Clustering and endocytosis of membrane receptors can be induced in mature erythrocytes of neonatal but not adult humans.

Concanavalin A (Con A) is taken up by endocytosis in mature erythrocytes of newborn humans but not in adult red cells. Thin sections of neonatal cells incubated with ferritin-conjugated Con A at 37 degrees show ferritin clusters on invaginations at the surface and in intracellular vesicles, but such invaginations and vesicles are absent with adult cells. The endocytosis induced by ferritin-conjugated Con A is inhibited at 0 degrees, and by methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside at 37 degrees. Succinylation of Con A, which is known to convert it from the tetrameric to dimeric form, renders Con A inactive in cell agglutination and endocytotic vesicle formation, presumably by reducing the number of oligosaccharide chains simultaneously bound by a single Con A molecule. Ferritin-conjugated succinyl Con A binds to neonatal erythrocytes but does not induce endocytosis; if, however, antibodies to ferritin are now added, endocytosis occurs. These results are consistent with a greater lateral mobility of at least a fraction of Con A recptors in the membrane of the intact neonatal erythrocyte compared to the adult. The results also support the hypothesis that the clustering of receptors is obligatory for endocytosis to occur. No discernible difference was found in the sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel patterns of the membrane proteins of the neonatal and adult cells.