Effects of urea treatment on the divalent cation-independent cell aggregation of 3T3MIT fibroblasts.

Growth of nontransformed 3T3MIT fibroblasts in media containing 200 mM urea leads to the rapid acquisition of the transformed adhesive phenotype as evidenced by an increased rate of divalent cation-independent cell aggregation. The increased rate of divalent cation-independent cell aggregation of urea treated 3T3MIT cells shares many properties with the high rate of aggregation of transformed cells including a sensitivity to treatment with trypsin or hyaluronidase and a reduction in the presence of exogenously added hyaluronic acid. Reversal of the urea-induced increase in aggregation occurs within 24 hours in the absence of urea and can be blocked by 0.2 micrograms/ml cycloheximide. In the presence of cycloheximide, low rates of aggregation can be restored by the addition of urea-conditioned supernatents. The results of these experiments suggest that the loss of an aggregation-inhibitory activity during growth in media containing 200 mM urea is responsible for the increased rate of divalent cation-independent cell aggregation. After removal of this aggregation-inhibitory activity, the normally lowly adhesive 3T3MIT cells become phenotypically transformed with regards to the rate of divalent cation-independent cell aggregation.