A human immunoglobulin G receptor exists in both polypeptide-anchored and phosphatidylinositol-glycan-anchored forms.

Several cDNA clones encoding the human immunoglobulin G receptor CD16 were isolated from human lung or peripheral blood leukocyte cDNA libraries. Nucleotide sequence comparisons revealed that the cDNAs could be divided into two groups. cDNA clones in one group encode a protein that terminates 4 amino acids after the putative transmembrane domain. Clones in the second group encode a protein with an extra 21 amino acids that could comprise a cytoplasmic domain. Direct peptide sequencing was used to determine the N terminus of the mature CD16 receptor protein and supported the existence of the two forms of the receptor. Treatment of neutrophils with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C resulted in the release of a large percentage of the CD16 molecules from the cell surface. In contrast, treatment of natural killer cells with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C did not release any CD16 from the cell surface. These data demonstrate that both polypeptide-anchored and phosphatidylinositol-glycan-anchored forms of the CD16 molecule exist and that they are differentially expressed on neutrophils and natural killer cells.