Comparison of the stimulating capacity of human leukemia T-cell, null cell, and B-cell lines in mixed lymphoma culture.

One-way mixed lymphocyte reactions between lymphocytes from normal human donors and mitomycin C-treated cells from human leukemia T-cell, null cell, and B-cell lines were investigated. An Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative Japanese Burkitt's lymphoma line and two EBV-positive normal lymphoid cell lines were studied in parallei. Normal lymphocytes were stimulated significantly by the cultured null cells and B-cells, but only slightly by the cultured T-cells. The stimulatory capacity of these two leukemia cell lines was approximately equal to that of the lymphoma and normal B-cell lines. The results suggest that not only leukemia B-cells but also leukemia null cells have stimulatory determinants in mixed lymphocyte culture.