Mapping of sites on the surface membrane of mammalian cells. II. Relationship of sites for concanavalin A and an ornithine, leucine copolymer

Selection and characterization of Chinese hamster ovary cells resistant to the cytotoxicity of lectins

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells selected in a single step for resistance to the cytotoxicity of the lectin from red kidney beans (PHA) behave as authentic somatic cell mutants. The PHA-resistant (Phar) phenotype is stable in the absence of selection; its frequency in a sensitive-population is increased several-fold by mutagenesis; and it behaves recessively in somatic cell hybrids. The activity of a specific glycosyl transferase which transfers N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to terminal alpha-mannose residues is dramatically reduced (less than or equal to 5% of the activity detected in wild-type CHO cells) in several independent PhaR clones. These clones also exhibit (a) a decreased ability to bind [125I]-PHA; (b) a marked resistance to the cytotoxicity of wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), Ricin (RIC) and Lens culinaris agglutinin (LCA); (c) a 4- to 5-fold increased sensitivity to the cytoxocity of concanavalin A (Con A); (d) an increased ability to bind 125I-Con A; and (e) decreased surface galactose residues - all properties consistent with the specific loss of the GlcNAc transferase activity. The lectins WGA, RIC, LCA and Con A have also been used to select, in a single step, resistance closes from each of two complementary CHO auxitrophic lines. These lectin-resistant clones have been characterized by their ability to survive cytotoxic doses of PHA, Con A, WGA, RIC, or LCA, and 4-5 "lectin-resistance" phenotypes have been demonstrated. Complementation data is being sought by somatic cell hybridization. Preliminary results show that two phenotypically-distinct Con AR mutants are complementary in that hybrid cells formed between them exhibit wild-type sensitivity to Con A.

Selection and characterization of eight phenotypically distinct lines of lectin-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell

Clones resistant to the lectins phytohemagglutinin (PHA), wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), the agglutinin(s) from Lens culinaris (LCA), and ricin (RIC) have been selected from parental auxotrophic Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The sensitivity to other lectins of these cells and of CHO cells resistant to concanavalin A (ConA) has been determined, and their activity of UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine glycoprotein N-acetyl-glucosaminyltransferase (GlcNAc-T) has been measured. At least 8 different phenotypes have been identified on the basis of this analysis, and complementation between 2 of them demonstrated.

Stable alterations at the cell membrane of Chinese hamster ovary cells resistant to the cytotoxicity of phytohemagglutinin

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells selected for resistance to the cytotoxicity of phytohemagglutin (PHA) have been found to exhibit stable alterations at their plasma membranes. The PHA-resistant (PhaR) cells bind markedly less 125I-PHA than do sensitive CHO cells and also exhibit an increased sensitivity to the cytotoxicity of concanavalin A, a lectin of different receptor specificity. Mutagenesis with ethylmethanesulfonate increases the proportion of PhaR cells 20- to 100-fold. PHA-resistant cells maintained for up to 8 months in continuous culture in the absence of the selective agent have retained the PhaR phenotype. These and other characteristics of the experimental system suggest that CHO cells selected for PHA resistance are authentic somatic cell mutants. The Pha marker appears to behave recessively in hybrids formed between PhaR and PhaS cells.

Variants of simian virus 40-transformed 3T3 cells that are resistant to concanavalin A

By treating populations of simian virus 40 (SV40)-transformed 3T3 cells with concanavalin A, variants have been isolated which are resistant to the killing action of the lectin. The variants (i) resemble 3T3 cells morphologically and in some of their growth characteristics; (ii) are not agglutinated by high concentrations of concanavalin A or wheat germ agglutinin, but can be rendered agglutinable by treatment with low concentrations of trypsin; (iii) bind the same number of concanavalin A molecules as 3T3 or SV3T3 cells; (iv) cannot be transformed by SV40 and are resistant to focus formation after infection with murine sarcoma virus; (v) contain SV40-specific T antigen and RNA and; (vi) yield wild-type SV40 virus after heterokaryon formation with BS-C-1 cells.

Membrane changes and adenosine triphosphate content in normal and malignant transformed cells

Transformed fibroblasts had a low content of ATP when grown at a high cell density and a high content of ATP when grown at a low cell density. Concanavalin A agglutinated transformed cells with a low, but not those with a high, ATP content. Transformed cells with a high ATP content gained agglutinability after ATP depletion by inhibitors of the energy-generating systems, and those with a low ATP content lost their agglutinability after restoration of a high ATP content by glucose. Fixation of the surface membrane by formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, or LaCl(3), inhibited agglutination of cells with an ATP content that allows agglutination. Normal fibroblasts grown at a high or a low cell density were not agglutinated by concanavalin A. Depletion of the cellular ATP content of normal cells induced agglutination only in cells grown at a high, but not at a low, cell density. A similar number of concanavalin A molecules was bound to the surface membrane of agglutinating and nonagglutinating fibroblasts. It is suggested that a high content of ATP inhibits the movement of concanavalin A binding sites, and that a low content of ATP allows, in transformed cells, a new distribution of binding sites to form the clusters required for cell agglutination. Agglutinability of transformed cells is determined by ATP content, and in normal cells changes in the content of ATP are by themselves not sufficient to induce agglutination. Transformed cells, therefore, do not have a control, presumably for membrane stability, that exists in normal cells.