Autoradiographic analysis of lymphocyte proliferation in the thymus and in thymic lymphoma tissue.

Abstract

An autoradiographic study using tritiated thymidine has been made of lymphocyte proliferation in the 2-month-old normal AKR thymus and in AKR thymic lymphoma tissue. Mean cell cycle times were: normal large and medium lymphocytes, 6.8 and 8.2 hr; lymphoma large and medium cells, 7.6 and 20.2 hr. Most normal small lymphocytes were nondividing, but the small lymphocyte population was replaced by division of medium lymphocytes every 3.2 days. Most lymphoma small lymphocytes were also nondividing and possibly had a finite life-span of less than 2 days. In individual lymphomata no correlation was found between the degree of differentiation and cellular proliferative rates.