Correlation between enhanced E-rosette formation and spontaneous incorporation of thymidine by bovine thymus lymphocytes.

Bovine thymus lymphocytes were centrifuged at low speed through 27% BSA and separated into five equal fractions. Enhanced formation of E rosettes and 10-20 fold increases in spontaneous uptake of tritiated (3H) thymidine occurred among the buoyant cell populations with less or no increases among cells from lower fractions. It is suggested that BSA stimulates blastogenesis and that the increases capacity for E-rosette formation is due to cell surface alterations among the activated cells or cells affected by their products.