CELL-SURFACE GANGLIOSIDES ARE INVOLVED IN THE CONTROL OF HUMAN GLIOMACELL INVASION IN-VITRO

The involvement of cell surface gangliosides in glioma cell invasion i n vitro was examined using the ganglioside-specific antibody A2B5 and Matrigel-coated 8-mu m porosity polycarbonate filters. Invasion of six cell lines derived from glial tumours of different histological grade s was found to be markedly inhibited by A2B5 (50-96% inhibition) in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, exogenous gangliosides were found to prevent cell invasion when they were incubated with cells during th e invasion assay. These results suggest that cell surface gangliosides are involved in glioma cell invasion in vitro, probably because of th eir adhesion-promoting action to basement membrane components.