Lymphocyte protein synthesis: evidence that murine T cells are more affected by stress than B cells

B and T cells present in the spleen and other sites of the immune system play a crucial role in the protection of individuals by mounting a specific primary and secondary immune response. Disturbances in their signaling and functioning could lead to a deterioration of the defense mechanisms and thereby lead to infections, pathologies or diseases. In this work, we studied the effects of stress on the protein synthesis and metabolism of mouse splenocytes. The study was done by radiolabeling the entire mouse with 35S-methionine (in vivo procedure) or by culturing spleen cells under various conditions of stimulation in the presence of 35S-methionine (in vitro labeling). The stimulus was lipopolysaccharide (LPS), LPS + interleukin-4 (IL-4) and concanavalin A (on A). Samples from immobilization stressed and control animals were studied in parallel. The results showed minimum alterations due to stress on B cells, though a small decrease in proliferative capacity was observed. In contrast, T cells are profoundly affected by stress. More than 100 new proteins are expressed on 2D-gel patterns of T cells from stressed animals as compared with controls, some of which could be implicated in different signaling, or could have appeared because of an alteration in a pathway of synthesis, or even as a consequence of a change in the composition of T cell populations induced by stress.