Adhesiveness of Benign Cells

A presupposition for the coordinate development of any multicellular system or tissue is the exchange of information (i) between neighbouring cells (cellular contact) and (ii) between the cell surface and the environmental fluid phase (humoral contact). Fluid phase contact mainly comprises the recognition and uptake of informatory molecules by receptors and the secretion of cellular components. Contact formation and information transfer are mediated by the plasma membrane and numerous studies indicate that membrane-bound glycoconjugates are responsible for this interrelation between cell and environment. 

The content of sialic acid in the plasma membrane can also be subject to a possible hormonal regulation, a point neglected so far. HeLa S3 cells grown in the presence of corticosteroids contain markedly more sialic acid than their corresponding untreated controls (Carubelli and Griffin 1967). Therefore it is conceivable that changes of hormonal levels could influence cellular interaction by altering the amount of membrane-bound sialic acid. 

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