Effect of cis-dichlorodiammine platinum(II) on the agglutinability of tumor and normal cells with concanavalin A and wheat germ agglutinin

In this paper we report the effect of cis-dichlorodiammine platinum(II) (cis-platin) on the agglutination of normal and transformed lymphocytes with lectins conconavalin A (Con A) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) which is a sensitive test to study the expression of cell surface components. Normal splenocytes showed small degree of cell agglutination with Con A and WGA. This cell agglutination of normal splenocytes with these lectins increases significantly after cis-platin treatment at 37 degrees C. The Dalton's lymphoma cells which show a high degree of cell agglutination with Con A and WGA when treated with cis-platin at 37 degrees C results in decrease in the degree of their cell agglutination with these lectins. Agglutination inhibition studies with alpha-methyl-D-glucopyranoside for Con A and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine for WGA shows that this increase and decrease of cell agglutination after platinum treatment of cells is a specific reaction and not non-specific. Incubation of cis-platin treated normal splenocytes with excess of neuraminic acid results in decrease of cell agglutination with both Con A and WGA. cis-Platin treatment of the cells results in the release of sialic acid from the surface of the cells. A correlation between the release of sialic acid from the cell surface and cell agglutination is also discussed.