Evaluation of the proliferative response of lymphocytes by measurement of intracellular ATP.

The measurement of intracellular ATP levels by luciferin-luciferase-induced bioluminescence was used for the evaluation of proliferative responses of human mononuclear cells to lectins. A linear relationship was observed between the number of cells and the amount of ATP in the samples, and high reproducibility was obtained. The ATP content of samples containing lectin-stimulated mononuclear cells increased with time, and a significant difference from unstimulated cells was obtained 48 h after initiation of the culture. Furthermore pretreatment with mitomycin C strikingly increased the ATP level of lectin-stimulated cells, but not that of unstimulated cells was obtained. These findings suggest that the proliferative response of mononuclear cells can be measured simply without the use of isotopes, and that earlier events occurring in stimulated cells may be analyzed by this simple method.