Abolition by myosin and heavy meromyosin of the inhibitory effect of smooth-muscle actomyosin antibodies on cell aggregation in vitro.

The ability of anti-chicken smooth-muscle actomyosin y-globulins (anti-GAM) to inhibit the aggregation of dissociated cells from the skeletal muscle and liver of chick embryos was abolished by pretreatment of the anti-GAM with either myosin or heavy meromyosin (HMM). When the same cells were treated with HMM at a concentration of 1 mg per 2x10' cells/ml Eagle's MEM they aggregated as readily as untreated cells. The negative electrophoretic mobility of the embryonic chick fibroblastic cells was significantly reduced by the globulin fraction of anti-GAM but not of HMM-treated anti-GAM or non-immunized rabbit serum. Anti-chicken striated muscle actomyosin y-globulins slightly reduced negative mobility but HMM had no effect. The experiments show that the inhibitory effect on cell aggregation of anti-GAM preparations is produced by the anti-myosin antibodies. They also provide support for the theory that a surface-localized myosin-like protein has a regulatory function in cell adhesion.