title: The separation of lymphocyte subpopulations with lectins.
abstract: Wistaria floribunda agglutinin (WFA), Sophora japonica agglutinin (SJA) and Maclura pomifera lectin (MPL) were employed as immunofluorescent and leucoagglutinating reagents to study murine lymphocytes. WFA, which labels 90% of thymocytes, binds to only 57% of the splenocyte population. The latter subset corresponds to surface immunoglobulin bearing cells. Differential agglutination of splenocytes with this lectin results in the isolation of a WFA negative population which exhibits T-lymphocyte surface markers. The agglutinable splenocytes bind only 2.5 times more WFA than non-agglutinable cells suggesting that the preferential agglutination of B-splenocytes is due to a combination of reduced cell surface negative charge and increased number of lectin binding sites on these cells as compared to T-lymphocytes. Forty percent of splenocytes are positive for SJA and differential agglutination of splenocytes yields a population of SJA non-agglutinable cells that are not labeled by this lectin. The two populations fractionated by SJA are unrelated to T- and B-lymphocyte subsets. Differential agglutination of thymocytes by SJA yields a non-agglutinable group representing 42% of total thymocytes. Although the nature of the two thymocyte subsets discriminated by SJA remains unknown, this lectin appears useful in identifying and separating unique thymocyte and splenocyte populations.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods*; D037102:Lectins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D037121:Plant Lectins; D011485:Protein Binding; D034781:Receptors, N-Acetylglucosamine; D030262:Soybean Proteins; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins; D034781:Receptors, N-Acetylglucosamine; D030262:Soybean Proteins; C045476:sophora japonica agglutinin; C028824:soybean lectin; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; C040129:wisteria lectin; C034551:maclurin