Metabolic Carbohydrate‐Labelling of Glycolipids from Mouse Splenocytes

Abstract

Splenic lymphocytes from CBA/J, AKR/A/J, BALB/c/A, C57BL/6J, C3H/HeJ and C3H/Tif nu/nu mice and B [bone marrow-derived] lymphocyte or T [thymus-derived] lymphocyte preparations derived from CBA/J mouse spleen were cultivated in the presence of concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin, Salmonella minnesota R595 lipopolysaccharide or Proteus mirabilis soluble lipoprotein. The mitogens stimulated the incorporation of [14C]galactose into acid-insoluble cell material with the same specificity for B or T cells as that known for thymidine incorporation. The glycolipids extracted from mitogen-activated, carbohydrate-labeled B or T cells were compared by TLC and characteristic differences between B and T cells were noted in the ganglioside and in the neutral glycolipid fractions. Subsets of B or T cells, namely lipopolysaccharide-responsive or lipoprotein-responsive B cell populations or nylon-purified T cells may be recognized by characteristic neutral glycolipid bands.