Sialyltransferase activity as a marker for the differentiation of lymphocytes. Increase in sialyltransferase activity of blasts from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia cases by 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA).

The level of sialyltransferase activity in leukaemic blasts from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) cases was significantly lower (3.29 +/- 2.09 pmoles/5 X 10(7) cells or 1.77 +/- 1.16 pmoles/mg protein) than those (18.80 +/- 4.91 pmoles/5 X 10(7) cells or 7.72 +/- 1.75 pmoles/mg protein) of mature lymphocytes from normal volunteers (T less than 0.001). An inverse relationship between the level of sialyltransferase activity and the level of terminal transferase (TdT)activity was seen in blasts from eight TdT-positive ALL cases. No significant difference was observed in the level of sialyltransferase activity between ALL and cells of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis. Short Term culture of ALL blast cells with 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) at the concentration of 10-(6)M to 10-(9)M caused a marked increase in sialyltransferase activity. In one of these three ALL cases the population of TdT-positive cells and the TdT activity of the blasts decreased significantly after culture with TPA. These results suggest that biochemical differentiation of leukaemic lymphoblasts has been induced by the addition of TPA, although morphological changes were not observed. Sialyltransferase activity may be a useful indicator for the analysis of differentiation of lymphocytes.