[1] Jurkat cells can, upon stimulation by phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or other stimulants such as phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA or simply phorbol), express interleukin 2, and are used in research involving the susceptibility of cancers to drugs and radiation.
However in the general case chronic phytohaemagglutinin kills Jurkat cells, though Jurkat clones can be devised which resist PHA-induced killing.
The object of the system is that Jurkat cells can react to a signal and their expression can be measured.
[4] Jurkat E6-1 cells have been found to produce a xenotropic murine leukemia virus (X-MLV) (referred to as XMRV) that could potentially affect experimental outcomes.
This infection may also change the virulence and tropism of the virus by way of phenotypic mixing and/or recombination.