Heparan sulfate of AH-130 ascites hepatoma cells: a cell-surface glycosaminoglycan not displaced by heparin.

This study reports on the ultrastructural location and biophysical properties of cell-associated glycosaminoglycans of AH-130 cells, an azo dye-induced ascites hepatoma. Earlier studies have shown that a low-sulfated heparan sulfate, which comprises 93% of their total glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content, is associated with these cells. High-iron diamine, an ultrastructural stain for sulfated glycoconjugates, stained the hepatoma cell surfaces heavily. With the exception of occasional light staining in a few cytoplasmic granules, intracellular organelles did not stain with this method. The lack of an extensive pool of intracellular GAG was confirmed by quantitative fluorescence microscopy of cells vitally stained with acridine orange. The nature of the binding of the cell-surface heparan sulfate was explored by competitive binding studies with exogenous heparin. When cells were incubated with exogenous heparin, release of heparan sulfate into the medium was not detected, although heparin was bound. We conclude that low-sulfated heparan sulfate is an integral component of the AH-130 hepatoma cell surface and is bound at a site different than heparin.