Studies on Cell Adhesion

Normal and transformed baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells attach to Falcon polystyrene with the same first order rate constant. The longer the cells are attached to the bottles, the more difficult they are to remove. Sulfhydryl (-SH) binding reagents inhibit both the attachment of BHK cells and the increase in adhesive strength of attached cells. Attached BHK cells bind fewer molecules of [1-(14)C]N-ethylamleimide (an -SH binding reagent) than do suspended cells. Incubation of cells with high concentrations of trypsin results in a reversible loss of cell adhesiveness. The recovery of adhesiveness of trypsin-treated cells is inhibited by cycloheximide.