In vitro study demonstrates that mercaptoethanol is required for mouse B lymphocyte colony formation and synergizes with endotoxin, indicating direct and factor-mediated growth mechanisms.
Mercaptoethanol is necessary to permit B lymphocyte colony formation in semi-solid agar cultures of cells from normal mouse lymphoid organs. Transfer studies on developing colonies showed that, in part, this was a direct action on B lymphocyte colony cells but evidence was produced that in the presence of mercaptoethanol lymphoid organ cells release a factor promoting colony growth. Endotoxin strongly potentiated B lymphocyte colony formation in vitro by a direct action on colony cells but in the absence of mercaptoethanol did not allow cell survival or proliferation.
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Donald Metcalf (1976) studied this question.
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