Isolation and characterization of a mitogenic substance for murine and human B lymphocytes from Ulex europeus seeds.

A mitogenic substance, which stimulates murine and human B lymphocytes, has been isolated from the seeds of Ulex europeus. The m.w. of this mitogen was estimated to be approximately 100,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate disc gel electrophoresis. Under physiologic conditions Ulex mitogen was in the form of a polymer. The isolated mitogen was found to contain 80% carbohydrate, in which glucose, galactose, and rhamnose were the predominant sugars. The carbohydrate portion of the mitogen could be responsible for the mitogenic activity, since the activity was destroyed by periodate treatment but not by protease digestion. It is unlikely that the mitogenic activity is due to the contamination by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), because Ulex mitogen strongly activated spleen cells from C3H/HeJ mice and did not contain a detectable amount of fatty acid. Spleen cells from nude mice, T-depleted spleen cells from conventional mice, or T-depleted spleen cells from conventional mice, or T-depleted lymphocytes from human peripheral blood responded as strongly as lymphocytes (T + B) from normal origin as measured by 3H-thymidine incorporation. It seems that the mitogenic effect is primarily on B cells. Ulex mitogen also induced the increase of immunoglobulin synthesis in murine and human B cells.