Determination of lymphocyte division by flow cytometry

Techniques currently available for determining cell division are able to show one or, at best, a limited number of cell divisions. Other methods exist which can quantify overall division, but tell nothing about the division history of individual cells. Here we present a new technique in which an intracellular fluorescent label is divided equally between daughter cells upon cell division. The technique is applicable to in vitro cell division, as well as in vivo division of adoptively transferred cells, and can resolve multiple successive generations using flow cytometry. The label is fluorescein derived, allowing monoclonal antibodies conjugated to phycoerythrin or other compatible fluorochromes to be used to immunophenotype the dividing cells.