Polyclonal activation of human peripheral blood B lymphocytes by formaldehyde-fixed Salmonella paratyphi B. II. Heterogeneity of B lymphocytes.

B-cell 'activation' in cultures stimulated with pokeweed mitogen (PWM), Staphylococcus aureus strain Cowan I, or formaldehyde-fixed Salmonella paratyphi B (SPB) was evaluated by enumeration of cells secreting immunoglobulin (Ig) and by quantitation of Ig released into culture supernatants. A dissociation between these two values was found after day 6 in cultures activated with PWM or SPB, suggesting that Ig-secreting cells (ISC) are heterogeneous in terms of Ig secretion rate. Generation of ISC in cultures activated with PWM or SPB was partially inhibited by hydroxyurea, but Ig levels in culture supernatants were not affected. These results indicate that there are at least two subpopulations of ISC in stimulated peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures, one sensitive to, and the other resistant to, hydroxyurea. The hydroxyurea-resistant subpopulation appeared to be more mature and to release most all of the Ig detected in culture supernatants. Furthermore, time-course studies of ISC numbers and Ig levels showed that each ISC in SPB-stimulated cultures (but not in PWM-stimulated cultures) was more active in Ig synthesis and secretion after day 8 than before day 6, indicating that after day 8 most of the ISC in cultures activated with SPB were hydroxyurea-resistant. These studies suggest that SPB is another useful polyclonal B-cell 'activator' for studies of human B-cell differentiation and function, and that SPB defines two distinct subsets of B cells.