Page 387 - Veterinary Immunology, 10th Edition

synthesis by the cells.
VetBooks.ir Although the plant lectins are the most efficient lymphocyte

mitogens, mitogens may also be found in other unexpected sources.
For example, an extract from the snail Helix pomatia stimulates T
cells, whereas lipopolysaccharide from Gram-negative bacteria

stimulates B cells. Other important B cell mitogens include
proteases, such as trypsin, and Fc fragments of immunoglobulins.
Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, an avirulent strain of
Mycobacterium bovis that is used as a vaccine against tuberculosis, is
a T cell mitogen. These mitogens can assist in the differentiation of

T and B cells and, by measurement of the response provoked,
provide an estimate of lymphocyte responsiveness.

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