Adhesion of sea urchin embryonic cells to substrata coated with cell adhesion molecules.

A cell-to-substratum adhesion assay is developed to study the adhesion of sea-urchin embryonic cells to coated substrata. The involvement in this process of both carbohydrate and protein molecules is reported. Concanavalin A (Con A) increases the attachment of cells to the substratum in a dose-dependent manner and this effect is completely abolished when the incubation is carried out in the presence of the specific monocarbohydrate Con A-inhibitor, alpha-methyI-D-mannoside. A Con A-mediated enhancement of cell-to-substratum adhesion was also detected on cells deprived of toposome, a glycoprotein complex responsible for cell-to-cell adhesion. The involvement of other molecules as well as toposome in the process of cell-to-substratum adhesion is also investigated. Results of these in vitro experiments indicate that all the molecules tested contribute to the process of cell-to-substratum adhesion.