Effect of stimulation with bacterial lipopolysaccharide on the surface-charge of mouse B-lymphocytes.

Nude spleen (B) cells were cultivated in vitro in a serum-free medium, without or with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and their surface-charge was measured by cell electrophoresis. In the absence of LPS, surface-charge did not vary significantly with time, whereas, in the presence of LPS a biphasic modification was observed. Thus, after 4 hours of culture with LPS, surface-charge was diminished by 14%. Subsequently, when DNA synthesis and blast formation were activated, it increased by up to 19-23% over control value, whether LPS was present continuously in the medium or had been eliminated by washing after 4 hours of incubation.