Surface labelling for human tumour KB cells. Iodination and fractionation of membrane glycoproteins.

1. Human tumour KB cells growing in suspension culture were labelled by lactoperoxidase-catalysed iodination. Several major radioactively labelled proteins were detected by poly-acrylamide-gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulphate. 2. After reduction with 2-mercaptoethanol the major radioactive electrophoretic bands migrated as substances with apparent molecular weights of about 90,000, 70,000, 60,000, 50,000 and 34,000 and corresponded closely to the positions at which the major glycosylated polypeptide subunits of KB-cell homogenates migrated during electrophoresis under the same conditions. 3. All the iodinated protein bands except one were present in purified preparations of KB plasma membranes. 4. Most of the 50,000-molecular-weight species, supposedly a surface protein component labelled during iodination of intact and viable KB cells by a non-penetrating enzyme reagent, appeared in a crude nuclear pellet during fractionation. 5. The glyco-protein nature of the major external iodinated species of KB cells was confirmed by adsorption chromatography of these substances, dissolved in low concentrations of Triton X-100, on a lectin-Sepharose column. Two major enzyme markers of the KB plasma membrane, 5'-nucleotidase and alkaline phosphatase were also found to be glycoproteins. 6. Enzyme-catalysed incorporation of radioactive iodine into a fraction of low molecular weight and soluble in chloroform-methanol mixtures also occurred during lactoperoxidase treatment of intact KB cells. The partial characterization of this fraction is briefly described.