Role of Bovine Serum Albumin in Blastoid Transformation of Lymphocytes by Phytohemagglutinin

Abstract

Employing a serum-free medium (SF medium), blast transformation of human peripheral lymphocytes stimulated by PHA was investigated. A remarkable PHA response with extremely high stimulation indices was obtained in SF medium containing 0.25-0.5% BSA. However, lymphocytes were unresponsive to PHA in the medium containing defatted BSA, unless supplied with oleic and linoleic acids. It is concluded that the albumin-bound fatty acids play an important role in lymphocyte transformation in SF medium, as observed in the case of tumor cell cultivation.