Development of the aging cell surface: concanavalin A-mediated intercellular binding and the distribution of binding sites with progressive subcultivation of human embryo fibroblasts.

External surfaces of early and late passage human embryo fibroblasts were reacted with concanavalin A to determine whether quantitative and qualitative variations in receptor sites develop with increased serial subcultivation. Comparative analyses of direct con A binding to cell surfaces; lectin-mediated cell-to-cell binding and agglutination; and ultrastructural distribution of con A receptor sites were made on the surfaces of both cell groups. Subtle variations were observed in the patterns of intercellular binding between early and late passage cells as assayed by both agglutination and the binding of cells in suspension to substrate-attached monolayers. However, no major differences in the total number of binding sites per cell were expressed on the external surfaces of either group. Hemocyanin-labeled binding sites tended to be more clustered on membranes of late passage cells in contrast to more homogeneous patterns of distribution in early passage specimens. These observations suggest that variations in binding patterns are not the result of changes in numbers of binding sites but may be the result of alterations in the concerted actions of numerous factors which include cell surface topography (e.g. villous projections) and the relative distribution of lectin binding sites on the cell periphery.