Summary
Recent studies have demonstrated that the attachment of elicited rat macrophages to bone is mediated by specific saccharides located on the cell and/or bone surfaces. We have used a macrophage-bone culture system to study the effects of two lectins, concanavalin A (con A) and soybean agglutinin (SBA), on the morphology of macrophage attachment to a devitalized bone surface and subsequent functional activity. Macrophages were obtained from 3- to 4-week-old rats by peritoneal lavage and the adherent pool was used to prepare cell suspensions. Con A-treated, SBA-treated or control cell suspensions were aliquoted onto the endocranial surface of devitalized rat calvariae. The cells were allowed to attach for 1 h at 37° C, after which, the bone samples were removed from culture and prepared for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The morphology of con A-treated macrophages attached to bone was markedly different from that of control or SBA-treated cells. Con A altered the attachment and subsequent spreading of macrophages on bone as visualized by SEM. Furthermore, the number of con A-treated cells that attached to bone and the average surface area of cell membrane apposed to the matrix was significantly different from that of control or SBA-treated cells. A 45Ca bone-release assay was performed to evaluate the functional significance of the morphological findings. Lectin-treated or control cell suspensions were allowed to attach to the endocranial surface of 45Ca pre-labeled calvariae for 1 h. Following attachment, the samples were cultured for 72 h. The con A-treated cultures demonstrated a significant decrease in the release of 45Ca after 48 and 72 h in comparison to control cultures, while the 45Ca released from SBA-treated cultures did not differ significantly from controls. These results suggest that certain sugar residues common to membrane-associated glycoconjugates and the organic component of the bone matrix regulate the attachment of macrophages to bone and their subsequent bone-resorbing activity.
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Popoff, S.N., Schneider, G.B. The effects of lectins on the interaction between macrophages and bone in vitro. Cell Tissue Res. 241, 103–109 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00214631
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00214631