Concanavalin A binding glycoproteins of epidermal cells

The Concanavalin A reactive glycoproteins of epidermal cells were analyzed by the application of the iodinated lectin to molecules separated by SDS-PAGE. Normal epidermal cells were maintained as undifferentiated or differentiated by controlling the Ca++ concentration of the growth medium. Some 20 labeled bands could be resolved. Their relative intensities changed dramatically with the stage of differentiation. Fresh tissue gave a radioactive profile similar to that for cultured differentiated cells, except for evidence of damage from the techniques used to separate the epidermis from the dermis (the damage being progressively more severe going from heat to ammonium chloride to trypsin separation). The labeling patterns for three carcinogen-transformed cell lines were markedly different from those of the normal cells. The least tumorigenic cell line had a profile in many respects intermediate between those of the normal differentiated and undifferentiated cells, while the other 2 lines showed greater deviation.