[Proliferation of Reed-Sternberg cells in 5 Hodgkin's cell lines]

Using the monoclonal antibody Ki-67 that detects a cell proliferation-associated human nuclear antigen, incorporations of bromodeoxyuridine (Brud) and 3H-Thymidine, we studied the proliferative capacity of Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells in Hodgkin's cell lines L428, KM-H2, Holden, L540 and L591. The results revealed that in all cell lines, except L591, more than 55% of RS cells were found positive for Ki-67, and over 50% of them had Brud incorporation 5 days after cultivation. The positive score for 3H-Thymidine incorporation was low, and it is assumed that the time taken for 3H-Thymidine in cultivation was short. It shows that at least half of RS cells in these cell lines have proliferation-associated nuclear antigen or can synthesize DNA, and so they are proliferative.