Characterization of thymocyte subpopulations by enzymatic markers.
The activities of ecto-5'-nucleotidase (E5N), deoxyadenosine kinase (dAK) and deoxyguanosine kinase (dGK), were determined in thymocyte subpopulations, separated by peanut agglutinin (PNA). The activity of dAK in the PNA+ (agglutinated by PNA) thymocyte subpopulation was 2.5-fold that in the PNA- subpopulation. The activities of E5N and of dKG were found to be higher in the PNA- than in the PNA+ subpopulation by 15- and 4-fold, respectively. The activity of these enzymes can therefore be utilized to characterize the thymocyte subpopulation. In addition, since PNA+ cells are considered to be young immature precursors of the PNA- thymocytes, the activity of these enzymes may serve also as markers for the degree of maturation of the T cells.
D015720:5'-Nucleotidase; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D037102:Lectins; D051379:Mice; D009708:Nucleotidases / Q000378:metabolism; D019887:Peanut Agglutinin; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor); D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology
D037102:Lectins; D019887:Peanut Agglutinin; D010770:Phosphotransferases; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor); C019165:deoxyguanosine kinase; C020005:deoxyadenosine kinase; D009708:Nucleotidases; D015720:5'-Nucleotidase