QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online 10 February 2009
doi: 10.1242/jcs.031427

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplementary Material All Versions of this Article: jcs.031427v1 122/5/600    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Niu, X. Articles by Levchenko, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Niu, X. Articles by Levchenko, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Physical transfer of membrane and cytoplasmic components as a general mechanism of cell-cell communication

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
² Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
³ Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: alev{at}bme.jhu.edu)

Accepted 24 October 2008

Recent evidence from different research areas has revealed a novel mechanism of cell-cell communication by spontaneous intercellular transfer of cellular components (ICT). Here we studied this phenomenon by co-culturing different cells that contain distinct levels of proteins or markers for the plasma membrane or cytoplasm. We found that a variety of transmembrane proteins are transferable between multiple cell types. Membrane lipids also show a high efficiency of intercellular transfer. Size-dependent cytoplasmic transfer allows exchange of cytoplasmic macromolecules up to 40 kDa between somatic cells, and up to 2000 kDa between uncommitted human precursor cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Protein transfer, lipid transfer and cytoplasmic component transfer can occur simultaneously and all require direct cell-cell contact. Analyses of the properties of ICT, together with a close examination of cell-cell interactions, suggest that the spontaneous ICT of different cellular components might have a common underlying process: transient local membrane fusions formed when neighboring cells undergo close cell-cell contact.

Key words: Cell-cell communication, Intercellular transfer, Membrane fusion, Stem cell

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?