Characterisation of lipofuscin-like lysosomal inclusion bodies from human placenta

A structural hallmark of lysosomes is heterogeneity of their contents. We describe a method for isolation of particulate materials from human placental lysosomes. After a methionine methyl ester-induced disruption of lysosomes and two density gradient centrifugations we obtained a homogeneous membrane fraction and another one enriched in particulate inclusions. The latter exhibited a yellow-brown coloration and contained bodies lacking a delimiting membrane, which were characterised by a granular pattern and high electron density. The lipofuscin-like inclusion materials were rich in tripeptidyl peptidase I, β-glucuronidase, acid ceramidase and apolipoprotein D and contained proteins originating from diverse subcellular localisations. Here we show that human term placenta contains lipofuscin-like lysosomal inclusions, a phenomenon usually associated with senescence in postmitotic cells. These findings imply that a simple pelleting of a lysosomal lysate is not appropriate for the isolation of lysosomal membranes, as the inclusions tend to be sedimented with the membranes.