Control of Glycolipid Synthesis in a Cultured Hamster Cell Line

Abstract

THE synthesis of complex ceramide glycolipids can be depressed in virus-transformed animal cell lines. The initial observation was made when Hakamori and Murakami¹ showed that polyoma virus-transformed BHK21 cells contain less haematoside than untransformed cells. Mora et al.² found in subconfluent cultures of mouse cell lines that concentrations of haematoside were comparable in spontaneously transformed and untransformed lines but that SV40 virus transformation led to a decrease in the concentrations of other gangliosides. We have found that transformation of NIL2 hamster cells leads to a depression in the synthesis of three glycolipids. The synthesis of these same three specific components may, however, be sub-optimal in normal NIL2 cells kept in an actively growing non-contact inhibited state.