DNA analysis of stimulated lymphocytes by automatic sampling for flow cytometry

A microsample delivery system (MSDS) was tested for automatic flow cytometry (FCM) analysis of DNA synthesis in stimulated human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) cultivated in wells of microtiter plates. After incubation, either for 1-3 days with phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and pokeweed mitogen, or for 7 days with allogenic PBL, the cells, while in the wells, were washed in hypotonic Tris buffer and stained with ethidium bromide-RNAse solution. The results obtained from quintuplicate replicated wells, each of the five containing the same control or stimulated cultures, were reproducible in terms of the number of nuclei counted in each histogram of control, mitogen-stimulated PBL, and mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC). Using a computer program that superimposes histograms and calculates their differences on the scale of fluorescence intensity, it was possible to quantify the intensity of the response to the mitogenic stimuli. This approach to the study of lymphocyte proliferation offers not only a simpler and faster analysis of DNA synthesis than the method of 3H-thymidine incorporation, but it also allows for the analysis of other FCM parameters, such as forward and 90 degrees light scatter and double fluorescence labelling of PBL nuclei.