Differences in the surface proteins of mouse B and T cells.

We have selectively labeled the surface of mouse thymus-dependent (T) and thymus-independent (B) lymphocytes by means of lactoperoxidase-catalyzed iodination. Examination of the labeled proteins by electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate followed by autoradiography revealed differences in the cell surface proteins of B and T cells. Proteins from labeled thymocytes, T cell lymphomas, and both normal and activated peripheral T cells give a broad band of radioactivity corresponding to at least two protein components with apparent molecular weights of 170,000 to 190,000. This band is absent from autoradiographs of iodinated B cell proteins, which instead have another band corresponding to a protein with an apparent molecular weight of about 220,000. We have shown that these T and B cell marker proteins are synthesized by the cell and are not serum components selectively bound to the cell surface. We have also established that these proteins are the major iodinated species precipitated from Nonidet P-40 cell lysates by rabbit anti-mouse lymphocyte serum, suggesting that they are the major antigens recognized by rabbit antibodies to mouse lymphocytes.