Abstract
Prior studies have shown that vascular endothelial cells bind circulating IgG intracellularly during cell death. We now demonstrate that all endothelial cells have intracellular binding sites for IgG and that these binding sites are exposed to circulating IgG only if the plasma membrane is damaged. The binding sites are located on the cytoskeletal intermediate filaments and can be detected also in other cells containing vimentin-type intermediate filaments. Monoclonal human IgG1 exhibited saturable, high-affinity binding to vimentin-enriched cytoskeletons. Binding was inhibited by Fc fragments but not by Fab, F(ab')2, or pFc' fragments, suggesting that the binding site on IgG is located in the C gamma 2 domain of the Fc fragment. Binding of IgG to intermediate filaments may be important for the destruction and removal of damaged cells.