Thymidine kinase of mouse spleen cells in vivo and in vitro.

The thymidine kinase activity of mouse spleen cells was found to parallel their DNA-synthesizing ability, both in vivo and in vitro. In the former case, more than 90% of the activity of these cells was found in the cytoplasmic fraction. This activity was labile, as was its template mRNA, compared with the nuclear component. The nuclear enzyme increased during culture of the lymphocytes in vitro. Mitogenic stimulation with concanavalin A resulted not only in a greater enhancement of the nuclear activity, but also in a marked increase in the amount of cytoplasmic enzyme. This effect appeared to be mediated via stabilization of the mRNA for the cytoplasmic component. These differences have been considered, especially with respect to the cellular changes that occurred during culture and mitogenic stimulation.