Growth inhibition of murine melanoma cells by antibodies to a cell surface glycoprotein implicated in retinoic acid action.

Previous studies have shown that treatment of S91-C2 murine melanoma cells with beta-all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) results in growth inhibition, enhanced activity of sialyltransferase, and increased glycosylation of a Mr 160,000 cell surface sialoglycoprotein (gp160). None of these effects could be detected in mutant clones (e.g., S91-C154) selected from the S91-C2 cells for resistance to RA-induced growth inhibition. These findings suggest that modulation by RA of gp160 might be related causally to growth inhibition. In this study we examined the possible role of gp160 in growth regulation using specific antibodies to this glycoprotein. Metabolic labeling of S91-C2 cells with either [3H]glucosamine or [35S]methionine revealed that the cells shed into the growth medium a gp160-like glycoprotein, in addition to several other macromolecules. The gp160-like glycoprotein was isolated from concentrated conditioned medium after preparative polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate by excision of the corresponding protein band. Rabbits were immunized with this material and immunoblotting revealed that their sera contained antibodies that bound specifically to gp160 in extracts of untreated or RA-treated S91-C2 cells. Indirect immunofluorescence staining followed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis demonstrated that the anti-gp160 antibodies bound to the surface of both untreated and RA-treated S91-C2 cells and that the treated cells bound more of the antibodies than untreated ones. In contrast, these antibodies bound to the same extent to untreated and RA-treated resistant S91-C154 cells. The growth of S91-C2 cells in the presence of anti-gp160 antibodies in semisolid medium as well as in monolayer cultures was inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion. Fifty % growth inhibition was obtained at an immunoglobulin concentration of 10 micrograms/ml. The growth of cells exposed concurrently to RA and anti-gp160 antibodies was also inhibited strongly in semisolid medium, but the antibodies caused only a small increase in the inhibitory effect of RA in monolayer cultures. No inhibition by the antibodies of either anchorage-independent growth or anchorage-dependent growth of S91-C154 cells, grown in the absence or presence of RA, was observed. These results support the suggestion that cell surface gp160 might be involved in growth regulation in the S91-C2 cells.