The fate of the transferrin receptor during maturation of sheep reticulocytes in vitro.

The transferrin receptor of sheep reticulocytes is excised from the cell during in vitro maturation to erythrocytes. The excised receptor may be recovered from the medium by centrifugation at 100 000 X g. Loss of transferrin-binding activity parallels the loss of binding of anti-receptor antibody, as well as RNA content. The released receptor retains the molecular size of the receptor isolated from the plasma membranes (93 000 monomer, 186 000 dimer), has an identical iodotyrosyl peptide map, and is still capable of binding transferrin, as well as an antibody directed against the receptor. The receptor is released in a vesicular form. The major peptides of the vesicles are the receptor and an unidentified peptide of 70 000 whose iodotyrosyl peptide map is distinct from that of the receptor. Although the transferrin receptor has been shown to undergo posttranslational modification (phosphorylation, acylation, and glycosylation) in cultured cells, it has not been established whether any of the transformations are retained in nongrowing cells. In the present communication, it is shown that isolated reticulocyte plasma membranes are capable of receptor phosphorylation, a process previously shown only with intact, cultured cells. The phosphorylating activity is retained in immunoprecipitates of the receptor, but is absent in the vesicles released during maturation. No evidence has been obtained for an effect of either transferrin or an anti-receptor antibody on receptor phosphorylation in intact cells or isolated membranes.