Ultrastructural localization of a macrophage-restricted sialic acid binding hemagglutinin, SER, in macrophage-hematopoietic cell clusters.

Resident bone marrow macrophages in hematopoietic clusters have previously been shown to express a novel lectin-like sheep erythrocyte receptor, SER, which mediates binding of unopsonized sheep erythrocytes via recognition of sialylated glycoconjugates and may interact with sialylated ligands on murine bone marrow cells. In this study, the distribution of SER on macrophages within hematopoietic clusters was localized by a monoclonal antibody, SER-4, by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy. SER was found to be diffusely localized at the contact zones between macrophages and erythroblasts, whereas the receptor was highly concentrated at the contacts between macrophages and developing myelomonocytic cells. These data suggest that SER on resident bone marrow macrophages interacts differentially with sialylated ligands on developing myeloid cells and that this may influence their development.