The galactoside-binding sites of ricin B chain can be blocked by affinity-directed chemical modification using a reactive ligand derived from asialoglycopeptides containing triantennary N-linked oligosaccharides. The terminal galactosyl residue of one branch of the triantennary oligosaccharide is modified to contain a reactive dichlorotriazine moiety. Two separate galactoside-binding sites have been clearly established in the ricin B chain by X-ray crystallography [Rutenber, E., and Robertus, J. D. (1991) Proteins 10, 260-269], and it is necessary to covalently attach two such reactive ligands to the B chain to block its binding to galactoside affinity matrixes. A method was developed using thiol-specific labeling of the ligand combined with subsequent immunoaffinity chromatography which allowed the isolation of ricin B chain peptides covalently linked to the ligand from proteolytic digests of purified blocked ricin. The sites of covalent attachment of the two ligands in blocked ricin were inferred from sequence analysis to be Lys 62 in domain 1 of the B chain and Tyr 148 in domain 2. A minor species of blocked ricin contains a third covalently attached ligand. From the analysis of peptides derived from blocked ricin enriched in this species, it is inferred that Tyr 67 in domain 1 is the specific site on the ricin B chain where a third reactive ligand becomes covalently linked to the protein. These results are interpreted as providing support for the notion that the ricin B chain has three oligosaccharide binding sites.

The nuclear envelope (NE) separates the two major compartments of eukaryotic cells, the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Recent studies suggest that the uptake of nuclear proteins into the nucleus is initiated by binding of nuclear location signals (NLSs) contained within these proteins to receptors in the NE, followed by translocation through the nuclear pore complex. To examine the binding step without interference from intranuclear events, we have used a system consisting of (i) purified rat liver NEs fixed onto glass slides and (it) the prototype simian virus 40 large T antigen (SV40 T) NLS conjugated to nonnuclear carrier proteins, and we have visualized the receptor-ligand interaction by indirect immunofluorescence. In this system, incubation of isolated NEs with the wild-type SV40 T NLS conjugate with carrier proteins resulted in binding that was signal sequence-dependent, could be competitively blocked with excess conjugated and unconjugated wild-type peptide, did not require ATP, and was not affected by the transport-inhibiting lectin wheat germ agglutinin. In contrast, only minimal binding was observed with a mutant SV40 T NLS conjugate. These results are consistent with those obtained in other, more complex in vitro systems and suggest that binding of the SV40 T NLS is receptor-mediated. Binding is largely abolished by extraction of the NE with the nonionic detergent Triton X-100, suggesting that the receptor is soluble in detergent. We find in the Triton X-100 supernatant four major NLS-binding proteins with apparent molecular masses of 76, 67, 59, and 58 kDa by photoaffinity labeling with a highly specific crosslinker, azido-NLS. The reduced complexity of the system described here should be useful for the functional study of other potential NLSs for the identification and isolation of their binding sites and for the screening of antibodies raised against these binding sites.The selective exchange of molecules across the nuclear envelope (NE) is an essential factor in many cellular processes. Recent studies have shown that the regulation of these processes is mediated, at least in part, by the interaction of signal sequences contained within these molecules with receptors localized in the NE.The four ultrastructurally distinct components of the NE are the outer and the inner nuclear membrane, the nuclear lamina, and the nuclear pore complexes (reviewed in ref. 1). It is generally agreed that the pore complexes provide aqueous channels through which nucleocytoplasmic exchanges, including macromolecular exchanges, take place (1-4), and there is electron microscopic evidence to support this (5-10).Studies on the movement of molecules from cytoplasm to nucleus have established that pore complexes have channels of about 9-12 nm in diameter available for passive diffusion (11,12). Globular proteins with molecular masses < 15 kDa will diffuse at roughly the same rate as in free solution, but proteins larger than -60 kDa are too big to diffuse through the pore complexes (11). However, certain high molecula...