Wheat germ agglutinin binding sites on human urothelial cells of different grades of transformation.

125I-Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) binding parameters of human urothelial cell lines of different grades of transformation (TGrII and TGrIII) were compared. The values of association constant (Ka) and the number of binding sites/cell for HCV29 (TGrII) cell line were about 3 x 10(6) M-1 and over 4 x 10(7), respectively. Two TGrIII cell lines, HCV29T and Hu549 revealed lower values for Ka, and considerably higher numbers of binding sites/cell (about 3 x 10(8) and 2 x 10(8), respectively). Binding of 125I-WGA to total cellular proteins resolved by SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose showed multiple diffused bands in the range of 58-180 kDa. Some of these bands were characteristic for TGrII cells (124 kDa) or TGrIII cells (135 and 148 kDa).