Mechanism of the formation of micronuclei in PHA-stimulated lymphocytes from human peripheral blood

The micronuclei of PHA-stimulated human lymphocytes were assayed by comparison of electron microscopy and light microscopy data. The length of the cell cycle was checked by the flow cytofluorimetry method. Both the variability of the apoptosis stages and the increase in (G2+M) period in gamma-irradiated cultures were found. It is concluded that at least part of the micronuclei results from the cell nucleus "partition" during the apoptosis type cell death.