Receptor Mobility and Receptor-Cytoplasmic Interactions in Lymphocytes

An analysis of the inhibition by concanavalin A of the mobility of lymphocyte surface receptors is used to construct an hypothesis on membrane receptor-cytoplasmic interactions. It is proposed that binding of multivalent lectins alters the interaction of an assembly of colchicine-binding proteins with lectin receptors and other receptors, and reciprocally that the state of the colchicine-binding assembly alters the mobility and distribution of surface receptors on the cell membrane. Observations of the effect of colchicine and related drugs on the inhibition of receptor mobility by concanavalin A lend support to this hypothesis. The proposed model has several implications for studies of the initial events of mitogenesis in lymphocytes as well as for cell-cell interactions in general.