[Production of a mastocyte growth factor in lymphocyte cultures stimulated by a mitogen or by allogenic cells]

Supernatants from mouse spleen leukocytes stimulated by concanavalin A or from a secondary MLC between donor and recipient of a skin allograft can induce in bone marrow cells an exponential growth of mononuclear cells with cytoplasmic basophilic granules. These cells can be maintained in liquid suspension culture for up to 6 months. They lack the properties of T or b lymphocytes, monocytes or macrophages. They have the morphological features of mast cells or basophils; the cytoplasmic granules are metachromatic for toluidine blue, alcian blue-positive at pH 0.3 and contain histamine. In addition, these cells bind monoclonal mouse IgE. They may be considered as cells of the basophil-mast cell lineage.