Non-specific cyclic nucleotide binding in leukemic leukocytes.

Extracts of leukemic lymphocytes and leukemic myelomonocytic cells bind significantly more cAMP/mg protein than do normal cells. The binding of cAMP in leukemic cells is non-specific since the binders are unable to effectively discriminate between cAMP and cGMP in contrast to normal cells. When normal lymphocytes are activated in vitro with mitogens, their cAMP-binding capacity is increased, but the binding retains the specificity of normal cells. Thus in malignantly transformed leukocytes, cAMP-binding is characterized by a high degree of non-specificity, compared with the binding in resting or proliferating normal leukocytes.