lewis-x-antigen and hexamethylene-bisacetamide

A pluripotent human EC cell line (NEC14) could be induced to morphologically differentiate by treatment with 10(-2) M HMBA for 3 days in vitro. The changes in various differentiation-related markers (cell surface antigens, lectin binding sites, intermediate filaments, secreted products and extracellular matrix proteins) after induction of differentiation were examined in order to clarify the differentiation lineage. The results were as follows: 1) The most conspicuous changes in cell surface antigens after differentiation were the expression of major human histocompatibility antigens (HLA-A,B,C) and the changes in stage specific embryonic antigens (SSEA-1-/SSEA-3(+)----SSEA-1+/SSEA-3-). 2) Vimentin, mesenchymal intermediate filament, was only detected after the differentiation. 3) Tenascin, an extracellular matrix protein produced in mesenchymal cells, was produced after the differentiation. These results indicate that HMBA can induce NEC14 cells to differentiate into mesenchymal elements of embryonal mesoderm.

Topics: Acetamides; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antigens, Surface; Binding Sites; Cell Differentiation; HLA Antigens; Humans; Intermediate Filaments; Lectins; Lewis X Antigen; Teratoma; Tumor Cells, Cultured

We have generated cell hybrids by fusing embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells which fail to differentiate in response to retinoic acid (RA) and/or hexamethylenebisacetamide (HMBA). The first two classes of hybrids were between an RA- line (also unresponsive to HMBA) that lacks cellular RA binding protein (cRABP) activity and HMBA- lines which possess cRABP and differentiate in the presence of RA. All of the hybrid clones possessed cRABP and differentiated normally upon exposure to either RA or HMBA. When the aforementioned RA- mutant was fused with a second mutant which was refractory to RA and HMBA but possessed cRABP activity, the resultant hybrid clones were responsive to both RA and HMBA and had cRABP activity. These results suggest that all of these mutants were recessive and complementary. Tumors from these hybrid lines differentiated extensively, in some instances much more so than the mutant parental lines and even the wild-type lines from which the mutants were derived. Based upon these observations, we propose that various EC lines might differentiate poorly in tumor form for different reasons. Hybrids between two differentiation-defective, cRABP- lines appeared to be at least partially complemented for responsiveness to RA and HMBA. These hybrids contained low but detectable levels of cRABP. This is not a consequence of tetraploidy since fusions between cells from the same mutant line retained their differentiation-defective phenotype and possessed little or no cRABP activity. Unlike tumors from the other hybrids described above, tumors from these hybrid lines expressed a very restricted pattern of differentiated cell types. This might be because the mutant lines in the latter hybrids originally derived from the same wild-type EC line.

Topics: Acetamides; Animals; Antigens, Surface; Carrier Proteins; Cell Differentiation; Cell Line; Embryonal Carcinoma Stem Cells; Glycolipids; Hybrid Cells; Lewis X Antigen; Male; Mice; Mutation; Neoplastic Stem Cells; Plasminogen Activators; Receptors, Retinoic Acid; Stem Cells; Teratoma; Tretinoin