Cell surface sialic acid and the invasive and metastatic potential of T-cell hybridomas

T-cell hybridomas prepared by fusion of non-invasive non-metastatic BW5147 T-lymphoma cells and activated normal T-cells were found to be highly invasive in vitro and highly metastatic in vivo upon tail vein injection. By prolonged culturing and subcloning, non-invasive, non-metastatic hybrids were selected with modal DNA/cell contents close to the diploid value of both fusion partners. Since normal activated T-cells were invasive in vitro in hepatocyte cultures, these data suggest that invasiveness of the hybrids is derived from the parental normal T-cells and is one of the properties responsible for the metastatic potential of these cells. Analysis of a large panel of T-cell hybrids with fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated lectins, specific for terminal galactose and/or N-acetylgalactosamine sugar residues, showed an inverse correlation between expression of lectin receptor sites and invasive and metastatic potential of the hybrids. Soybean agglutinin, as well as peanut agglutinin and Ricinus communis agglutinin, reacted strongly with non- or low-invasive hybrids but only weakly with invasive hybrids. The difference in lectin binding between both types of hybrids appeared to be due to masking of receptor sites by sialic acid. Removal of cell surface sialic acid by neuraminidase treatment unmasked the lectin receptor sites of invasive hybrids to the level of the corresponding sites of non- or low-invasive cells. This increase in active lectin binding sites was simultaneously accompanied by a striking decrease of invasiveness to the level of the low-invasive hybrids. Conversely, the blocking of R. communis agglutinin receptors by sialic acid allowed selection of invasive hybrids from segregating cell populations with the toxic lectin R. communis agglutinin. The results taken together indicate that sialylation of particular cell surface carbohydrate residues on the T-cell hybridomas is associated with the invasive and metastatic potential of these hybrids. The reduction of invasive potential after removal of cell surface sialic acid provides further evidence for a functional role of this sugar residue in invasiveness of the T-cell hybrids.