ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews some recent advances in development of established human lymphoid cell lines and in our understanding of the biological nature of these systems. Description of immunologically significant products and properties of lymphoid cells in continuous culture are emphasized. It is common experience that very few lymphocytes are left in culture after a few weeks, and until recently, continuous culture of lymphocytes was considered impossible. Human lymphoid cell lines were later established from peripheral blood of patients with benign lymphoproliferative disorders and from the peripheral blood of normal individuals. Permanent human lymphoid cell lines can be established successfully not only from fresh peripheral lymphocytes, but from lymphocytes recovered from frozen storage. Potential biohazards of human lymphoid cell lines were reviewed previously. Since evidence that the majority of long-term lymphoid cell lines represent viral transformations is accumulating, the hazard that generates the most concern is accidental transmission of an oncogenic virus.
