CONTINUOUS CINEMATOGRAPHY OF HUMAN LYMPHOCYTES CULTURED WITH A PHYTOHÆMAGGLUTININ INCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON CELL DIVISION AND INTERPHASE

Abstract

Continuous time‐lapse cinematography of human small lymphocytes, in tissue culture with phytohæmagglutinin, has been carried out by confining the cells in microchambers. It has been shown that small lymphocytes can enlarge and divide after incubation in such cultures. The large cells so formed, and the daughter cells produced by their division, move in a characteristically lymphocytic fashion. The daughter cells have been shown to double their size and then themselves divide. Evidence is presented which suggests that a line of large proliferating cells with lymphocytic motility is formed and that these continue for some days to reproduce their own kind rather than differentiate into any other cell type. The time taken for cell division is about 30 min. Interphase has been measured on two occasions giving times of 23 and 38½ hr. respectively.