Concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin receptor activity of sialoglycopeptides isolated from the surface of Novikoff hepatoma cells

Novikoff ascites hepatoma cells were highly agglutinable by the plant lectins concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin. Treatment of the intact cells with papain released from the cell surface a glycopeptide fraction which possessed concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin receptor activity, as judged by its ability to inhibit lectin-induced hemagglutination. A component of the cell-surface glycopeptide fraction, excluded from Sephadex G-50, possessed lectin receptor activities reflecting the cytoagglutination properties of the intact cells from which it was derived. Further resolution of this component by pronase digestion, gel filtration, and ion-exchange chromatography resulted in the isolation of sialoglycopeptides which exhibited potent and specific concanavalin A receptor activity.