Defective attachment of dermatosparactic fibroblasts to collagens I and IV

Attachment of fibroblasts from dermatosparactic sheep and cattle to collagenous substrates (types I and IV) is defective (30-50%) when compared with fibroblasts from normal or heterozygous animals. The difference was independent of the amount of substrate, incubation time and protein synthesis. No differences were observed in the binding to fibronectin or laminin. Reduced attachment to collagen can be partially restored by adding fibronectin. The polygonal morphology of dermatosparactic cells was, however, not altered by attachment and growth on dishes coated with different collagens or fibronectin. Reduced interaction with collagens could be due to changes in specific receptors and may represent a further pathological change in dermatosparactic animals.