Medical Term:
mitogen
Pronunciation: mī′tō-jen
Definition: A substance frequently derived from plants that stimulates mitosis and lymphocyte transformation in an antigen-nonspecific manner; includes not only lectins such as phytohemagglutinins, pokeweed mitogen, and concanavalin A, but also substances from streptococci (associated with streptolysin S) and from strains of α-toxin-producing staphylococci.
Synonym(s): transforming agent1
[mitosis + G. -gen, producing]
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Examples: glitazone, GI cocktail, etc.
