[Relationship between the ganglioside composition of Ehrlich ascitic carcinoma and cell population density]

The ganglioside composition of Ehrlich ascite carcinoma cells changes drastically with changes in density of the cell population. Upon 30-fold dilution of the native cell suspension and subsequent incubation for 2 h the amount of total gangliosides per cell doubles the quantities of a monosialoganglioside and of a disialoganglioside increase ten- and five-fold, respectively, whereas the other cell gangliosides do not change. The decrease of cell density is supposed to be accompanied by induction on the cell surface of a sialytransferase activity, which appears to be depressed in the dense suspension.