Effects of bovine serum albumin on the interaction of concanavalin A and succinyl-concanavalin A with phospholipid bilayers.

Under physiological conditions, concanavalin A interacts with the surface of phospholipid liposomes through two distinct classes of binding sites, a relatively small number of high affinity sites and a much larger number of lower affinity sites. Addition of bovine serum albumin induces extensive additional binding of concanavalin A to liposomal membranes and this binding is saturable and "specific" (alpha-methyl mannoside inhibitable). Fraction V and high purity albumin both induce almost identical levels of concanavalin A binding to liposomes. Scatchard plots of the binding data demonstrated the induction of a large number of new, relatively high affinity lectin-binding sites on addition of albumin. Albumin-induced binding of concanavalin A to the bilayer surface shows a broad pH optimum and is not inhibited by 40% (w/v) ethylene glycol, suggesting that hydrophobic forces are relatively unimportant. In contrast, divalent succinyl-concanavalin A shows very little tendency to bind to liposomes, either in the absence or presence of albumin. Passage of high purity albumin down a concanavalin A affinity column or treatment with periodate completely eliminates the additional lectin binding. It thus seems likely that albumin-induced concanavalin A binding to liposomes is related to the presence of a concanavalin-A-binding component. This phenomenon may have important implications for lectin-binding studies carried out on membranes which have been exposed to serum proteins.