Lysosomal cobalamin accumulation in fibroblasts from a patient with an inborn error of cobalamin metabolism (cblF complementation group): visualization by electron microscope radioautography.

Cobalamin (Cbl, vitamin B12) bound to transcobalamin II (TCII) enters cultured fibroblasts by receptor-mediated endocytosis. Following degradation of the TCII, Cbl is subsequently found in either the cytoplasm bound to methionine synthase or in the mitochondria bound to methylmalonyl CoA mutase. In fibroblasts from patients belonging to the cblF complementation group, Cbl is found free in the cell and is not transferred to the above two target enzymes. Quantitative EM radioautography was utilized to visualize intracellular Cbl in fibroblasts from cblF patients and from normal subjects. In cblF cells, 60% of all silver grains were assigned to lysosomes, with only 12.6% over cytoplasm and 1.2% over mitochondria. In contrast, in control cells, only 4.7% were assigned to lysosomes, with 47% to cytoplasm and 23.4% to mitochondria. Subcellular fractionation showed that in cblF cells, the majority of label was associated with clearly recognizable lysosomes. These studies conclusively demonstrate that secondary lysosomes accumulate Cbl in cblF disease.