Extracellular annexin II is associated with divalent cation-dependent tumor cell-endothelial cell adhesion of metastatic RAW117 large-cell lymphoma cells

Using fixed microvessel endothelial cell monolayers the molecules involved in the adhesion of liver‐preferring murine RAW117 large cell lymphoma cells to murine liver‐derived microvessel endothelial cells were identified by affinity isolation. Detergent lysates obtained from poorly (P) or highly (H10) liver‐metastatic cells inhibited RAW117‐H10 cell adhesion to hepatic sinusoidal endothelial (HSE) cell monolayers. Allowing detergent lysates of cell surface‐labeled RAW117 cells to bind to fixed HSE cell monolayers and eluting the bound components indicated that several tumor cell surface molecules ( ∼ 70, ∼ 35, ∼ 32, ∼ 22, and ∼ 14 kDa) might be involved in RAW117 cell‐HSE cell adhesion. The ∼ 35 kDa component was cation dependent in its binding to target HSE cells. Increasing detergent concentration had no effect on binding of the ∼ 35 kDa component to HSE cell monolayers, whereas treatment with 0.5 M NaCl resulted in its selective elution from HSE cells. Incubation of the HSE cell monolayers with detergent lysates from cell surface‐labeled RAW117‐H10 cells resulted in selective depletion of the ∼ 35 kDa component, suggesting that the binding is saturable. This divalent cation‐dependent molecule is one of the major tumor cell surface components bound by several types of endothelial cells and murine hepatocytes, whereas there was poor binding of this component to unfixed or fixed human red blood cells. The purified, partially ( ∼ 40%) sequenced molecule had amino acid sequence identity with murine but not bovine annexin II, indicating that it was not bound from the bovine serum used to grow RAW117 cells. Using antibodies specific for annexin II flow cytometery indicated equivalent amounts of annexin II are expressed on RAW117 cell surfaces in the absence or presence of excess EDTA, whereas annexin I was only found in low amounts on the surfaces of RAW117 cells. Annexin II antibodies inhibited by ∼ 40–50% the adhesion of RAW117 tumor cells to live or fixed endothelial cells, and purified tumor cell surface fractions containing the ∼ 35 kDa component partially inhibited ( ∼ 35%) RAW117 cell–HSE cell adhesion. The data indicate that annexin II is expressed on the extracellular surface of RAW117 cells, and cell surface–annexin II mediates a portion of the Ca2+‐dependent RAW117 cell adhesion to liver microvessel endothelial cells.