Deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis was selectively observed in coelomic free cells of newts in vivo. Lymphocytes and monocytes were labeled with ^3H-TdR while granulocytes and Russell's cells have not shown any silver grains of autoradiography on their nuclei.
The result suggests that Russell's cell does not predominantly multiply in vivo, but are transformed from other type of cells which are actively synthesizing DNA in vivo, possibly from a large lymphocyte or a monocyte.