Cell numbers in human lymphocyte cultures stimulated with pokeweed mitogen

As determined by electronic cell counting, the cell numbers in pokeweed mitogen (PWM) stimulated cultures of normal lymphocytes decreased by about 13% during the first day and then remained almost constant up to day 8. In contrast, a progressive decrease of the cell count was observed in cultures of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) lymphocytes reaching about 40% of the initial number on day 8. In PWM cultures of normal lymphocytes the transformed cells increased to about 20% of the cells present on day 4, whereas in cultures of CLL lymphocytes these cells reached only 11% on day 7.