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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1972 Feb;69(2):371–373. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.2.371

A New Micromethod for Evaluating Lymphocyte Responses to Phytohemagglutinin: Quantitative Analysis of the Function of Thymus-Dependent Cells

B H Park 1,2, R A Good 1,2
PMCID: PMC426460  PMID: 4501119

Abstract

We have developed a new micromethod for testing phytohemagglutinin stimulation of human lymphocytes. 50 μl of peripheral blood is incubated at 37°C directly, without cell separation, with 50 μl of tissue culture medium containing 50μg of phytohemagglutinin for 24 hr. Then, 0.5 μCi of tritiated thymidine in 50 μl of tissue culture medium is added and incubated for an additional 16 hr. After incubation, erythrocytes are selectively lysed in distilled water, and white blood cells are trapped quickly on a Millipore filter. The radioactivity of the filter is then assessed by a scintillation counter. The requirement of extremely small amounts of blood and a short incubation time are advantages. Further, this method provides a most useful evaluation of thymusdependent cell populations in man and experimental animals and, for the first time, this method provides the possibility of quantitating the deficiency of thymus-dependent cells.

Keywords: immunodeficiency, tritiated thymidine

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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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