Proliferation and Behavior of Phagocytic Cells in Mouse Lymphoma Tissue2

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Abstract
Large phagocytic cells were found to be a constant component of lymphoma tissue in AKR mice with lymphoid leukemia. Determination of mitotic indexes and labeling patterns after the administration of tritiated thymidine suggested that the phagocytic cells divided every 200–300 hours, much more slowly than the doubling time of 24–48 hours of the lymphoma cell population. This required a continuous recruitment of new cells into the phagocytic cell population as the lymphoma mass expanded. Parabiotic studies indicated that such cells did not enter lymphoma tissue from the blood; the most likely source of new cells transforming to phagocytic cells was the surviving population of normal reticuloendothelial cells in the organs infiltrated by lymphoma tissue. Phagocytosed cells were rapidly broken down by the phagocytic cells, but their nuclear material did not accumulate in the cytoplasm of the phagocytic cells. Lymphoma cells in contact with phagocytic cells had higher mitotic activity than lymphoma cells elsewhere in the tumor mass.