Isolation of Specific Macromolecules required for Adhesion of Mouse Tumour Cells

Abstract

THE adhesive properties of cell surfaces which seem to determine many morphogenetic processes¹ and which may be important in malignancy² must reflect the biochemical characteristics of the cell surfaces. There have been attempts to isolate the macromolecules concerned by assaying for substances required for cell adhesion³, and one of us⁴ has described a promising experimental system for such studies. Trypsin-dissociated cells from an ascites-grown form of a mouse teratoma (teratocarcinoma, embryonal carcinoma)^5,6 require L-glutamine in order to synthesize amino-sugars and to reaggregate in a solution of glucose and balanced salts, most probably because the amino-sugars are necessary for the formation of the complex carbohydrates involved in cell adhesion⁴. This communication describes experiments in which the amino-sugars are replaced by macromolecular substances in the ascites fluid in which the teratoma grew.