Deoxynucleotide-polymerizing enzyme activities in T- and B-cells of acute lymphoblastic leukemia origin.

All 5 thymus-dependent cell (T-cell) lines (Molt-3; Molt-4; RPMI-8402; CCRF-CEM; CCRF-HSB-2) and 7 thymus-independent cell (B-cell) lines (RPMI-8382, RPMI-8392, RPMI-8412, RPMI-8422, RPMI-8432, RPMI-8442, CCRF-SB) established so far from acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients were examined for deoxynucleotide polymerizing enzymes. All T- and B-cells had DNA polymerase gamma, DNA polymerase beta, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase both in the soluble (the latter 2 enzymes only in small amounts) and chromatin fraction, whereas DNA polymerase alpha was found only in the soluble fraction. With respect to their sedimentation and chromatographic behavior, template-primer requirements, Km for deoxythymidine triphosphate or deoxyguanosine triphosphate divalent cation preference, effect of NaCI and inhibitors, the enzymes from T- and B-cells resembled each other and those from other mammalian cells. DNA polymerase alpha, beta, and gamma from T-cells like those from "fresh" acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells, were more thermolabile than those from B-cells or phytohemagglutinin-stimulated normal lymphocytes. In addition, the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase from the above cells was completely inactivated in 5 to 6 min at 50 degrees, whereas the DNA polymerase alpha, beta, and gamma retained considerable activity even after heating for 25 min at 50 degrees. DNA polymerase activity of the soluble fraction from T-cells was of the same magnitude as in B-cells when expressed on a DNA basis but twice that of B-cells when expressed on a protein basis. High terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase activity, equivalent to that observed in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells, was found in all T-cell lines that, when expressed on a DNA basis, was 30 to 100 times higher than the B-cell lines tested. These results support the suggestion of earlier investigators that T-cell lines examined here may have originated from leukemic cells.