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A Galactose-Inhibitable Mitogen for Human Lymphocytes from the Sponge Axinella Polypoides¹

Departments of Human Genetics and Development, Microbiology and Neurology, Columbia University and the Neurological Institute, Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York 10032

Abstract

Of two galactose-binding hemagglutinins isolated from the sponge Axinella polypoides, axinella I was strongly mitogenic for human peripheral blood lymphocytes, and axinella II was not. Purified T cells responded strongly and B cells weakly to axinella I. Mitogenic response, as monitored by rate of ³H-thymidine incorporation on the third day of culture, was specifically inhibited by Dgalactose, Dfucose, raffinose, or 2-deoxy-D-galactose added within 5 hr of the mitogen. Mitogenic response was correlated with degree of lymphocyte agglutination. The effectiveness of a given sugar in inhibiting mitogenic response to axinella I paralleled its potency in inhibiting precipitation of lectin by blood group substances. If an inhibitory concentration of Dgalactose was added 24 to 40 hr after mitogenic activation, rate of ³H-thymidine uptake at 72 hr was two to twenty times above the rate induced in cultures to which no galactose was added. Dgalactose at a subinhibitory concentration (10 µg/ml) enhanced ³H-thymidine incorporation. Axinella I depressed ³H-thymidine incorporation induced by phytohemagglutinin or Con A, an effect reversible by Dgalactose. These findings suggest that axinella I has two antagonistic effects on human lymphocytes: a) mitogenic activation and b) depressive activity resulting from depletion of essential galactose moieties.

Footnotes

¹ Supported by a Grant from the National Science Foundation BMS-72-02119A03, a Program Project Grant from the National Institutes of Health 5PO GM 18153-05, and a General Research Support Grant from the U. S. Public Health Service to Columbia University.

² Fellow of the Deutsch Forschungs gemeinschaft on leave from the Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Hamburg (1974–1976).