Changes in surface properties of normal and transformed cells caused by tunicamycin, an inhibitor of protein glycosylation.

Normal and virally transformed mouse (3T3) and human (WI-38) cells were treated with tunicamycin, an inhibitor of lipid-carrier-dependent glycosylation of proteins. Incubation of cells with tunicamycin (1 microgram/ml) caused detachment and death of simian virus 40- and polyoma-transformed cells within 24 hr; these effects were not seen with nontransformed cell lines. However, the proliferation of 3T3 cells was inhibited by tunicamycin and, after a few days, a distinct change from an epithelioid to an abnormally elongated shape was observed. Both inhibition of growth and the morphological changes were reversible. A marked decrease in concanavalin A agglutinability was observed in virally transformed cells treated with tunicamycin (0.5 microgram/ml), but agglutination by wheat germ agglutinin or soybean agglutinin was unaffected. Analysis of biosynthetically labeled proteins showed that a high-molecular-weight protein, presumed to be related to fibronectin, is markedly reduced in the medium of cells cultured in the presence of tunicamycin. These results suggest that tunicamycin interferes with the insertion or function of one or more cell-surface glycoproteins. Such cell-surface changes could affect a number of cellular properties, including attachment, cell shape, and agglutinability by some lectins.