Sulfated polysaccharides from marine sponges: conspicuous distribution among different cell types and involvement on formation of in vitro cell aggregates

Marine sponges (Porifera) display an ancestral type of cell-cell adhesion, based on carbohydrate-carbohydrate interaction. The aim of the present work was to investigate further details of this adhesion by using, as a model, the in vitro aggregation of dissociated sponge cells. Our results showed the participation of sulfated polysaccharides in this cell-cell interaction, as based on the following observations: (1) a variety of sponge cells contained similar sulfated polysaccharides as surface-associated molecules and as intracellular inclusions; (2) 35S-sulfate metabolic labeling of dissociated sponge cells revealed that the majority (two thirds) of the total sulfated polysaccharide occurred as a cell-surface-associated molecule; (3) the aggregation process of dissociated sponge cells demanded the active de novo synthesis of sulfated polysaccharides, which ceased as cell aggregation reached a plateau; (4) the typical well-organized aggregates of sponge cells, known as primmorphs, contained three cell types showing sulfated polysaccharides on their cell surface; (5) collagen fibrils were also produced by the primmorphs in order to fill the extracellular spaces of their inner portion and the external layer surrounding their entire surface. Our data have thus clarified the relevance of sulfated polysaccharides in this system of in vitro sponge cell aggregation. The molecular basis of this system has practical relevance, since the culture of sponge cells is necessary for the production of molecules with biotechnological applications.