Comparison of metabolically labeled mucins of LS174T human colon cancer cells in tissue culture and xenograft.

Colon cancer cells in culture synthesize and secrete mucin glycoproteins, which carry a number of cancer-associated antigens. However, the structures and mechanisms of biosynthetic processing are not well understood. Mucins synthesized and secreted by LS174T human colon cancer cells were compared to those in LS174T xenografts in athymic mice. Mucins radiolabeled with glucosamine or sulfate were purified by gel filtration and cesium chloride density gradient centrifugation. The mucins were of high molecular weight and were resistant to chondroitinase ABC, hyaluronidase and HNO2 treatment. They were, however, susceptible to pronase digestion and mild alkaline treatment. Using radiochemical precursors, the cellular mucin was shown to contain fucose, galactose, N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylneuraminic acid, and sulfate. Oligosaccharides released by beta-elimination had N-acetylgalactosaminitol as the reduced amino sugar and also unreduced galactosamine, indicating that there is N-acetyl-galactosamine O-glycosidically attached to protein core and also peripheral N-acetyl-galactosamine not directly linked to protein. DEAE-cellulose chromatography of mucins showed two major peaks with both intracellular and secreted mucins, but xenograft mucins also had more acidic components. Sulfate-labeled mucins were shifted to less acidic peaks by neuraminidase digestion, which indicates that the same mucin molecules are both sialylated and sulfated. We conclude that the intracellular mucins of cultured colon cancer cells, those secreted into the medium, and those in nude mouse xenografts are chemically similar, but differ in sialic acid and sulfate content. This experimental model system, LS174T cells maintained in culture and as nude mouse xenografts, may be useful for further biosynthetic and structural studies of colon cancer mucin.