“…Internalization of EGF, unlike insulin, is unaffected by the transglutaminase inhibitors methylamine and dansylcadaverine [Pastan and Willingham, 19811, perhaps because a majority of EGF receptors already exist in an "aggregated" (clustered) state prior to exposure of the cells to EGF [Haigler et al, 1979;Linsley and Fox, 1980bl. It may be that the lack of an effect of transglutaminase inhibitors on sequestration, covalent NGF-NGFR complex formation and internalization is due to the NGFR-1's already being in an aggregated or clustered state [Rusenko, 1982;Stach and Rusenko, 19841. The NGF-NGFR covalent complex is held together by disulfide bonds since dithiothreitol (DTT) reduction abolishes the complex [Stach and Rusenko, 1984;Compito et al, 19861. Pre-incubation of cells with sulfhydryl reagents, such as N-ethylamaleimide, iodoacetamide, or 5,5'-dithiobis (2-nitrobenzoic acid) not only prevents formation of the covalent NGF-NGFR complex, but also inhibits the biological response to NGF [Compito et al, 19861.…”