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. 1979 Sep;38(1):181–189.

Pokeweed mitogen induced differentiation of human B cells: evaluation by a protein A haemolytic plaque assay.

L Hammarström, A G Bird, S Britton, C I Smith
PMCID: PMC1457881  PMID: 116958

Abstract

Using the protein A plaque assay, the number of human cells secreting immunoglobulin of various classes after pokeweed mitogen stimulation was determined. At optimal response (on day 5-7) a mean of 58,354 IgM PFC/10(6), 34,207 IgG PFC/10(6) and 10,525 IgA PFC/10(6) cells was found when using peripheral blood lymphocytes. In spleen cells, peak values which were slightly higher than in blood, were obtained at day 4-6. The proportions of cells secreting light chains of either type were found to be comparable to those of unstimulated cells thus supporting the notion of the polyclonality of the response. Pokeweed mitogen stimulation of peripheral blood lymphocytes was found to be totally T-cell dependent whereas the response of spleen cells was not. When assayed for antigen-specific precursor cells in cultures stimulated by mitogen, the frequency of SRBC-specific IgM producing cells was found to be 1.3/1000 cells. This frequency was regularly found to be independent of medium supplement.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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