epsilon-N-trimethyl-lysine: a natural cell component with mitogenic activity.

The blastogenic capacity of a new mitogenic agent, epsilon-N-trimethyl-lysine (TML) was examined on human peripheral blood lymphocytes. The changes in relative DNA and histone content after TML treatment testified that activated lymphocytes passed through the whole cell cycle. The comparison of the 3H-TdR incorporation rate into unseparated T-B lymphocyte and purified T lymphocyte cultures suggested a preferential effect on the thymidine incorporation of T lymphocytes. TML induced preferentially high responses in cases of blood cells taken from women. The possibility of DNA repair mechanism could be excluded. The results of combined TML-PHA treatment experiments suggested a difference in the trigger mechanism of these two mitogenic compounds.