title: Effects of lectin activation on sialyltransferase activities in human lymphocytes.
abstract: The effects of phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation on the activities of sialyltransferase 1 (SAT-1), and sialyltransferase 3 (SAT-3), in human lymphocytes were investigated in vitro. For SAT-1 and SAT-3, respectively, the apparent Km values with variable CMP-NeuAc concentrations were 0.19 and 0.015 mM and with variable LacCer were 0.075 and 0.17 mM. Progressive increases in the activities of SAT-1 and SAT-3 were detected in lymphocytes stimulated with PHA, whereas no increase was observed in control lymphocytes incubated in culture medium alone. These increased activities occurred within 18-36 h of incubation and preceded optimum lymphocyte proliferation. Intact lymphocytes were needed for the lectin-stimulated increase of sialyltransferase activities because neither concanavalin A nor phytohemagglutinin added to the broken cell preparation modulated SAT-1 activity. The glycolipid products formed as a result of these enzymatic reactions in the presence of endogenous and exogenous acceptors were tentatively identified by thin-layer chromatography and autofluorography. The addition of exogenous LacCer to the SAT-1 assay resulted in the radiolabeling of a small amount of ganglioside GM1b (3.4%), but GM3 was the major labeled product (96%). When GgOse4Cer was added to the SAT-3 assay, 32% GM3 and 24.6% GM1b were detected while 44% consisted of glycolipids not labeled in assays performed without exogenous acceptors. Of the radioactivity transferred to endogenous acceptors, 81.3% was in GM3 and 14.6% in GM1b. These results demonstrate that the modulation of sialyltransferase activity occurs earlier than cellular activation.
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D005732:Gangliosides / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D012799:Sialyltransferases / Q000097:blood*; D014166:Transferases / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D005732:Gangliosides; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D014166:Transferases; D012799:Sialyltransferases