Plasma membrane mediated thymidine transport in AKR spleen cells

In this paper we characterize the thymidine transport systems in nonadherent spleen cells from normal leukemic (AKR) mice and from AKR mice which have been stimulated in vivo with concanavalin A (Con A). We have shown that splenic lymphocytes from normal AKR mice transport thymidine (two kinetic components, Km values of 34 microM and 1.6 mM) whereas lymphoid cells from C57L/J and outbred (CD-1) mice do not. Following Con A stimulation of AKR mice, three components (Km values of 6 microM, 212 microM, and millimolar range) were observed. The current data should be compared with previously published results for splenocytes from Con A stimulated CD-1 mice. Although those cells transport thymidine with two kinetic components (Km values of 160 microM), they lacked the lowest Km system present in AKR splenocytes. Thymidine transport was also examined in lymphocytes from several AK x L recombinant inbred mouse strains derived from the cross AKR/J x C57L/J. Two strains which lacked MuLV did not show time-dependent thymidine translocation whereas two strains which possessed MuLV demonstrated time-dependent thymidine translocation. Moreover, cells from the congenic strain L.AKR-Akv-2, which carried the Akv-2 genome on a C57L background, also showed thymidine transport. Thus a unique ability to transport thymidine can be correlated with the presence of the murine leukemia virus genome.