Fc receptors on phagocytic cells in the blood mediate binding and clearance of immune complexes, phagocytosis of antibody-opsonized microorganisms, and potently trigger effector functions, including superoxide anion production and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. The Fc receptor type III (Fc gamma R III, CD 16), present in 135,000 sites per cell 1 on neutrophils and accounting for most of FcR in blood, unexpectedly has a phosphatidylinositol glycan (PIG) membrane anchor. Deficiency of Fc gamma R III is observed in paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH), an acquired abnormality of haematopoietic cells affecting PIG tail biosynthesis or attachment, and is probably responsible for circulating immune complexes and susceptibility to bacterial infections associated with this disease. Although a growing number of eukaryotic cell-surface proteins with PIG-tails are being described, none has thus far been implicated in receptor-mediated endocytosis or in triggering of cell-mediated killing. Our findings on the Fc gamma R III raise the question of how a PIG-tailed protein important in immune complex clearance in vivo and in antibody-dependent killing mediates ligand internalization and cytotoxicity. Together with our results, previous functional studies on Fc gamma R III and Fc gamma R II suggest that these two receptors may cooperate and that the type of membrane anchor is an important mechanism whereby the functional capacity of surface receptors can be regulated.

Complement- and cell-mediated killing utilize related effector proteins (C8/C9 and perforin, respectively), suggesting that proteins which protect cells against complement- and cell-mediated attack may also be similar. In homologous complement-mediated killing two protective proteins, which are anchored to the cell membrane by phosphatidylinositol glycan (PIG) tails, are known. To study whether similar PIG-tailed proteins protect against lymphocyte-mediated killing, nucleated cell lines with a mutation in the biosynthesis of the PIG anchor were used. It was found that PIG-tailed membrane proteins restrict homologous complement-mediated lysis but not three different types of cell-mediated killing or lysis by purified perforin. Furthermore, E from patients with an acquired defect in PIG tail biosynthesis did not differ from normal E in sensitivity to antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, in spite of their increased sensitivity to human C8 and C9.