The effect of ATP on the incorporation of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates by Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I

Preferential utilisation of deoxycytidine by undifferentiated (peanut positive) tonsillar lymphocytes

Peanut agglutinin (PNA), a D-galactose specific lectin, agglutinated 10-18% of lymphocytes isolated from tonsils of 3- to 6-yr-old children. PNA+ cells were found to be mainly B lymphocytes showing a 9.6 times higher specific activity of DNA polymerase alpha compared to the PNA- cells. The specific activity of deoxycytidine kinase as well as the incorporation of [5-3H]deoxycytidine were also much higher in PNA+ cell fraction than in PNA- fraction (7.7-fold and 6-fold, respectively). On the other hand, thymidine kinase activity and [5-3H]deoxythymidine incorporation were only 3.6 and 3.9 times higher, respectively. The data presented here show a high degree of DNA synthesis and preferential utilisation of [5-3H]deoxycytidine for DNA synthesis in this undifferentiated B lymphocyte fraction.

Discrepancies between flow cytometric analysis and [3H]thymidine incorporation in stimulated lymphocytes

The DNA synthesis system of freshly isolated tonsillar lymphocytes and those stimulated by phytohaemagglutinin were compared by different methods. Both cell populations had high DNA polymerase alpha and thymidine kinase activities, as well as a high rate of incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA. However, the two cell populations differed when their DNA distributions were compared by flow cytometry. Freshly isolated cells contained many less (6%) cells in S phase than were found in phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes (18%) as detected by flow cytometry. The labelling of different subpopulations of lymphocytes was studied by sorting them electrically with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. Analysis of the radioactivity of [3H]thymidine pulse-labelled cells, sorted according to their DNA content, showed that cells in the G1 peak of DNA distribution had a significant amount of incorporated [3H]thymidine. Sorting of cells according to their size (i.e., by light scattering) revealed that only large cells were labelled with [3H]thymidine.

Differences between lymphoid organs with respect to the phosphorylation of deoxycytidine and thymidine

The specific activity of thymidine kinase (TK) was higher in spleen than in thymus or unseparated tonsillar lymphocytes, while deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) specific activity was lowest in spleen and was much higher in thymus and in unseparated tonsillar lymphocytes. The ratio of dCK to TK was always high in thymus, in unseparated and in B-cell-enriched tonsillar lymphocytes (between 2 and 5), but it was always low in spleen (0.3-0.4). The difference in the pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylating enzyme activities of the thymus and spleen does not seem to be a mere consequence of different DNA synthesis rates, because the activities of DNA polymerase-alpha were practically the same in these organs. Unseparated and B-cell-enriched tonsillar lymphocytes resemble the thymus with respect to the ratio of dCK to TK activities, while the T-cell-enriched fraction contained 3-5 times lower activities of both enzymes. These results suggest that the metabolic pathways of CdR and TdR utilization for DNA synthesis differ in the lymphocyte populations independently from their rate of DNA polymerization and they may be in connection with their maturation processes.