Kinetic evidence for a common mechanism of capping on lymphocytes.

1. Differences in the rates at which ligands cap various receptors on the same cells, and their sensitivity to various drugs, have been interpreted as evidence that there are distinct mechanisms for ;fast' and ;slow' cap formation. We have examined the factors which determine the rate of cap formation of three receptors on mouse splenic lymphocytes or thymocytes, and compared the effects of cytochalasin B or colchicine under conditions where the different receptors cap at similar rates. 2. When surface immunoglobulin, concanavalin A receptors, or theta antigen are induced to cap at their maximal rates by appropriate concentrations of one or more cross-linking ligands, the half-time for maximal capping of each receptor population is between 1.5 and 3.0min at 37 degrees C. Slower rates of cap formation are obtained by using non-optimal concentrations of the cross-linking ligands. 3. When the three receptors were induced to cap at similar rates (either maximal or slower), 10mum-cytochalasin B caused a similar decrease in the rate of cap formation for each receptor, without affecting the eventual extent of capping. At comparable capping rates on control cells, colchicine (10mum) increased the rate of cap formation for surface immunoglobulin and concanavalin A receptors to a similar extent, without affecting the eventual extent of cap formation. In contrast, colchicine had no detectable effect on the capping of theta antigen. 4. From these results, we conclude that there are no intrinsic differences in the rates at which different receptors can be induced to cap that can be used to diagnose differences in their mechanisms of cap formation. The observation that ligand concentration and the drugs acting on the cytoskeleton generally affect the rate but not the extent of cap formation accounts for the wide variation in reported effects of the drugs on cap formation measured at fixed times. The receptor-specific effect of colchicine on surface immunoglobulin and concanavalin A receptors, but not theta antigen, is not readily compatible with models of cap formation which depend on lipid or membrane flow.