Osmotic properties of human lymphocyte.

The osmotic properties of human lymphocytes isolated from 15 ml of venous blood were examined. Measurements of the permeability of the membrane to water under an osmotic gradient were also made. The Boyle-Van't Hoff relation held very well for the human lymphocyte when the cells were shrunken in hyperosmotic media to concentrations twice isosmotic. The volume of osmotically inactive material or "b" value averaged 32% of the mean corpuscular volume. These values were independent of temperature. Ponder's R ranged between 0.8 and 0.9. The average value for Lp, the hydralic coefficient was 0.46 mu/min atm +/- 0.02 (S.E.M.) at 25 degrees C. No significant effect of age, sex, or race was noted. The effect of temperature between 10 degrees C and 37 degrees C was measured and heats of activation between 11.1 and 17.4 kcal/mole were calculated with a mean of 14.1 kcal/mole +/- 1.6 (S.E.M.). Concanavalin A at 10 microgram/1.5 X 10(6) lymphocytes produced blastogenesis of 25% or more of the lymphocytes without clumping, agglutination, or toxicity. The mean corpuscular volume increased by 21% after 72 hours due to an increase in the "b" value which increased by 80%. The volume of free water remained constant. Histograms of the distribution of cell volumes showed that volume changes were uniform throughout the population with no evidence of agglutination of clumping. The significance of these results is discussed in the context of membrane fluidity and the state of intracellular water.