DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF ALPHA 2, 6 - LINKED SIALIC ACID RESIDUES ON THE CELL SURFACE OF MOUSE LYMPHOBLASTOID CELL LINES WEHI-231 AND A-20

Priyanka Banerjee*

ABSTRACT

Significant changes in sialylation are known to accompany cancer and autoimmune disease. Therefore, it is important to understand the functional role that sialic acid plays in lymphocyte development so that novel therapeutic strategies to combat these pathologies may be developed. In this study, cell surface alpha-2,6 linked sialic acid on the surface of two lymphoblastic cell lines were studied. Both both WEHI-231 and A-20 cell lines are mature B cell lines from mouse that are known to express sialic acid on their cell surfaces. This is the first study done to analyse cell surface alpha 2,6-linked sialic acid on the cell lines by flow cytometry. An investigation was done to study how cytokine IL-4 afftects the expression of cell surface alpha 2,6-linked sialic acid in these cell lines. Results clearly demonstrated that both A-20 and WEHI-231 cell lines express alpha 2,6- linked sialic acid on their cell surfaces. However, WEHI-231 cells showed a heterogeneity in their cell surface sialic acid expression, which, after stimulation with cytokine IL-4, homogeneously started expressing sialic acid on their cell surface. While a few hypotheses have been made trying to explain this characteristic change in WEHI-231 cell line, further experiments need to be carried out for a better understanding of this behaviour.

Keywords: Sialic acid, mouse lymphoblastoid cell lines.