MALIGNANT-CELLS HAVE INCREASED LEVELS OF COMMON GLYCOPROTEIN LIGANDS OF THE ENDOGENOUS CEREBELLAR SOLUBLE LECTIN CSL

The glycoprotein composition of various transformed cells or malignant tumors was analyzed and compared to their respective non-malignant co ntrol cells or tissues of several species, including man, using an end ogenous carbohydrate-binding protein, the cerebellar soluble lectin CS L (Zanetta et al., J. Neurochem. 49, 1250-1257 (1987). A large variety of transformed cells contain a much higher number and larger quantity of glycoprotein ligands of CSI, than the control cells or normal tiss ues. The glycoprotein profiles were, in most cases, independent of the nature of the cell transformation of the degree of differentiation, o f the tissue and species. Thus, it is suggested that many transformed cells have, as a common anomaly, the increased synthesis of the specia l type of glycan recognized by CSL, expressed on the same polypeptide chains.