Interaction between mitogenic lectins and plasma membranes of lymphocytes

Mitogenic signals from concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin were shown to undergo summation in time under conditions when each mitogen separately, if the duration of contact with lymphocytes during the experiment was the same (14 or 20 h), did not induce mitogenesis. The results are discussed from the standpoint of cell-cell interaction between lymphocytes. It is suggested that the ability of these signals to undergo time summation lies at the basis of the nonspecific mechanism of protection against tolerance.Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Biological Membranes, Biological Faculty, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow University. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. N. Orekhovich.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 88, No. 7, pp. 89–91, July, 1979.