Asialoglycoprotein receptors on rat dendritic cells: Possible roles for binding with Kupffer cells and ingesting virus particles

Rat dendritic cells selectively bind to Kupffer cells in vitro. The present study aimed to reveal adhesion molecules on dendritic cells and their role s in the host defense system. The in situ binding assay to examine the effe cts of pretreatment of dendritic cells with various kinds of monosaccharide s suggested that N-acetylgalactosamine was necessary for the binding of den dritic cells to Kupffer cells. This binding was also attenuated when dendri tic cells were injected into an ex vivo liver perfusion circuit together wi th N-acetylgalactosamine, It was further shown that the majority of rat lym ph dendritic cells and some interdigitating dendritic cells in the lymph no des possessed asialoglyco-protein receptors specific for N-acetylgalactosam ine/galactose as detected by immunostaining. Lymph dendritic cells could in gest virus particles in vitro, even though these cells showed no phagocytic activity for latex particles, The results indicate that rat dendritic cell s possess asialoglycoprotein receptors which are probably utilized to recog nize Kupffer cells for their recruitment to the liver and possibly to recog nize virus particles prior to phagocytosis.