Initiation of lymphocyte DNA synthesis.

The initiation of DNA replication in T lymphocytes appears to be regulated by two distinct activities: one associated with proliferation which mediates initiation, and another associated with quiescence which blocks initiation. Activated lymphocytes and proliferating lymphoid cell lines produce an activity, termed ADR, which can initiate DNA replication in isolated, quiescent nuclei. ADR is heat-labile, has protease activity or interacts closely with a protease, and is distinct from the DNA polymerases. ADR activity is absent in quiescent lymphocytes and appears in mitogen-stimulated lymphocytes after IL-2 binding. The generation of active ADR appears to be mediated by phosphorylation of a precursor which is present in resting cells. Nuclei from mitogen-unresponsive lymphocytes fail to initiate DNA replication in response to ADR, of potential importance in the age-related decline of immunity. Quiescent lymphocytes lack ADR and synthesize an ADR-inhibitory activity. The ADR inhibitor is a heat-stable protein which suppresses the initiation of DNA synthesis, but is ineffective at suppressing elongation once DNA strand replication has begun. Nuclei from several neoplastic cell lines fail to respond to the ADR inhibitor, which may play a role in the continuous proliferation of these cells. At least one of these neoplastic cell lines produces both ADR and an inhibitory factor. These findings suggest that the regulation of proliferation is dependent on the balance between activating and inhibitory pathways.