Effects of surface-bound water and surface stereochemistry on cell adhesion to crystal surfaces

Crystals of calcium-(R,S)-tartrate trihydrate were used as adhesion substrates (for A6 epithelial cells), to study specific stages in cell adhesion. Events such as surface recognition, cell attachment, spreading, motility, cell-cell aggregation, and cell penetration into the crystal bulk are all shown to depend on the molecular structure of the various crystal faces. These crystals exhibit three chemically equivalent, yet structurally distinct, faces. On the {100}, a layered surface exposing bound water, the cells attach, are motile, and tend to form multicellular aggregates, but do not spread and do not form focal contacts. Following prolonged incubation, single cells attached to the {100} surface undergo apoptosis, while those interacting with other cells are rescued. Macroscopic spiral dislocations emerging on the {100} face of the crystal are highly adhesive for cells. Cells attached to these sites develop long protrusions that penetrate into the crystal. The {011} faces expose mainly hydroxyls attached to the chiral carbons. The cells interact extensively with these faces, are immobilized, do not spread, do not form focal contacts, and subsequently die. The faces belonging to the {0kl}? family are characterized by molecular and topographical steps. The cells attach to these faces, spread, and form focal contacts and stress fibers. Thus the molecular character of the crystal surfaces, including the presence of bound water, the exposure of determinants that promote rapid surface recognition, and the effective association with extracellular adhesive proteins, affect the patterns of cell adhesive behavior and fate.     

THE UPPER CELL SURFACE: ITS INABILITY TO SUPPORT ACTIVE CELL MOVEMENT IN CULTURE

A variety of epithelial cells and fibroblasts fail to move over one another's upper surfaces in culture, resulting in monolayering. The failure of seeded fibroblasts to adhere to and spread on epithelial cell surfaces suggests that monolayering in culture is due to the lack of adhesion of the upper cell surface, at least of epithelial cells. Seeded fibroblasts and postmitotic, rounded fibroblasts likewise fail to spread on the upper surfaces of spread fibroblasts, suggesting that the inability of the upper cell surface to support spreading may be a general phenomenon. Inert particles and cell processes do not adhere directly to the upper cell surface. However, they can initiate adhesions to the surface at a cell's free margin, suggesting a variation of adhesive properties over a cell's surface.     

Glycated polyelectrolyte multilayer films: differential adhesion of primary versus tumor cells

Glycated polymers have already been widely employed for cell transfection studies, as cells possess specific lectins. However, up to now, these glycated polymers have barely been investigated for their cell adhesive properties, save macrophages. In this work, we use polyelectrolyte multilayer films made of poly(L-lysine) and poly(L-glutamic) acid as polymeric substrates to investigate the role of sugar molecules (e.g., mannose and lactose) on the adhesion of primary cells as compared to that of a tumor cell line. The glycated polymeric films were compared to ungrafted and chemically cross-linked films, which are known to present opposite adhesive properties. A differential adhesion could be evidenced on mannose grafted films: primary chondrocytes adhere and proliferate well on these films, whereas chondrosarcoma cells do not grow well. Although present, the effect of lactose on cell adhesion was much less important. This adhesion, mediated by glycated polymers, appears to be specific. These results show that it is possible to use glycated polyelectrolytes not only as nonviral vectors but also as cell adhesive substrates.     

Regulation of cell substrate adhesion: effects of small galactosaminoglycan-containing proteoglycans.

Cell adhesion is a process which is initiated by the attachment of cells to specific sites in adhesive matrix proteins via cell surface receptors of the integrin family. This is followed by a reorganization of cytoskeletal elements which results in cell spreading and the formation of focal adhesion plaques. We have examined the effects of a class of small galactosaminoglycan-containing proteoglycans on the various stages of cell adhesion to fibronectin-coated substrates. Our results indicate that dermatan sulfate proteoglycans (DSPGs) derived from cartilage, as well as other related small proteoglycans, inhibit the initial attachment of CHO cells and rat embryo fibroblasts to substrates composed of the 105-kD cell-binding fibronectin fragment, but do not affect cell attachment to intact fibronectin. Although this effect involves binding of DSPGs to the substrate via the protein core, the intact proteoglycan is necessary for the observed activity. Isolated core proteins are inactive. The structural composition of the galactosaminoglycan chain does not appear to be functionally significant since both chondroitin sulfate and various dermatan sulfate proteoglycans of this family inhibit cell attachment to the fibronectin fragment. Neither the percentage of cells spread nor the mean area of spread cells adhering to substrates of intact fibronectin was significantly affected by the DSPGs. However, significantly fewer cells formed focal adhesions in the presence of DSPGs as compared with untreated control cells. These results suggest that the binding of small galactosaminoglycan-containing proteoglycans to a fibronectin substrate may affect several stages in the cell adhesion process.     

Effects of plant lectins on the adhesive properties of baby hamster kidney cells

We studied the effects of different lectins on the adhesive properties of baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. The purpose of these studies was to learn more about the cell surface receptors involved in cell adhesion. Three adhesive phenomena were analyzed: 1) the adhesion of BHK cells to lectin-coated substrata; 2) the effects of lectins on the adhesion of cells to substrata coated by plasma fibronectin (pFN); and 3) the effects of lectins on the binding of pFN-coated beads to cells. Initial experiments with fluorescein-conjugated lectins indicated that concanavalin A (Con A), ricinus communis agglutinin I (RCA I), and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) bound to BHK cells but peanut agglutinin (PNA), soybean agglutinin (SBA), and ulex europaeus agglutinin I (UEA I) dod not bind. All three of the lectins which bound to the cells promoted cell spreading on lectin substrata, and the morphology of the spread cells was similar to that observed with cells spread on pFN substrata. Protease treatment of the cells, however, was found to inhibit cell spreading on pFN substrata or WGA substrata more than on Con A substrata or RCA I substrata. In the experiment of cells with Con A or WGA inhibited cell spreading on pFN substrata, but RCA I treatment had no effect. Finally, treatment of cells with WGA inhibited binding to cells of pFN beads, but neither Con A nor RCA I affected this interaction. These results indicate that the lectins modify cellular adhesion in different ways, probably by interacting with different surface receptors. The possibility that the pFN receptor is a WGA receptor is discussed.     

Adhesive responses of fibroblast and neuroblastoma cells to substrata coated with polyvalent or monoclonal antibody to fibronectin

Both polyvalent and hybridoma-produced antibodies to fibronectin (Fn) were used to ‘map’ the immunoaccessible subsets of cell surface fibronectin on virus-transformed murine fibroblast SVT2 and rat neuroblastoma B104 cells. As one approach to this end, attachment and spreading responses of cells were measured on tissue culture substrata coated with antibody or with plasma fibronectin to compare their adhesive responses. Both SVT2 and B104 cells adhere poorly to polyvalent anti-Fn-coated substrata over short time intervals, but within several hours changes occur which permit cells to attach and spread as well on anti-Fn as on Fn (post-adsorption of the anti-Fn with Fn also generates a maximal response). This adhesive response could be completely prevented by predigesting the cells with Flavobacterium heparanase, but not with chondroitinase ABC, indicating that the cell surface Fn responsible for antibody-mediated adhesion is associated with heparan sulfate proteoglycans on the cell surface. The compositions of the substratum-attached material (left bound after EGTA-mediated detachment of cells) from cells attaching to anti-Fn or Fn were analysed by SDS-PAGE and found to be identical within the same cell type for the two different substrata. Three hybridoma-produced antibodies, which recognize different determinants on Fn, generated different adhesive responses for SVT2 or B104 cells when adsorbed to the substratum. SVT2 cells adhered well to antibody no. 32-coated substrata but poorly to antibodies 92 or 136; on the other hand, B104 cells responded similarly to all three antibodies over short times of attachment but much better to no. 32 after a several hour incubation. These experiments indicate that (1) much of the cell surface fibronectin is complexed with heparan sulfate proteoglycan and is initially inaccessible to bind to polyvalent antibody on the substratum to promote adhesion; (2) the surface of neuroblastoma cells contains a fibronectin-like molecule which is important in their substratum adhesion; and (3) monoclonal antibodies are valuable tools in ‘mapping’ the orientation of cell surface molecules like fibronectin by measuring adhesive responses to antibody-coated substrata.     

Adherence of Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes to CHO-745 cells and inhibition of binding by protein A in the presence of human serum

Adhesion of erythrocytes infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum to human host receptors is a process associated with severe malarial pathology. A number of in vitro cell lines are available as models for these adhesive processes, including Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells which express the placental adhesion receptor chondroitin-4-sulphate (CSA) on their surface. CHO-745 cells, a glycosaminoglycan-negative mutant CHO cell line lacking CSA and other reported P. falciparum adhesion receptors, are often used for recombinant expression of host receptors and for receptor binding studies. In this study we show that P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes can be easily selected for adhesion to an endogenous receptor on the surface of CHO-745 cells, bringing into question the validity of using these cells as a tool for P. falciparum adhesin expression studies. The adhesive interaction between CHO-745 cells and parasitized erythrocytes described here is not mediated by the known P. falciparum adhesion receptors CSA, CD36, or ICAM-1. However, we found that CHO-745-selected parasitized erythrocytes bind normal human IgM and that adhesion to CHO-745 cells is inhibited by protein A in the presence of serum, but not in its absence, indicating a non-specific inhibitory effect. Thus, protein A, which has been used as an inhibitor for a recently described interaction between infected erythrocytes and the placenta, may not be an appropriate in vitro inhibitor for understanding in vivo adhesive interactions.     

Drosophila neurotactin mediates heterophilic cell adhesion.

Neurotactin is a 135 kd membrane glycoprotein which consists of a core protein, with an apparent molecular weight of 120 kd, and of N-linked oligosaccharides. In vivo, the protein can be phosphorylated in presence of radioactive orthophosphate. Neurotactin expression in the larval CNS and in primary embryonic cell cultures suggests that it behaves as a contact molecule between neurons or epithelial cells. Electron microscopy studies reveal that neurotactin is uniformly expressed along the areas of contacts between cells, without, however, being restricted to a particular type of junction. It putative adhesive properties have been tested by transfecting non adhesive Drosophila S2 cells with neurotactin cDNA. Heat shocked transfected cells do not aggregate, suggesting that neurotactin does not mediate homophilic cell adhesion. However, these transfected cells bind to a subpopulation of embryonic cells which probably possess a related ligand. The location at cellular junctions between specific neurons or epithelial cells, the heterophilic binding to a putative ligand and the ability to be phosphorylated are consistent with the suggestion that neurotactin functions as an adhesion molecule.     

Galectin-8 functions as a matricellular modulator of cell adhesion

The interaction of cells with the extracellular matrix regulates cell adhesion and motility. Here we demonstrate that different cell types adhere and spread when cultured in serum-free medium on immobilized galectin-8, a mammalian beta-galactoside-binding protein. At maximal doses, galectin-8 is equipotent to fibronectin in promoting cell adhesion and spreading. Cell adhesion to immobilized galectin-8 is mediated by sugar-protein interactions with integrins, and galectin-8 triggers integrin-mediated signaling cascades including Tyr phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase and paxillin. Cell adhesion is potentiated in the presence of Mn(2+), whereas it is interrupted in the presence of soluble galectin-8, integrin beta(1) inhibitory antibodies, EDTA, or thiodigalactoside but not by RGD peptides. Furthermore, cells readily adhere onto immobilized monoclonal galectin-8 antibodies, which are equipotent to integrin antibodies in promoting cell adhesion. Cell adhesion to immobilized galectin-8 is partially inhibited by serum proteins, suggesting that complex formation between immobilized galectin-8 and serum components generates a matrix that is less supportive of cell adhesion. Accordingly, cell motility on immobilized galectin-8 readily takes place in the presence of serum. Truncation of the C-terminal half of galectin-8, including one of its two carbohydrate recognition domains, largely abolishes its ability to modulate cell adhesion, indicating that both carbohydrate recognition domains are required to maintain a functional form of galectin-8. Collectively, our findings implicate galectin-8 as a physiological modulator of cell adhesion. When immobilized, it functions as a matrix protein equipotent to fibronectin in promoting cell adhesion by ligation and clustering of cell surface integrin receptors. In contrast, when present in excess as a soluble ligand, galectin-8 (like fibronectin) forms a complex with integrins that negatively regulates cell adhesion. Because of its dual effects on the adhesive properties of the cells and its association with fibronectin, galectin-8 might be considered a novel type of matricellular protein.     

Quantitative characterization of single‐cell adhesion properties by atomic force microscopy using protein‐functionalized microbeads

A method was developed to characterize the adhesion properties of single cells by using protein‐functionalized atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes. The quantification by force spectroscopy of the mean detachment force between cells and a gelatin‐functionalized colloidal tip reveals differences in cell adhesion properties that are not within reach of a traditional bulk technique, the washing assay. In this latter method, experiments yield semiquantitative and average adhesion properties of a large population of cells. They are also limited to stringent conditions and cannot highlight disparities in adhesion in the subset of adherent cells. In contrast, this AFM‐based method allows for a reproducible and quantitative investigation of the adhesive properties of individual cells in common cell culture conditions and allows for the detection of adhesive subpopulations of cells. These characteristics meet the critical requirements of many fields, such as the study of cancer cell migratory abilities.     

On the role of cell surface associated,mucin-like glycoproteins in the pennate diatom Craspedostauros australis (Bacillariophyceae)

Diatoms are single-celled microalgae with silica-based cell walls (frustules) that are abundantly present in aquatic habitats, and form the basis of the food chain in many ecosystems. Many benthic diatoms have the remarkable ability to glide on all natural or man-made underwater surfaces using a carbohydrate- and protein-based adhesive to generate traction. Previously, three glycoproteins, termed FACs (F rustule A ssociated C omponents), have been identified from the common fouling diatom Craspedostauros australis and were implicated in surface adhesion through inhibition studies with a glycan-specific antibody. The polypeptide sequences of FACs remained unknown, and it was unresolved whether the FAC glycoproteins are indeed involved in adhesion, or whether this is achieved by different components sharing the same glycan epitope with FACs. Here we have determined the polypeptide sequences of FACs using peptide mapping by LC–MS/MS. Unexpectedly, FACs share the same polypeptide backbone (termed CaFAP1), which has a domain structure of alternating Cys-rich and Pro-Thr/Ser-rich regions reminiscent of the gel-forming mucins. By developing a genetic transformation system for C. australis, we were able to directly investigate the function of CaFAP1-based glycoproteins in vivo. GFP-tagging of CaFAP1 revealed that it constitutes a coat around all parts of the frustule and is not an integral component of the adhesive. CaFAP1-GFP producing transformants exhibited the same properties as wild type cells regarding surface adhesion and motility speed. Our results demonstrate that FAC glycoproteins are not involved in adhesion and motility, but might rather act as a lubricant to prevent fouling of the diatom surface.     

Morphology and microfilament organization in human blood lymphocytes : Effects of substratum and mitogen exposure

During culture in serum-containing medium normal human blood lymphocytes, depleted of phagocytic and adherent cells, do not attach to adhesive surfaces. Concanavalin A (ConA) or phytohemagglutinin (PHA) in appropriate concentrations mediate adhesion of these lymphocytes to tissue culture plastic or glass. This process consists of two phases.

1. 1. The mitogen-mediated contact with a surface induces an almost instantaneous alteration of cell shape and a simultaneous redistribution of actin in the majority of the cells.

2. 2. The initial morphological changes are accompanied by an accumulation of actin-containing material in prominent peripheral cytoplasmic outgrowths formed by the spread cells. The contact-induced spreading and rearrangement of actin are inhibited by cytochalasin B (CB) but not by colchicine or vinblastine. The distribution of detectable actin in spread lymphocytes is similar to the distribution of footprints of actin after detachment of spread cells suggesting that actin is involved in the attachment of lymphocytes to substratum. In contrast to lymphocytes on glass or tissue culture plastic which show morphological changes and redistribution of actin cells cultured with ConA on non-adhesive surfaces of bacterial plastic or poly-2-hydroxy-methacrylate do not exhibit any morphological alterations and no rearrangement of actin.

The present approach enables visualization of cytoskeletal structures in lymphocytes to an extent which is not possible using conventional methods with the cells in suspension. The results indicate that contact is a regulator of lymphocyte shape and that actin-containing structures mediate and maintain contact-induced changes of lymphocyte morphology.     

Thrombin adhesive properties: induction by plasmin and heparan sulfate

We have previously demonstrated that chemically modified thrombin preparations induce endothelial cell (EC) adhesion, spreading and cytoskeletal reorganization via an Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence and the alpha v beta 3 integrin. Native thrombin, however, did not exhibit adhesive properties, consistent with crystal structure analysis, showing that Gly-Asp residues of the RGD epitope are buried within the molecule. We have now identified a possible physiological mean of converting thrombin to an adhesive protein. Plasmin, the major end product of the fibrinolytic system, converted thrombin to an adhesive protein for EC in a time and dose-dependent manner. EC adhesion and spreading was also induced by a low molecular weight (approximately 3,000 D) cleavage fragment generated upon incubation of thrombin with plasmin. Cell adhesion mediated by this fragment was completely inhibited by the synthetic peptide GRGDSP. Conversion of thrombin to an adhesive molecule was significantly enhanced in the presence of heparin or heparan sulfate, while other glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) (e.g., dermatan sulfate, keratan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate) had no effect. The role of cell surface heparan sulfate in thrombin conversion to EC adhesive protein was investigated using CHO cell mutants defective in various aspects of GAG synthesis. Incubation of both thrombin and a suboptimal amount of plasmin on the surface of formaldehyde fixed wild- type CHO-KI cells resulted in an efficient conversion of thrombin to an adhesive molecule, as indicated by subsequent induction of EC attachment. In contrast, there was no effect to incubation of thrombin and plasmin with fixed CHO mutant cells lacking both heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate, or with cells expressing no heparan sulfate and a three-fold increase in chondroitin sulfate. A similar gain of adhesive properties was obtained upon incubation of thrombin and plasmin in contact with native, but not heparinase-treated extracellular matrix (ECM) produced by cultured ECs. It appears that cell surface and ECM-associated heparan sulfate modulate thrombin adhesive properties through its heparin binding site in a manner that enables suboptimal amounts of plasmin to expose the RGD domain. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, a significant modulation of thrombin molecule by heparin, resulting in its conversion to a potent adhesive protein for ECs. This conversion is most effective in contact with cell surfaces, basement membranes and ECM.     

Species specificity in cell-substrate interactions in medusae

A new system is described for the study of ECM-tissue interactions, using the ECM (called mesogloea) of various cnidarians and isolated striated muscle and endodermal tissue of jellyfish. The mesogloea consists mainly of water and collagen. It is present in all cnidarians and can be isolated without enzyme treatment. It can be used as a substrate to which cells and tissues adhere and on which they spread and migrate. Tissues of striated muscle and endoderm adhere and spread not only on mesogloea from regions they normally cover, but also from other regions of the animal. However, adhesion and spreading are highly species-specific. Species-specific adhesion is found throughout the whole mass of mesogloea even at regions where cells do not occur naturally. The cell adhesion factor can be extracted from the mesogloea so that the mesogloea no longer shows any cell adhesion properties. The extract consists mainly of a cysteine-containing collagen.     

p120-catenin and β-catenin differentially regulate cadherin adhesive function

Vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin, the major adherens junction adhesion molecule in endothelial cells, interacts with p120-catenin and β-catenin through its cytoplasmic tail. However, the specific functional contributions of the catenins to the establishment of strong adhesion are not fully understood. Here we use bioengineering approaches to identify the roles of cadherin–catenin interactions in promoting strong cellular adhesion and the ability of the cells to spread on an adhesive surface. Our results demonstrate that the domain of VE-cadherin that binds to β-catenin is required for the establishment of strong steady-state adhesion strength. Surprisingly, p120 binding to the cadherin tail had no effect on the strength of adhesion when the available adhesive area was limited. Instead, the binding of VE-cadherin to p120 regulates adhesive contact area in a Rac1-dependent manner. These findings reveal that p120 and β-catenin have distinct but complementary roles in strengthening cadherin-mediated adhesion.     

Measurements of conformational changes during adhesion of lipid and protein (polylysine and S-layer) surfaces

The adhesion forces between various surfaces were measured using the "surface forces apparatus" technique. This technique allows for the thickness of surface layers and the adhesion force between them to be directly measured in controlled vapor or liquid environments. Three types of biological surfaces were prepared by depositing various lipid-protein monolayers (with thicknesses ranging from 1 to 4 nm) on the inert, molecularly smooth mica surface: (i) hydrophobic lipid monolayers; (ii) amphiphilic polyelectrolyte surfaces of adsorbed polylysine; and (iii) deposited bacterial S-layer proteins. The adhesion, swelling, and wetting properties of these surfaces was measured as a function of relative humidity and time. Initial adhesion is due mainly to the van der Waals forces arising from nonpolar (hydrophobic) contacts. Following adhesive contact, significant molecular rearrangements can occur which alter their hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance and increase their adhesion with time. Increased adhesion is generally enhanced by (i) increased relative humidity (or degree of hydration); (ii) increased contact time; and (iii) increased rates of separation. The results are likely to be applicable to the adhesion of many other biosurfaces, and show that the hydrophobicity of a lipid or protein surface is not an intrinsic property of that surface but depends on its environment (e.g., on whether it is in aqueous solution or exposed to the atmosphere), and on the relative humidity of the atmosphere. It also depends on whether the surface is in adhesive contact with another surface and-when considering dynamic (nonequilibrium) conditions-on the time and previous history of its interaction with that surface. (c) 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Adhesion,spreading, and proliferation of cells on protein carpets: Effects of stability of a carpet

Summary In the present report we have investigated the role that the physical properties of substrata play in modulating the effects which components of extracellular matrix (ECM) exert on adhesion, spreading, and growth of retinal pigmented epithelial cells. By simple modifications of conditions for protein adsorption on glass we obtained a set of substrata all coated with proteins of ECM (protein carpets) but with different physical properties. Using these protein carpets we have shown that their stability (desorption rate) in tissue culture conditions varies according to the technique with which they were prepared. Both semiremovable and immobilized carpets are stable, whereas removable protein carpets desorb readily. Therefore, the protein concentration or composition or both may change with time in tissue culture depending on the technique used to prepare the carpet. In addition, efficacy of cell attachment to given protein may vary depending on whether a technique used to prepare the protein carpet involves denaturation of the protein. Adherent cells quickly remove (clear) weakly adsorbed protein carpets and it seems that the carpet removal is a mechanical process. During the carpet removal cells are rounded, which indicates that a spread cell phenotype normally associated with stress fibers and focal contacts occurs when the substratum is rigid enough to sustain cell traction. In addition, substrata lacking the rigidity to support the spread phenotype do not support cell proliferation either.     

Cell surface heparan sulfate mediates some adhesive responses to glycosaminoglycan-binding matrices, including fibronectin

Proteins with affinities for specific glycosaminoglycans (GAC's) were used as probes for testing the potential of cell surface GAG's to mediate cell adhesive responses to extracellular matrices (ECM). Plasma fibronectin (FN) and proteins that bind hyaluronate (cartilage proteo-glycan core and link proteins) or heparan sulfate (platelet factor 4 [PF4]) were adsorbed to inert substrata to evaluate attachment and spreading of several 3T3 cell lines. Cells failed to attach to hyaluronate-binding substrata. The rates of attachment on PF4 were identical to those on FN; however, PF4 stimulated formation of broad convex lamellae but not tapered cell processes fibers during the spreading response. PF4-mediated responses were blocked by treating the PF4-adsorbed substratum with heparin (but not chondroitin sulfate), or alternatively the cells with Flavobacter heparinum heparinase (but not chondroitinase ABC). Heparinase treatment did not inhibit cell attachment to FN but did inhibit spreading. Cells spread on PF4 or FN contained similar Ca2+-independent cell-substratum adhesions, as revealed by EGTA-mediated retraction of their substratum-bound processes. Microtubular networks reorganized in cells on PF4 but failed to extend into the broadly spread lamellae, where fine microfilament bundles had developed. Stress fibers, common on FN, failed to develop on PF4. These experiments indicate that (a) heparan sulfate proteoglycans are critical mediators of cell adhesion and heparan sulfate-dependent adhesion via PF4 is comparable in some, but not all, ways to FN-mediated adhesion, (b) the uncharacterized and heparan sulfate-independent "cell surface" receptor for FN permits some but not all aspects of adhesion, and (c) physiologically compatible and complete adhesion of fibroblasts requires binding of extracellular matrix FN to both the unidentified "cell surface" receptor and heparan sulfate proteoglycans.     

Cell adhesion profiling using extracellular matrix protein microarrays

We have developed a microarray-based system for cell adhesion profiling of large panels of cell-adhesive proteins to increase the throughput of in vitro cell adhesion assays, which are currently primarily performed in multiwell plates. Miniaturizing cell adhesion assays to an array format required the development of protocols for the reproducible microspotting of extracellular matrix (ECM) protein solutions and for the handling of cell suspensions during the assay. We generated ECM protein microarrays with high reproducibility in microspot protein content using nitrocellulose-coated glass microslides, combined with piezoelectric microspotting of protein solutions. Protocols were developed that allowed us to use 5000 cells or fewer on an array of 4 x 4 mm consisting of 64 microspots. Using this microarray system, we identified differences of adhesive properties of three cell lines to 14 different ECM proteins. Furthermore, the sensitivity and accuracy of the assays were increased using microarrays with ranges of ECM protein amounts. This microarray system will be particularly useful for extensive comparative cell adhesion profiling studies when only low amounts of adhesive substrate and cells, such as stem cells or cells from biopsies, are available.     

Early gametocytes of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum specifically remodel the adhesive properties of infected erythrocyte surface

In Plasmodium falciparum infections the parasite transmission stages, the gametocytes, mature in 10 days sequestered in internal organs. Recent studies suggest that cell mechanical properties rather than adhesive interactions play a role in sequestration during gametocyte maturation. It remains instead obscure how sequestration is established, and how the earliest sexual stages, morphologically similar to asexual trophozoites, modify the infected erythrocytes and their cytoadhesive properties at the onset of gametocytogenesis. Here, purified P. falciparum early gametocytes were used to ultrastructurally and biochemically analyse parasite‐induced modifications on the red blood cell surface and to measure their functional consequences on adhesion to human endothelial cells. This work revealed that stage I gametocytes are able to deform the infected erythrocytes like asexual parasites, but do not modify its surface with adhesive ‘knob’ structures and associated proteins. Reduced levels of the P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) adhesins are exposed on the red blood cell surface bythese parasites, and the expression of the var gene family, which encodes 50–60 variants of PfEMP1, is dramatically downregulated in the transition from asexual development to gametocytogenesis. Cytoadhesion assays show that such gene expression changes and host cell surface modifications functionally result in the inability of stage I gametocytes to bind the host ligands used by the asexual parasite to bind endothelial cells. In conclusion, these results identify specific differences in molecular and cellular mechanisms of host cell remodelling and in adhesive properties, leading to clearly distinct host parasite interplays in the establishment of sequestration of stage I gametocytes and of asexual trophozoites.