The expression of deoxyguanosine toxicity in T lymphocytes at different stages of maturation.

Different human T cell populations were assayed for susceptibility of DNA synthesis to inhibition by deoxyguanosine. T lymphocytes from the thymus were most sensitive to inhibition of proliferation by deoxyguanosine (90% inhibition at 10 microM deoxyguanosine). This exquisite sensitivity of thymocytes appeared related to an enhanced ability of these cells for uptake and phosphorylation of deoxyguanosine to deoxyGTP and by their reduced ability to degrade accumulated deoxyGTP. Compared to more mature T lymphocytes and B cells, thymocytes contained the highest level of the salvage enzyme deoxynucleoside kinase and the lowest level of the nucleotide degrading enzyme, 5'-nucleotidase. The present study suggests that the levels of these 2 enzymes can serve as differentiation markers, identifying T cells at various stages of maturation, and that the loss of sensitivity to deoxyguanosine toxicity may be a stepwise process. Further, a deficiency in purine nucleoside phosphorylase may preferentially interfere with T cell maturation at an intrathymic stage of T cell differentiation.