The effect of tenascin and embryonic basal lamina on the behavior and morphology of neural crest cells in vitro

We have investigated the morphology and migratory behavior of quail neural crest cells on isolated embryonic basal laminae or substrata coated with fibronectin or tenascin. Each of these substrata have been implicated in directing neural crest cell migration in situ. We also observed the altered behavior of cells in response to the addition of tenascin to the culture medium independent of its effect as a migratory substratum. On tenascin-coated substrata, the rate of neural crest cell migration from neural tube explants was significantly greater than on uncoated tissue culture plastic, on fibronectin-coated plastic, or on basal lamina isolated from embryonic chick retinae. Neural crest cells on tenascin were rounded and lacked lamellipodia, in contrast to the flattened cells seen on basal lamina and fibronectin-coated plastic. In contrast, when tenascin was added to the culture medium of neural crest cells migrating on isolated basal lamina, a significant reduction in the rate of cell migration was observed. To study the nature of this effect, we used human melanoma cells, which have a number of characteristics in common with quail neural crest cells though they would be expected to have a distinct family of integrin receptors. A dose-dependent reduction in the rate of translocation was observed when tenascin was added to the culture medium of the human melanoma cell line plated on isolated basal laminae, indicating that the inhibitory effect of tenascin bound to the quail neural crest surface is probably not solely the result of competitive inhibition by tenascin for the integrin receptor. Our results show that tenascin can be used as a migratory substratum by avian neural crest cells and that tenascin as a substratum can stimulate neural crest cell migration, probably by permitting rapid detachment. Tenascin in the medium, on the other hand, inhibits both the migration rates and spreading of motile cells on basal lamina because it binds only the cell surface and not the underlying basal lamina. Cell surface-bound tenascin may decrease cell-substratum interactions and thus weaken the tractional forces generated by migrating cells. This is in contrast to the action of fibronectin, which when added to the medium stimulates cell migration by binding both to neural crest cells and the basal lamina, thus providing a bridge between the motile cells and the substratum.     

Proteins excreted by primary human colon carcinoma cells (SW 480) promote spreading and growth of metastatic human colon carcinoma cells (SW 620) in serum-free medium

The growth behavior of the two human colon tumor cell lines (SW 480, primary and SW 620, metastatic), originating from the same patient, was studied in six different serum-free media (SFM) [GF3, Chee's essential medium plus insulin, transferrin and selenium; GF3F, GF3 plus fetuin; GF4, GF3 plus linoleic acid-BSA; GF5, GF4 plus fetuin; GF5E, GF5 plus EGF; GF5T, GF5 plus triiodothyronine]. SW 480 grew in all of the SFM. In contrast, SW 620 grew only in four SFM. The cells did not grow in GF3 and GF4. When grown in SFM, SW 480 attached much more firmly to the dishes than SW 620 as determined by the time required to detach the cells with trypsin-EDTA (SW 480, greater than 20 min and SW 620, less than 5 min). It was speculated that SW 480 cells excrete proteins in SFM which influence attachment and growth of the cells. Growth behavior of SW 480 cells which did not grow in GF3, was studied using GF3 medium and SW 480 substratum dishes. SW 620 cells readily attached to the SW 480 substratum dishes and grew. Furthermore, when SW 620 cells were grown on substratum prepared from serum-supplemented medium incubated in the absence of cells (serum substratum), the cell growth was comparable to the cell growth on SW 480 substratum in GF3. Substratum from SW 480 cells and the serum substratum were compared for their components using SDS-PAGE system. The SW 480 substratum contains many more components than serum substratum. A protein band at 60 kD appears to be common in both SW 480 and serum substrata.     

Glial cell growth in culture: Influence of living cell substrata

The role of the microenvironment in the growth of glial cells in culture has been the topic of ongoing research in this laboratory. Recently, we reported a study on the contribution of fibroblast cell substratum and extracellular matrix in glial cell growth. In the present study we report data concerning a) the influence of a neuronal-enriched living substratum from chick embryo on the growth of glial cells derived from chick embryonic brain and plated onto the substratum; b) the influence of dissociated cells derived from chick embryonic brain on the growth of established glial cells in culture, and c) the influence of dissociated cells derived from adult rat spinal cord on the growth of established glial cells from newborn rat in culture. The activities of glutamine synthetase (GS) and 2, 3-cyclic nucleotide 3-phosphohydrolase (CNP) were the biochemical probes determined for astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, respectively. We found that glial growth as assessed by both enzyme activities, was enhanced when a nervous tissue derived cell population was plated onto a glial-enriched substratum, whereas glial growth was inhibited when the neuronal-enriched population was the cell substratum.Special Issue dedicated to Dr. Elizabeth Roboz-Einstein.     

Cell spreading factor. Occurrence and specificity of action.

A factor required for spreading of substratum-attached baby hamster kidney cells (BHK), Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, HeLa cells, and L cells has been isolated and purified from fetal calf serum. A similar factor has also been found in calf, porcine, human, rabbit, and chicken sera. The spreading factor was active when adsorbed to the substratum and prior adsorption of other proteins prevented cell spreading, regardless of the addition of spreading factor or unfractionated serum to the incubation medium. Antibody against the fetal calf spreading factor inhibited the spreading activity associated with unfractionated fetal calf serum and also the spreading activity associated with calf serum and porcine serum. In model system studies it was found that antibody against BHK cell surfaces induced cell spreading when the antibody was adsorbed to the substratum; when it was present in the incubation medium as well as on the substratum, cell spreading was not observed. The data are discussed in terms of the hypothesis that there is a specific serum factor which adsorbs to the substratum surface and is thereby activated, and which then forms the target for certain cell surface receptors. Interaction between adsorbed-activated factor and cell surface receptors leads to cell spreading.     

细胞外间质-整合素在牵张刺激心肌细胞肥大中的作用

应用牵张刺激培养细胞的模型,观察原原、纤维连接蛋白、层粘连素对牵张刺激心肌细胞肥大的影响,探讨细胞外间质－融洽纱受体在超负荷心肌肥大的跨膜信号传导机制中的作用。发现,胶原、纤维连接蛋白、层粘连素明显有助于培养心肌细胞的贴壁、伸展。牵张刺激后,胶原、纤维连接蛋白基质组心肌细胞的＾３Ｈ－亮氨酸掺入率和心肌细胞表面积均显著大于对照组,而层粘连素组无显著变化;可溶性纤维连接蛋白、ＲＧＤ肽均可显著抑制牵张刺     

细胞外间质-整合素在牵张刺激心肌细胞肥大中的作用

应用牵张刺激培养细胞的模型 ,观察胶原、纤维连接蛋白、层粘连素对牵张刺激心肌细胞肥大的影响 ,探讨细胞外间质 -整合素受体在超负荷心肌肥大的跨膜信号传导机制中的作用。结果发现 ,胶原、纤维连接蛋白、层粘连素明显有助于培养心肌细胞的贴壁、伸展。牵张刺激后 ,胶原、纤维连接蛋白基质组心肌细胞的 3H -亮氨酸掺入率和心肌细胞表面积均显著大于对照组 ,而层粘连素组无显著变化 ;可溶性纤维连接蛋白、RGD肽均可显著抑制牵张刺激诱导的培养心肌细胞 (胶原为粘附基质 )的3H -亮氨酸掺入率升高和心肌细胞表面积增大 ,而层粘连素无明显作用。结果表明 ,特异的细胞外间质 -整合素在超负荷心肌肥大机制中发挥了跨膜信号传导作用。     

Initial adhesion of human fibroblasts in serum-free medium: possible role of secreted fibronectin.

Experiments were carried out to test the hypothesis that the initial attachment and spreading of human fibroblasts in serum-free medium occurs to cell fibronectin which has been secretd spread on tissue culture substrata in serum-free medium in 60 min. When potential protein adsorption sites on the substratum were covered with bovine serum albumin before initial human fibroblasts attachment, their subsequent attachment to the substratum was prevented. When substratum adsorption sites were covered immediately after initial attachment, subsequent cell spreading was prevented. The distribution of fibronectin on human fibroblast surfaces during initial attachment and spreading was studied by indirect immunofluorescence analysis using a monospecific anti-cold-insoluble globulin antiserum. The initial appearance (10 min) of fibronectin was in spots over the entire cell surface. Concomitant with human fibroblast spreading, the random distribution of sites disappeared, and most fibronectin was subsequently observed in spots at the cell substratum interface (60 min). A fibrillar pattern of fibronectin appeared later (2-8 hr). The sites beneath the cells could be visualized as footprints on the substratum following treatment of the attached human fibroblasts with 0.1 M NaOH. A second fluorescence pattern of fibronectin secreted on the substratum was characterized by a diffuse halo around the cells and a very faint, diffuse staining elsewhere on the substratum. Another cell type (baby hamster kideny cells) was used to assay biologically for the presence or absence of the factor secreted by human fibroblasts on the substratum. Human fibroblasts were found to secrete an adhesion factor for baby hamster kidney cells into the substratum in a time- and temperature-dependent fashion, and immunological studies indicated that the factor secreted by human fibroblasts was cross-reactive with cold-in-soluble globulin, the plasma form of fibronectin. The conditioning factor secreted by the human fibroblasts was also found to be an attachment and spreading factor for human fibroblasts in experiments measuring human fibroblast adhesion to fibronectin footprints of human fibroblasts. Substratum-adsorbed cold-insoluble globulin was also found to be an attachment and spreading factor for human fibroblasts. Based upon the timing of appearance of conditioning factors on the substratum and the immunofluorescence patterns, it seems that the diffusely organized fibronectin on the substratum constitutes the sites to which cell attachment occurs. The bright spots of fibronectin that appear beneath the cells may represent fibronectin reorganization during cell spreading.     

Effects of substratum morphology on cell physiology

Among the host of substratum properties that affect animal cell behavior, surface morphology has received relatively little attention. The earliest effect of surface morphology on animal cells was discovered almost a century ago when it was found that cells became oriented in response to the underlying topography. This phenomenon is now commonly known as contact guidance. From then until very recentrly, little progress has been made in understanding the role of surface morphology on cell behavior, primarily due to a lack of defined surfaces with uniform morphologies. This problem has been solved recently with the development of photolithographic techniques to prepare substrata with well defined and uniform surface morphologies. Availability of such surfaces has facilitated systematic in vitro experiments to study influence of surface morphology on diverse cell physiological aspects such as adhesion, growth, and function. For example, these studies have shown that surfaces with uniform multipls parallel grooves can enhance cell adhesion by confining cells in grooves and by mechanically interlocking them. Several independent studies have demosterated that cell shape is a major determinant of cell growth and function. Because surface morphology has been shown to modulate the extent of cell spreading and cell shape, its effects on cell growth and function appear to be mediated via this biological coupling between cell shape and function. New evidence in the cell biology literature is emerging to suggest that surface morphology could affect other cell behavioral properties such as post-translational modifications. Further elucidation of such effects will enable better designs for implant and cell culture substrata.     

Differential Effects of TGF-β1 on Hyaluronan Synthesis by Fetal and Adult Skin Fibroblasts: Implications for Cell Migration and Wound Healing

Fetal wound healing differs from its adult counterpart in that it is regenerative and occurs without scarring. The matrix macromolecule hyaluronan (HA) and various cytokines, including members of the TGF-β family, have been implicated in the control of scarring. We have previously reported that adult and fetal fibroblasts differ with respect to the effect of cell density on HA synthesis when cultured on plastic tissue culture dishes. Data regarding the effects of substratum and TGF-β1 on HA synthesis by these cells are presented in this communication. Our results indicate that HA synthesis by both fetal and adult fibroblasts is (a) up-regulated by culture on a collagen substratum and (b) differentially regulated by TGF-β1 in a manner which is dependent upon both substratum and cell density. TGF-β1 stimulated HA synthesis by confluent fetal fibroblasts growing on a plastic substratum, but inhibited HA synthesis on a collagen substratum; these data underscore the important role of the substratum in determining the precise effect of TGF-β1 on cell behavior. Related studies indicated that the migration of fetal and adult fibroblasts into the collagen substrata was modulated by TGF-β1 in a manner identical to its effect on HA synthesis. These observations are discussed in terms of the contribution of distinct fibroblast subpopulations to wound healing and the manner in which this is regulated by matrix and cytokines.     

Optimisation of support medium for particle-based biofilm reactors

The aim of this study was to propose a method to improve the biofilm growth on different polymer materials by modifying their surface properties. The ability of two aerobic bacteria strains: Pseudomonas aeruginosa O1 and Bacillus subtilis CIP 5265 to grow on various non-coated and coated polymer materials were investigated. A layer of polymethylmethacrylate and powdered activated carbon (PMMA/PAC) was used to improve the microbial adhesion dynamics. The substratum and cell surface properties were characterized using contact angle measurements. Fluorescent microscopy and SEM were used to observe the support and the biofilm growth. It was determined that better results can be obtained increasing the difference between the surface free energies of the support and the bacteria. It was found that supports with modified surface show higher biofilm development rate and better surface colonization. The influence of the surface free energy on the detachment force and correspondingly on the biofilm formation was demonstrated.     

The role of conditioning film formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 adhesion to inert surfaces in aquatic environments

Bacterial initial adhesion to inert surfaces in aquatic environments is highly dependent on the surface properties of the substratum, which can be altered significantly by the formation of conditioning films. In this study, the impact of conditioning films formed with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on bacterial adhesion was investigated. Adhesion of wild type Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 to slides coated with model EPS components (alginate, humic substances, and bovine serum albumin (BSA)) was examined. Surface roughness of conditioning film coated slides was evaluated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and its effect on the bacterial initial adhesion was not significant. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies were performed to determine the elemental surface compositions of bacterial cells and substrates. Results showed that bacterial adhesion to bare slides and slides coated with alginate and humic substances increased as ionic strength increased. Conversely, BSA coating enhanced bacterial adhesion at low ionic strength but hindered adhesion at higher ionic strength. It was concluded that forces other than hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions were involved in controlling bacterial adhesion to BSA coated surfaces. A steric model for polymer brushes that considers the combined influence of steric effects and DLVO interaction forces was shown to adequately describe the observed bacterial adhesion behaviors.     

Correlation between localized anodic areas and Oceanospirillum biofilms on copper

The marine bacterium Oceanospirillum produces copious amounts of exopolymer when grown on copper surfaces and binds Cu⁺² from the substratum. The organism and associated exopolymers result in local anodic regions that can be detected by scanning vibrating electrode microscopy. Oceanospirillum was grown in small laminar flow cells with two carbon sources on copper and 316 stainless steel as substrata. The chemical composition of the exopolymer varied with growth medium, but not with substratum. Exopolymers from cells grown in glutamic acid medium on both substrata contained glucose with no other sugar monomers or uronic acids. The quantity of exopolymer did vary with substratum and copper promoted greater polymer production that stainless steel.     

Effects of environment on electric field detection by small spotted catshark Scyliorhinus canicula (L.)

This study evaluated the influence of environment (substratum type and depth) on the electroreception capabilities of small spotted catsharks Scyliorhinus canicula in response to prey-simulating electric fields. In experiments where electric fields (applied current 15 μA) were presented beneath different substrata (sand, pebbles, rocks and control) it was found that search effort was not different between substrata or S. canicula sexes, however, both rates of turning and biting towards active electrodes were decreased over pebbles and rocks compared with sand and the control (no substratum). There was no significant effect of sex on turn and bite rates over any substrata. Electric fields were then presented beneath different depths of sand to examine the depth-limits of fish electroreception. Turn and bite rates were significantly lower at depths below 10 mm, with no bites towards electrodes made when they were >30 mm depth. Search effort was not found to be different between different burial depth treatments or between sexes. These results indicate substratum type and depth influences the ability of S. canicula to detect prey-simulating electric fields. This variation in electroreceptive performance may influence space use of sharks.     

Modulation of differentiation in vitro. II. Influence of cell spreading and surface events on myogenesis

Summary We examined the influence of attachment and spreading on myogenesis by adding polylysine-covered beads at different times after plating the cells on a plastic substratum. We show that polylysine per se acting on the cell surface can modulate myogenesis independently of cell spreading. Thus cell shape would not be the limiting factor for the division and differentiation of L₆ myoblasts. Multinucleation of the cells was found to be first enhanced by the addition of polylysine-covered beads to replicating myoblasts, although the final percentage of fusion attained by these cultures was lower than in the controls. A similar phenomenon was observed concerning myosin synthesis. No such effect could be observed when the beads were added to a nonfusing mutant or to fibroblasts. Our results show that this phenomenon is specific. We postulate that some of the surface molecules necessary for this process appear on myoblasts shortly before they fuse. This work was supported by the American Dystrophy Association and by the Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC) (Contract no 3050).     

Isolation and characteristics of the extracellular matrix of cultured cells

Sodium deoxycholate extraction was used to isolate extracellular matrix from various cultured cells: human and murine embryonic fibroblasts, epithelial lines of mouse (MPTR), rat (IAR 2 and IAR 20), pig (SPEV) and cow (FBT). Protein composition of the matrix was studied by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunofluorescence. The matrix morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. In cell lines FBT and MPTR the major component of the matrix was laminin, whereas in other lines and fibroblasts it was fibronectin. The matrix of the majority of lines had a fibrillar structure, and the fibrils usually formed networks. MPTR cells had a punctate matrix composed of laminin and collagen type IV, densely covering the substratum. The treatment of the matrix by hyaluronidase and/or DNAase I did not influence its protein composition. The isolated matrix of different structure and composition may serve a biological substratum in studies of normal tumor cell behavior in tissue culture.     

The interaction of plasminogen activator with a reconstituted basement membrane matrix and extracellular macromolecules produced by cultured epithelial cells

Laminin and fibronectin are glycoproteins that influence cell behavior and mediate cell/substratum adhesion. We have examined the interaction of these macromolecules with the serine protease plasminogen activator (PA) in two types of extracellular matrices; one produced by the murine Engelbreth-Holm-Swarm (EHS) tumor (Matrigel), and another by normal kidney epithelial cells in culture. Matrigel was found to contain significant quantities of tissue-type PA (tPA). Two of the major components of Matrigel, laminin and type IV collagen, were also examined. Tissue-type PA was associated with purified preparations of laminin; however, it was not found associated with type IV collagen. Normal kidney epithelial cells in culture secrete large amounts of urokinase (UK) and deposit a subepithelial matrix containing both laminin and fibronectin. These matrix macromolecules were isolated from the deposited matrix by immunoprecipitation, examined by zymography, and found to contain UK. The potential role of this interaction in the mechanisms of cell migration and matrix remodeling is discussed.     

A stochastic model for adhesion-mediated cell random motility and haptotaxis

The active migration of blood and tissue cells is important in a number of physiological processes including inflammation, wound healing, embryogenesis, and tumor cell metastasis. These cells move by transmitting cytoplasmic force through membrane receptors which are bound specifically to adhesion ligands in the surrounding substratum. Recently, much research has focused on the influence of the composition of extracellular matrix and the distribution of its components on the speed and direction of cell migration. It is commonly believed that the magnitude of the adhesion influences cell speed and/or random turning behavior, whereas a gradient of adhesion may bias the net direction of the cell movement, a phenomenon known as haptotaxis. The mechanisms underlying these responses are presently not understood.A stochastic model is presented to provide a mechanistic understanding of how the magnitude and distribution of adhesion ligands in the substratum influence cell movement. The receptor-mediated cell migration is modeled as an interrelation of random processes on distinct time scales. Adhesion receptors undergo rapid binding and transport, resulting in a stochastic spatial distribution of bound receptors fluctuating about some mean distribution. This results in a fluctuating spatio-temporal pattern of forces on the cell, which in turn affects the speed and turning behavior on a longer time scale. The model equations are a system of nonlinear stochastic differential equations (SDE's) which govern the time evolution of the spatial distribution of bound and free receptors, and the orientation and position of the cell. These SDE's are integrated numerically to simulate the behavior of the model cell on both a uniform substratum, and on a gradient of adhesion ligand concentration.Furthermore, analysis of the governing SDE system and corresponding Fokker-Planck equation (FPE) yields analytical expressions for indices which characterize cell movement on multiple time scales in terms of cell cytomechanical, morphological, and receptor binding and transport parameters. For a uniform adhesion ligand concentration, this analysis provides expressions for traditional cell movement indices such as mean speed, directional persistence time, and random motility coefficient. In a small gradient of adhesion, a perturbation analysis of the FPE yields a constitutive cell flux expression which includes a drift term for haptotactic directional cell migration. The haptotactic drift contains terms identified as contributions from directional orientation bias (taxis).     

ADHESION-DEPENDENT F-ACTIN PATTERN INAMOEBA PROTEUSAS A COMMON FEATURE OF AMOEBAE AND THE METAZOAN MOTILE CELLS

Adhesion and movement ofAmoeba proteusare both dependent on the appropriate arrangement of the F-actin cytoskeleton and on the presence of the cell nucleus. In this study the F-actin organization was examined by routine FITC-phalloidin staining and confocal laser microscopy in intact amoebae and in their nucleated and anucleated fragments, at different levels of cell adherence to the substratum. In the adhering and migrating intact cells and nucleated cell fragments dot-like aggregates of F-actin are scattered over the ventral side at sites close to the substratum. In the case of de-adhesion of nucleated specimens this pattern disappears and F-actin is accumulated in the cell centre and/or dispersed in the cytoplasm. The same actin distribution, without ventral dots, is found in the anucleated fragments which usually fail to attach to the substratum. Re-adhesion of anucleated fragments, induced by a modified substratum or spontaneous, is accompanied by restoration of actin dots at the lower cell side. It is concluded that: (1) adhering specimens ofA. proteusdisplay the same dot-like actin pattern on the ventral cell side, as many metazoan motile cells; (2) organization or disorganization of this pattern may occur independently of the presence of the cell nucleus, under the control of cell adhesion to the substratum.     

Mucin synthesis and secretion by cultured tracheal cells: effects of collagen gel substratum thickness

Summary We previously demonstrated that human tracheobronchial epithelial (TBE) cells synthesize mucin and form mucous granules in culture when they are maintained on a collagen gel (CG) substratum, but not on a plastic tissue culture surface or a thin collagen-coated surface (Wu et al., Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., 3:467–478; 1990). This observation led us to examine the effects of CG thickness on cell growth and differentiation in primary human/monkey TBE cell cultures. Using the same CG preparation, culture dishes with different thicknesses of CG substratum were prepared. In general, equivalent degrees of cell attachment and proliferation were observed in all cultures maintained on a collagen gel, independent of the thicknesses of CG substratum. However, a greater degree of mucin synthesis and secretion by the cells was observed as the thickness of the CG substratum was increased. Cultures maintained on a thick collagen gel (1 mm) exhibited greater apical membrane complexity, more pseudostratification, and more mucous granules than did cultures maintained on a thin CG substratum. The optimal culture surface for airway mucous cell differentiation contains more than 1-mm thickness of collagen gel substratum.