Histochemical evidence for sulfomucins at the surface of Hela cells

Summary The nature of the negatively charged groups present at the surface of HeLa cells was further investigated. Therefore we applied a series of light microscopic staining techniques, widely used for the demonstration of epithelial mucosubstances on tissue sections, to HeLa cells from suspension cultures. Our histochemical findings confirmed the presence of carboxylated substances at the surface of these cells. Furthermore we obtained conclusive evidence for the presence of sulfated molecules. Both substances seem to be closely related to epithelial sialomucins and sulfomucins.Supported by a grant from the Algemene Spaar- en Lijfrentekas Cancer FundThe authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of L. Baeke and B. Buysse