Biochemical identification of primate lymphoid cell-surface glycoproteins

We have employed the galactose oxidase-tritiated sodium borohydride labelling method to examine the surface glycoproteins of cotton-topped marmoset and other primate cell lines either established from tumors or transformed in vitro by different lymphotropic herpesviruses. The labelled surface glycoproteins were separated on acrylamide gels in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and analyzed by fluorography. Our results indicate that (1) lymphocytes of the same class from different primate species are similar but can be distinguished; (2) T and B lymphocytes of the same species can be differentiated; (3) cotton-topped marmoset lymphocytes of the same class show marked similarities regardless of tumor or in vitro origin or virus used for transformation; (4) three cell lines established from different EBV-induced tumors of the same marmoset show essentially the same labelling pattern, supporting the hypothesis that they originated from a single clone.