Morphology of cultured hematopoietic cells

In the authors' opinion, there are no microscopic or ultramicroscopic character istics that permit separation of cultured human lymphoblastoid cells derived from normal individuals and from patients with leukemia, Burkitt's lymphoma and infectious mononucleosis. Further, there seemed to be no difference between lymphoblasts stimulated with phytomitogens and those of established cell lines. The spectrum of cell forms in each cell line under various culture conditions included stem cells, lymphoblasts, lymphocytes, plasmablasts and macrophages. There were no fibroblasts in the authors' cultures. All of the more than one hundred cell lines that have been tested produced immunoglobulins or immunoglobulin fragments. No granulocytic or erythroblastic cells were seen in long-term cultures. A majority of the cell lines have retained normal karyotypes. They have continued to multiply rapidly for months and years, and thus appear to have an infinite life.