules have been demonstrated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have identified a novel pathway of iron uptake into mammalian cells involving melanotransferrin, or p97, which is independent of the transferrin receptor. Here we investigated whether there is a possible link between this molecule and the pathology of AD. The distributions of melanotransferrin, transferrin and the transferrin receptor were studied immunohistochemically in brain tissues from AD cases. In brain tissues from AD, melanotransferrin and the transferrin receptor were highly localized to capillary endothelium, while transferrin itself was mainly localized to glial cells. In brain tissue derived from AD patients, melanotransferrin was additionally detected in a subset of reactive microglia associated with senile plaques. Our demonstration that melanotransferrin mediates iron uptake through a pathway independent of the transferrin receptor indicates that this mechanism may have a role in AD.

Transport and expression in human melanomas of a transferrin-like glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein.

Melanotransferrin, also called p97, is a cell surface glycoprotein which was first described as a marker antigen for human melanoma cells. Although p97 has a striking structural similarity to human serum transferrin and lactoferrin, its function has not yet been determined. One feature that distinguishes p97 from the other members of the transferrin family is the presence of a stretch of 24 hydrophobic amino acids at the C terminus, previously assumed to form a proteinacious transmembrane domain. In this study, sensitivity to bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C, biosynthetic labeling with [3H]ethanolamine, and partitioning in Triton X-114 are used to establish that p97 is expressed at the cell surface as a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein. In addition, to gain insight into the intracellular transport of p97, biosynthetic transport studies were performed on a melanoma cell line. These studies resulted in the identification of an additional form of p97 which is found in the medium and which likely does not originate from an alternatively spliced form of the p97 mRNA. These findings, together with our recent observation of the co-localization of p97 and the transferrin receptor in brain capillary endothelium (W. A. Jefferies, M. R. Food, R. Gabathuler, S. Rothenberger, T. Yamada, and P. L. McGeer, manuscript submitted) raise important questions about the function of the two forms of p97 detected and the possible involvement of this protein in a cellular iron uptake mechanism that is independent from the transferrin/transferrin receptor system.

Controlled release process to recover heterologous glycosylphosphatidylinositol membrane anchored proteins from CHO cells.

A semicontinuous process has been developed to recover heterologous proteins at increased concentrations and purities. Proteins attached to mammalian cell membranes by glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors can be selectively released into the supernatant by the enzyme phosphatidylinositol-phospholipase C (PI-PLC). Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, genetically engineered to express the GPI anchored, human melanoma antigen (p97), were used as a model system. These cells were grown in protein containing growth medium. During a brief harvesting phase the medium was replaced by phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing 10 mU/mL of PI-PLC and the GPI anchored protein was cleaved from the cell surface and recovered in soluble form at up to 30% purity. After harvesting, the cells were returned to growth medium where the protein was re-expressed within 40 h. The growth rate, viability, and protein production of cells, repeatedly harvested over a 44-day period, were not adversely affected. This continuous cyclic harvesting process allowed recovery of a heterologous protein at high purity and concentrations and could be applied to the recovery of other GPI anchored proteins and genetically engineered GPI anchored fusion proteins.