The influence of membrane mutations on metastasis

In an effort to assess the effect of surface carbohydrates upon the metastasizing properties of tumor cells, lectin-resistant mouse melanoma cells were selected. Wheat-germ-agglutinin-resistant lines displayed mainly decreased metastasis properties as well as well-defined alterations in surface carbohydrates: in a glycopeptide with four side chains, two of them were missing their terminal sialic acid residues while two fucoses were newly attached to the oligosaccharide. The enzymatic defect could be pinpointed to an over-60-fold increase in fucosyltransferase, while the sialyltransferase did not decrease significantly. Revertants were again selected with lectins and their fucosyltransferase activities returned to normal values again. The metastasizing potential of the revertants was not yet assessed carefully but a return of some of the metastasizing potential was noted.