The galactose-recognizing system of rat peritoneal macrophages; identification and characterization of the receptor molecule.

Resident rat peritoneal macrophages express a galactose-recognizing system, which mediates binding and uptake of cells and glycoproteins exposing terminal galactose residues. Here we describe the identification, isolation, and characterization of the corresponding receptor molecule. Using photoaffinity labelling of adherent peritoneal macrophages with the 4-azido-6-125I-salicylic acid derivative of anti-freeze glycoprotein 8 followed by SDS-PAGE and autoradiography, we identified the receptor of these cells as a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 42 kDa. Furthermore, cell surface receptors were radioiodinated by an affinity-supported labelling technique using the conjugate of asialoorosomucoid and lactoperoxidase, followed by extraction and isolation by affinity chromatography. Finally, the native receptor was isolated and analysed. To estimate its binding activity in solutions, a suitable binding assay was developed, using the precipitation of receptor-ligand complex with polyethylene glycol to separate bound from unbound 125I-asialoorosomucoid, which was used as ligand. It is shown that the isolated receptor binds to galactose-exposing particles and distinguishes between sialidase-treated and -untreated erythrocytes, similar to peritoneal macrophages. The binding characteristics of the membrane-bound and the solubilized receptor are described in the following paper of Lee et al.