Mitogen effects on lipid metabolism during lymphocyte activation.

Mitogenic and non-mitogenic lectins have been compared for their abilities to stimulate acetate and choline incorporation into mouse spleen lymphocyte lipids. The concns required for maximal acetate incorporation correspond to those required for maximal blastogenesis. The non-mitogenic lectins tested had no effect on acetate incorporation. Concanavalin A also stimulated acetate incorporation into splenic lymphocyte lipids of athymic mice which do not undergo T-cell blastogenesis. 4,4'-Diaminodiphenylsulfone (dapsone) at 150 micrograms/ml inhibited the incorporation of choline into mouse spleen lymphocyte phosphatidylcholine by 40%, but had no significant effect on concanavalin A induced mitogenesis when the inhibitor was present during the first few hours of transformation. Enhanced turnover of phospholipids appears to be a parallel but non-essential event in the early stages of mitogenesis.