Mitogenic capacity of oxidized human B cell lines.

A combination of neuraminidase and galactose oxidase alters the membrane glycoproteins to generate highly reactive aldehyde groups on galactose moieties. Human B cell lines oxidized in this way were able to induce strong proliferative responses from normal untreated peripheral blood lymphocytes. Oxidized cell lines that stimulate well were also correlated to some extent with their ability to bind responder lymphocytes. The present investigation demonstrates the usefulness of oxidized B cell lines as a novel mitogen for use in the study of lymphocyte activation.