Involvement of N-acetyl-lactosamine-containing sugar structures in the liver metastasis of mouse colon carcinoma (colon 26) cells.

Histochemical aspects of the process of experimentally induced metastasis were examined by light and electron microscopy with labelled lectins employed as a probe. Mouse colon carcinoma cells (colon 26) were injected into the spleen of Balb/c mice and liver metastasis was induced. Among the lectins tested, Erythrina cristagalli agglutinin (ECA) stained the metastasized colon 26 cells strongly compared with the heterogeneous and faint staining in non-metastasized tumour foci in the spleen or in the subcutaneous space. Other lectins, such as Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA-L), Phaseolus vulgaris erythroagglutinin (PHA-E) and Datura stramonium agglutinin (DSA), having specificity for branched complex type sugar chains, did not show any differences between metastasized cells and non-metastasized tumour foci. In addition, N-acetyl-lactosamine, a specific inhibitor of ECA binding, significantly inhibited the attachment of suspended colon 26 cells to sectioned unfixed normal liver tissue. These results indicate that the expression of galactose (Gal) beta 1-4 N-acetyl-glucosamine (GlcNAc) residues of branched complex type sugar chains having specificity for ECA are important for the interaction process of carcinoma cells with hepatic cells in the process of liver metastasis.