Electrokinetic studies on concanavalin A as a tool to probe the surface characteristics of differentiated lymphoid cells

The redistribution of surface receptors induced by the binding of concanavalin A to different types of lymphoid cells was studied by the techniques of cell electrophoresis and fluorescence microscopy. The cells studied included, splenic lymphocytes from normal healthy as well as terminally leukaemic mice, thymocytes from mice of varying ages from newborns to adults and antigen sensitised or educated lymphocytes. These cells were in different stages of growth and/or differentiation. The nature and especially the behaviour of surface receptors in response to treatment with concanavalin A under capping conditions differed markedly but appeared to be dependent on the differentiational status of the cells. On this basis, the adult thymocytes were found to consist of two sub-populations differing in their proliferative and differentiational status. The proportions of these varied during their ontogenic development. Lymphocytes specifically committed to an antigen bound concanavalin A but were found to be incapable of bringing about the redistribution of the surface receptor-ligand complexes.