Temperature-sensitive hamster cell line with altered membrane properties

Abstract

The altered properties of a concanavalin A-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line with obvious temperature-sensitive growth properties is described. The variant cell line, C R-7, was shown to have a higher efficiency of colony formation than the parental wild-type population after treatment with various concentrations of concanavalin A (ConA). The variant cells had the properties of a temperature-sensitive cell line as judged by growth studies performed on solid surfaces or in suspension culture at the permissive (34 °C) and non-permissive (39 °C) temperatures; by colony efficiency determinations performed at 34 °C and 39 °C; and by the altered ability to incorporate DNA, RNA, and protein precursors into acid-precipitable material at the non-permissive temperature. Evidence for changes in the membrane properties of C R-7 cells included: a reduced agglutinability in the presence of ConA, an altered cellular morphology on solid surfaces, an enhanced sensitivity to the toxic effects of membrane-active agents, altered and temperature-sensitive adhesiveness properties, and a reduced ability to bind labelled ConA.