We investigated whether metastatic phenotype is associated with a characteristic glycolipid pattern. For this study, we developed a system of variants with different metastatic potentials that we isolated from the high1 metastatic 1 3 murine fibrosarcoma line by culture in 0 . 3 2 agar or on plastic.
The glycolipid profiles of 1 3 cells and of their highly metastatic isolates were characterized by a high level of globotriaosylceramide (Gb3ose). On the other hand, Gb3ose was reduced in a weakly metastatic clone isolated from 1 3 cells. A reduced level of Gb3ose was also found in a weakly metastatic subclone isolated from a highly metastatic 1 3 clone. Propagation of this subclone led to the emergence of a series of variants which expressed a high metastatic potential together with a high Gb3ose level. We also observed that Gb3ose was 10 times more prevalent on the cell surface in 1 3 cells than in a weakly metastatic clone. On the whole, these findings indicate that, in our system of metastatic cells, a high Gblose level correlates with metastatic phenotype. It is possible that the highly exposed Gb3ose in metastatic cells is relevant to the metastatic process in view of the role played by the unique molecular structure of this glycolipid in other models of cell-to-cell interaction.
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