Journal of Experimental Medicine, Vol 160, 1241-1246, Copyright © 1984 by Rockefeller University Press
Increased cytotoxicity of normal rabbit serum for lectin-resistant mutants of animal cells
C Jones
Plant lectins are cytotoxic and can be used to select for mutants of animal
cells that exhibit structural changes in cell surface carbohydrates
reflecting glycosylation defects. We isolated eight lectin mutants of
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells that appear to represent three different
phenotype classes. These lectin mutants were much more sensitive to the
cytotoxic action of normal rabbit serum (NRS) than were the parental cells.
This increased cytotoxicity was heat sensitive, specifically absorbed, and
inhibited by simple and complex carbohydrates. No killing was observed
under conditions in which only the alternate complement pathway was active.
An NRS- resistant subclone that was isolated from one lectin mutant was
shown to have also regained wild type behavior when tested with the
lectins. The possibility that naturally occurring antibodies in rabbit
serum are reacting with incomplete carbohydrate chains on the surface of
the lectin mutants is discussed.
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