Studies were carried out to characterize the interaction between inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptors and the plasma membrane fraction. Extraction of the membranes with the nonionic detergents Nonidet P-40 and Triton X-100, followed by centrifugation at 100,000 g, resulted in the doubling of the IP3 receptor in the pellets, whereas no detectable binding was found in the supernatants. These data indicate that the detergents did not solubilize the receptor, that it remained associated with membrane particles, and that it is likely to be associated with the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton proteins actin, ankyrin, and spectrin were identified in the plasma membrane fraction. However, comparison of the amount of these proteins in different fractions of the detergent, or otherwise treated plasma membrane fractions, showed no direct correlation between the presence of any of these proteins in the plasma membrane fraction and their ability to bind [3H]IP3. This is in contrast to the brain and T-lymphoma cells in which the IP3 receptor is attached to ankyrin (L. Y. W. Bourguigon, H. Jin, N. Iida, N. R. Brandt, and S. H. Zhang. J. Biol. Chem. 268: 6477-6486, 1993; and S. K. Joseph and S. Samanta. J. Biol. Chem 268: 6477-6486, 1993). Thus the hepatic IP3 receptor, which is different from the brain receptor, might attach to the cytoskeleton by anchoring to a different protein. Because cytochalasin D treatment of livers diminishes the ability of IP3 to raise cytosolic free Ca2+ levels, the attachment of the IP3 receptor to the cytoskeleton seems to involve an association with microfilaments.
Calcium-dependent fusion of the plasma membrane fraction from human neutrophils with liposomes