FIGURE 1.

P815 cells express α-2, 3- and α-2,6- linked sialic acid (SA) receptors. (A) The mouse mastocytoma cell line P815 was placed on polylysine-coated slides and stained with FITC-conjugated SNA or MAA-I (green), and DAPI (blue) for nuclei. Image inserts depict cells pre-treated with neuraminidase to abolished sialic acid residue staining. (B) Trypsinized P815 cells were incubated with FITC-conjugated SNA or MAA-I (concentrations from left to right are 5, 10, and 20 μg/ml) and analyzed using flow cytometry to determine relative percentages of cells expressing α-2,3-SA (MAA, pink) or α-2,6-SA (SNA, green), compared to unstained cells (black). “NA-MAA” and “NA-SNA” indicated that P815 cells pre-treated with neuraminidase to abolished sialic acid residue staining. Results shown are representative of three independent experiments.