Dependence of sea urchin primary mesenchyme cell migration on xyloside- and sulfate-sensitive cell surface-associated components.

The migration of sea urchin primary mesenchyme cells (PMC) is inhibited in embryos cultured in sulfate-free seawater and in seawater containing exogenous xylosides. In the present study, primary mesenchyme cells and extra-cellular matrix have been isolated from normal and treated Lytechinus pictus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus embryos and recombined in an in vitro migration assay to determine whether the cells or the matrix are migration defective. Normal cells were found to migrate on either normal or treated matrix, whereas sulfate-deprived and xyloside-treated PMC failed to migrate in vitro on normal and treated substrata. Migratory ability can be restored to defective cells by returning the PMC to normal seawater, or by exposing the defective cells to materials removed from the surface of normal cells with 1 M urea. The similarity of the results obtained with sulfate-deprived and xyloside-treated PMC suggested that a common molecule may be affected by the two treatments. As a first test of this possibility, xyloside-treated S. purpuratus PMC were given the urea extract prepared from sulfate-deprived S. purpuratus PMC, and this extract did not restore migratory ability. These findings indicate that PMC normally synthesize a surface-associated molecule that is involved in cell migration, and the sensitivity to exogenous xylosides and sulfate deprivation suggests that a sulfated proteoglycan may be involved in primary mesenchyme cell migration.