We have designed a new cell surface expression plasmid to study the structu
ral and membrane-topological requirements for functioning of different isof
orms of CD45, a leucocyte specific member of the protein tyrosine phosphata
se (PTPase) family of proteins. Use of this vector in cell transfection exp
eriments enabled us to produce multiple CD45 isoforms (ABC, B, Null), with
their extracellular segment intact,;nd the entire membrane spanning and int
racellular C-terminal domain replaced by a GPI-membrane-anchor and VSV-tag.
Our strategy facilitated the identification and analysis of chimeric prote
ins and selection of cell clones from low transfection efficiency experimen
ts. We demonstrate here that simple expression of GPI-anchored CD45 isoform
s on transfected Cos-l cells does not facilitate binding to CD22+ lymphoid
cells. This suggests that not only the mere presence of CD45 extracellular
domains but also their assembly into higher order structures at the cell su
rface, is necessary in order to engage in the recognition and/or signalling
processes normally used by B- and T-cells.