INFLUENCE OF EXTRACELLULAR MATRICES ON GANGLIOSIDE PATTERN OF 2 HEPATOMA-CELL LINES WITH DIFFERENT ADHESIVE PROPERTIES

A cell culture model was developed to investigate the involvement of gangliosides in cell-matrix adhesion. Two cell lines with different adhesive properties derived from solid Morris hepatoma 7777 were established. Cultured in horse serum-containing medium, the adhesive cell line (MH 7777(A)) adheres and spreads on uncoated culture dishes, whereas the revertant cell line (MH 7777(A>N)) does not adhere and grows in suspension. The adhesiveness of both cell lines is dependent on the coating protein used (none, bovine serum albumin, fibronectin or collagen I) and the horse serum concentration in the culture medium. Both cell lines, although of the same origin, differed in their ganglioside composition. The most abundant ganglioside of both MH 7777, and MH 7777(A>N) cell lines was fucosyl-G(M1), 0.78 and 0.72 mu g per mg cellular protein, respectively. The G(M3) and G(D1a) content of MH 7777(A>N) cells was significantly higher than that of MH 7777(A) cells. Furthermore, a matrix-dependency of the ganglioside pattern of both cell lines was demonstrated.