Carbohydate-carbohydrate recognition is emerging today as an important type of interaction in cell adhesion. One Ca²⁺mediated homotypic interaction between two Lewis ^X determinants (Le ^X ) has been proposed to drive cell adhesion in murine embryogenesis. Here, the adhesion energies of lipid vesicles functionalised with glycolipids bearing monomeric or dimeric Le ^X determinants were measured in NaCl or CaCl₂ media with the micropipette aspiration technique. These experiments on Le ^X with an environment akin to that provided by biological membrane confirmed the existence of this specific calcium dependant interaction of monomeric Le ^X . In contrast, dimeric Le ^X produced a repulsive contribution. By using a simple model involving the various contributions to the adhesion free energy, specific and non specific interactions could be separated and quantified. The involvement of calcium ions has been discussed in the monomeric and dimeric Le ^X lipids.

Proteins involved in membrane fusion, such as SNARE or influenza virus hemagglutinin, share the common function of pulling together opposing membranes in closer contact. The reduction of inter-membrane distance can be sufficient to induce a lipid transition phase and thus fusion. We have used functionalized lipids bearing DNA bases as head groups incorporated into giant unilamellar vesicles in order to reproduce the reduction of distance between membranes and to trigger fusion in a model system. In our experiments, two vesicles were isolated and brought into adhesion by the mean of micromanipulation; their evolution was monitored by fluorescence microscopy. Actual fusion only occurred in about 5% of the experiments. In most cases, a state of “hemifusion” is observed and quantified. In this state, the outer leaflets of both vesicles’ bilayers merged whereas the inner leaflets and the aqueous inner contents remained independent. The kinetics of the lipid probes redistribution is in good agreement with a diffusion model in which lipids freely diffuse at the circumference of the contact zone between the two vesicles. The minimal density of bridging structures, such as stalks, necessary to explain this redistribution kinetics can be estimated.

The establishment of specific molecular bonds between a cell and a facing surface is involved in many physiological and technological situations. Using micrometric magnetic particles, we have explored the formation of specific molecular bonds between the cell and surfaces bearing complementary ligands under passive conditions. Streptavidin-coated particles were targeted to the cell surface of a B-cell line through a specific biotinylated antibody against the CD19 receptor. Flow cytometry, optical microscopy, and micropipette experimental techniques have been used. Main findings have been that cell surface receptor density acted like a switch for particle capture with a threshold value found here equal to 1.6 x 10(3) receptor/ microm(2). This led to exclusion from binding of the cells of lowest receptor density. The density threshold was modulated by the length of the binding link and the physics of the cell/particle collision. We suggest that the shear stress is one of the main determinants of the characteristics of binding. We also show that several thousand receptors were involved in the cell particle contact at the end of the binding process, although only eight bonds are required for the initial capture of a particle. A passive binding inhibition process due to link concentration by the initial contact was proposed to account for the small number of particles per cell.

It was recently shown that individuals carrying the naturally occurring mutant CX3CR1-Ile(249)-Met(280) (hereafter called CX3CR1-IM) have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than individuals homozygous for the wild-type CX3CR1-Val(249)-Thr(280) (CX3CR1-VT). We report here that peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from individuals with the CX3CR1-IM haplotype adhered more potently to membrane-bound CX3CL1 than did PBMC from homozygous CX3CR1-VT donors. Similar excess adhesion was observed with CX3CR1-IM-transfected human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell lines tested with two different methods: the parallel plate laminar flow chamber and the dual pipette aspiration technique. Suppression of the extra adhesion in the presence of pertussis toxin indicates that G-protein mediated the underlying transduction pathway, in contrast to the G-protein-independent adhesion previously described for CX3CR1-VT. Surprisingly, HEK and PBMC that expressed CX3CR1-IM and -VT were indistinguishable when tested with the soluble form of CX3CL1 for chemotaxis, calcium release, and binding capacity. In conclusion, only the membrane-anchored form of CX3CL1 functionally discriminated between these two allelic isoforms of CX3CR1. These results suggest that each form of this ligand may lead to a different signaling pathway. The extra adhesion of CX3CR1-IM may be related to immune defenses and to atherogenesis, both of which depend substantially on adhesive intercellular events.

Three water-soluble probes with different hydrodynamic radii have been studied by self-diffusion experiments in the sponge (L₃) phases of a zwitterionic surfactant system. In all cases, the self-diffusion coefficient varies linearly with the bilayer volume fraction. The available theories for rigid porous media cannot completely explain our results. Deviations from theoretical predictions appear for bilayer volume fractions greater than 0.2. The L₃ phase cannot be therefore pictured as a disordered network of rigid surfaces at least for transport behavior.