Differences of glycoconjugates exposed on hypernephroma and normal kidney cells

We analyzed the outer cell membranes of normal kidney cells, hypernephroma cells, nude mouse transplants of hypernephroma tissue, and cell lines derived from hypernephroma using horseradish peroxidase-coupled lectins of different specificity, in order to investigate their binding to cryostat sections or the cell surfaces of suspended single cells. We showed that hypernephroma cells express higher amounts of receptors for Robinia pseudoacacia lectin, soy bean lectin and Phaseolus vulgaris lectin compared to those prepared from normal kidneys. In contrast, Helix pomatia lectin is bound to connective tissue elements of both malignant and non-malignant tissue exclusively. L-fucose and D-galactose residues are detectable on malignant cells, but not on their non-malignant counterparts. However, the expression of the latter varies considerably among cells from different hypernephromas. No significant difference could be demonstrated between hypernephroma, hypernephroma cell lines and hypernephroma transplants in regard to the carbohydrate profile on the cell surfaces.