Biochemical activities of nine lysosomal enzymes in T and non‐T lymphocytes

It is well known that lysosomes play an important role in phy~ologic and pa~ologic events by degradation of materials and by secretion of their contents [l-3]. Lymphocytes contain considerable activities of lysosomal acid hydrolases which can be demonstrated biochemically, but the number of lysosomes which can be detected morphologic~ly is small. The functional significance of lysosomes in lymphocytes remains to be elucidated. It has been suggested that their lysosomes might be involved in cellular events preceding cell transformation and proliferation [5,6], and that lymphocyte subpopulations could be distrained cyto~emic~y by their differenti~ reactivity of lysosomal enzymes [7-l 11. We previously reported characteristic differences in the composition of lysosomal enzymes in human peripheral lymphocytes and granulocytes [4]. In this communication we extend the observation to lymphocyte subpop~ations and discuss the possible significance of different patterns of nine lysosomal enzymes in T and non-T lymphocytes.