Abstract
Cellular adhesive properties of Y79 cells established from a human retinoblastoma were investigated. Y79 cells were characterized by their mutual adhesiveness in forming clusters and by the complete inability to attach to a non-cellular culture substrate. The cell-cell adhesion of Y79 cells depends on two different mechanisms. One is Ca2+-dependent and the other Ca2+- independent, as in the case of V79 cells which adhere mutually and to the culture substrate. That Y79 cells share common adhesive sites for cell-cell adhesion with V79 cells was suggested from the results of the heterotypic aggregation of these two cell types. Y79 cells attached themselves to a monolayer of V79 cells, but not to the substrate of the plastic dishes, when the medium contained serum. We concluded that the mechanisms that operate for cell-substrate adhesion differs qualitatively from the mechanisms for cell-cell adhesion.
