Sialyltransferase activity in leukemia

• Published in: Leukemia research Vol. 6; no. 2; pp. 197 - 202
• Main Authors: Sasaki, Ryuhei, Takaku, Fumimaro, Lin, Ying-Lung, Bollum, Frederick J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 1982
• Subjects: acute lymphoblastic leukemia; acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia; differentiation and malignant transformation of hemopoietic cells; Sialyltransferase; terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase; AML; ALL; CLL; CML; CMP- 3H-NANA; TdT; AMMoL; Sialyltransferase; differentiation and malignant transformation of hemopoietic cells; acute lymphoblastic leukemia; terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase; P(dA) 40–60; acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia; APL; 3H- dGTP
• ISSN: 0145-2126; 1873-5835
• DOI: 10.1016/0145-2126(82)90025-X

Sialyltransferase activity in blasts from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) was markedly lower (1.68 ± 1.23 pmol/mg protein) than those (6.18 ± 2.22 pmol/mg protein) of lymphocytes from normal volunteers ( t < 0.001). On the contrary, enzyme activity was significantly increased in blasts (1.21 ± 0.38 pmol/mg protein) from acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia, compared to the level (0.53 ± 0.32 pmol/mg protein) of mature granulocytes ( t < 0.001). In TdT-negative CML in blast crisis, sialyltransferase activity (2.11 ± 0.88 pmol/mg protein) was significantly higher than those of mature granulocytes ( t < 0.001), whereas no significant difference in the enzyme activity was noted between the blasts from TdT-positive CML in blast crisis and from ALL. In TdT-positive ALL cases, there was an inverse relationship ( r = −0.85, t < 0.01) between sialyltransferase activity and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) activity of the blasts. Therefore, sialyltransferase in leukocytes may be a unique enzyme in which changes in activity relate to the differentiation or malignant transformation of leukocytes.