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A Strife

Publications and source records attributed to A Strife.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The effects of transforming growth factor beta 3 on the growth of highly enriched hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from normal human bone marrow and peripheral blood.

The effects of transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGF-beta 3) on growth in semisolid cultures of enriched hematopoietic progenitors derived from normal human marrow and blood were evaluated. Conditioned media from the Mo-T cell line (MoCM) were the source of colony-stimulating factors used to optimally stimulate primitive progenitors. To assess whether a proportion of granulocyte/monocyte (GM) progenitors were prevented from cycling, all sizes of GM aggregates were evaluated from 3 to 20 days. The activity of TGF-beta 3 on the growth of erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM) was similar to that observed for TGF-beta 1. TGF-beta 3 (10, 100, and 1,000 pmol/liter), added initially or 72 h after initiation of culture, did not significantly affect the total number of marrow GM aggregates at 3, 7, 14, and 20 days, but TGF-beta 3 (1,000 pmol/liter), added initially, reduced the total number of blood GM aggregates. This suggests that some blood GM progenitors might be blocked from cycling but that the great majority of marrow GM progenitors are not blocked. Whether TGF-beta 3 (10, 100, and 1,000 pmol/liter) was added initially or after 72 h of stimulation by MoCM, there was a dose-dependent reduction of marrow and blood GM colony size even when the total number of colonies was unaffected. TGF-beta 3 (10, 100, and 1,000 pmol/liter), added initially or at 72 h, reduced in a dose-dependent manner the size of marrow and blood-derived BFU-E. TGF-beta 3 (1,000 pmol/liter) was more likely to reduce the total number of marrow and blood BFU-E, and this increased sensitivity of the erythroid lineage may prevent the development of this population in colonies derived from multipotential colony-forming unit-granulocyte/erythroid/monocyte (CFU-GEM). The results suggest that the main effect of TGF-beta 3 and TGF-beta 1 is to slow the rate of proliferation of hematopoietic progenitors rather than to prevent them from beginning proliferation. This results in a reduction in colony size which prevents the identification of primitive versus mature progenitor on the basis of standard criteria of colony size.

Bone Marrow↗

Monoclonal antibody YB5.B8 identifies the human c-kit protein product.

The c-kit proto-oncogene encodes a 145- to 160-Kd transmembrane tyrosine kinase, which is a member of the platelet-derived growth factor receptor family and is allelic with the murine white spotting locus (W). W mutations affect several aspects of hematopoiesis, most notably erythroid progenitors and mast cells. A monoclonal antibody, YB5.B8, had been raised against the leukemic blasts of a patient with M1-type acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) and it precipitates a 150-Kd cell surface glycoprotein from leukemic cells. The YB5.B8 epitope is expressed on mast cells, on up to 3% of normal mononuclear bone marrow cells, and it identifies a sub-group of AML patients with a poor prognosis. In view of similarities noted between the cell surface antigen identified by YB5.B8 and the c-kit protein product, we performed experiments to determine whether they are identical. c-kit RNA expression in the cell lines HEL (human erythroleukemia) and A172 (glioblastoma) was shown to parallel the expression of the YB5.B8 epitope in these lines as measured by flow cytometry. Immunoprecipitation analysis with anti-kit serum and YB5.B8 antibody indicated that the two antibodies identified proteins of identical size in HEL (155 Kd) and A172 (145 Kd) cells, and sequential immunoprecipitations with the kit and the YB5.B8 antibodies demonstrated that the two antibodies recognize the same molecule. The proteins identified by both the anti-kit and YB5.B8 antibodies displayed in vitro autophosphorylation activity in immune complex kinase assays. In addition, YB5.B8 was able to inhibit the binding of the kit ligand to HEL cells. These studies provide evidence that the YB5.B8 antigen and the c-kit protein product are identical and raise certain hypotheses regarding the role of c-kit in AML.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Co-detection of chimeric bcr/abl (target) and beta-actin (control) messenger RNA in individual CFU-GM colonies derived from CML patients using the polymerase chain reaction.

In order to quantitate the magnitude of the normal and Philadelphia (Ph') chromosome-positive(+) progenitor cells for various research and clinical settings/studies, we have applied the highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for examining the cells contained in individual hematopoietic colonies for chimeric bcr/abl mRNA, a specific molecular marker for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Thus, individual 14-day CFU-GM colonies, obtained by growth of bone marrow cells from CML patients were removed from methylcellulose cultures and total RNA from each colony was isolated. First-strand complementary DNAs (cDNA) corresponding to all mRNAs in the sample were obtained by using random hexamers in a reverse transcription (RT) reaction. cDNA then served as the substrate in the PCR. To ensure the integrity of the RNA extracted from each colony, beta-actin and bcr/abl cDNA sequences were amplified in the same reaction vessel. Using this method, we have examined the colonies grown from three CML patients and found that 5 out of 5, 9 out of 9 and 8 out of 9 colonies contained a bcr/abl transcript. This method is simple, highly sensitive and should facilitate studies comparing the expression of various oncogenes in normal and leukemic hematopoietic progenitor cells.

Actins↗

Proliferative response of human acute myeloid leukemia cells and normal marrow enriched progenitor cells to human recombinant growth factors IL-3, GM-CSF and G-CSF alone and in combination.

The effects of human recombinant colony-stimulating factors (r-CSFs), interleukin 3 (IL-3), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) on inducing the growth of colonies derived from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (CFU-L) were investigated and compared to the proliferative response of CFU-GM derived from highly enriched normal blast cell populations. The effects of GM-CSF and IL-3 alone were similar. Both only minimally stimulated normal colonies derived from CFU-GM when compared to stimulation with MoCM (a mean of 28% of the total colonies and 17% of the colonies greater than 100 cells obtained with MoCM). Similarly, the number of leukemic colonies was substantially less than with MoCM (less than 30% of MoCM) in all but 3/10 AML patients and both were only able to significantly stimulate CFU-L derived colonies greater than 50 cells from 2/10 patients. G-CSF alone stimulated some CFU-L derived colony growth in 9/10 patients but the number stimulated was minimal relative to MoCM in five of the patients and significant stimulation of colonies greater than 50 cells occurred in only one patient. The mean number of normal CFU-GM derived colonies stimulated by G-CSF was 41% of the total colonies and 34% of the colonies greater than 100 cells generated by MoCM. The combination of G-CSF with GM-CSF and G-CSF with IL-3 resulted in a synergistic or additive increase in the number of CFU-L in 5/10 and 7/10 patients, respectively, and a synergistic increase in the size of CFU-L in 5/10. The same combinations resulted in a significant synergistic effect on size of normal CFU-GM derived colonies. There was no evidence of a synergistic increase in the number or size of CFU-L and CFU-GM derived colonies stimulated with GM-CSF in combination with IL-3. In addition, a combination of all three (G-CSF + GM-CSF + IL-3) did not enhance the effect of G-CSF + GM-CSF or G-CSF + IL-3. These results suggest that there is significant heterogeneity among AML patients in the pattern of responsiveness of the leukemic cells to the recombinant growth factors. In addition, their responsiveness does not significantly differ from that of normal progenitors. In view of the current clinical trials with r-CSFs and cytotoxic drugs in AML patients, this issue is important and worthy of further investigation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adult↗

Analysis of the individual and combined reactivities of monoclonal antibodies H25, H366, and MY9 with normal progenitor cells and blast cells from patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia.

Recently we reported that two monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), H25 and H366, which react with human natural killer cells and monocytes, also react with normal in vitro colony-forming cells including granulocyte-monocyte colony-forming units (CFU-GM), erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E), and erythroid colony-forming units and with leukemic blasts in preliminary testing of cells from patients with myeloid leukemias and T cell acute lymphocytic leukemia. In the present studies we examined the reactivities of MoAbs H25, H366, and MY9 (singly or combined) with the total leukemic cell population and the leukemic clonogenic cells (L-CFC) from 28 patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia. Using cytofluorography, we found the extent of expression of antigen H25 comparable to MY9 in the majority of patients, and both were more highly expressed than antigen H366. Incubation with H25 and H366 MoAbs simultaneously did not increase the number of positive cells over that seen when stained with H25 alone; however, the amount of antibody fluorescence intensity (FI) was increased. Leukemic cells simultaneously stained with MoAbs H25, H366, and MY9 displayed the highest number of positive cells and FI. Using magnetic beads coated with sheep anti-mouse IgG for depleting antibody-binding cells, greater than or equal to 90% of L-CFC were depleted by a combination of H25 and H366 MoAbs in 76% of AML cases tested as compared to 41% of the cases with MoAb MY9. Using a MoAb cocktail of H25, H366, and MY9, greater than or equal to 90% of L-CFC were depleted in 94% of cases tested, and greater than or equal to 99% of L-CFC were removed in 76% of the cases. Using the same depletion methods for normal bone marrow cells, a combination of anti-H25 and anti-H366 removed 90%, 98%, and 84% of CFU-GM, BFU-E, and multipotent colony-forming units (CFU-GEM), respectively, whereas the cocktail of H25, H366, and MY9 MoAbs removed 98%, 99.5%, and 97% of CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEM, respectively. Incubation of H25 and H366-depleted bone marrow cells for 2 weeks in the presence of irradiated adherent cell layers from long-term marrow cultures generated CFU-GM and some BFU-E, as did H25, H366, and MY9-depleted marrow cells, although to a much lesser extent. Based on the overall data, combinations of H25, H366, and MY9 MoAbs and immunomagnetic beads conceivably might have therapeutic potential for ex vivo elimination of leukemic cells from AML remission marrows prior to autologous transplantation.

Adult↗

Monoclonal antibody M195: a diagnostic marker for acute myelogenous leukemia.

Monoclonal antibody (mAb) M195 is a mouse IgG2a reactive with a myelomonocytic differentiation antigen found on early myeloid cells and monocytes. The reactivity of M195 with fresh hematopoietic neoplasms in the blood or bone marrow from 227 patients at Memorial Hospital was determined by flow cytometry. M195 was positive on 67% of 61 myeloblastic leukemias. Seventy percent of Tdt-negative ANLL and 30% of Tdt-positive ANLL were positive; 100% of CMMOL and 100% of CML in myeloblastic crisis or accelerated phase were positive. In contrast, M195 was positive on only 8% of 51 lymphoblastic leukemias and 1% of 70 other nonmyeloid samples. M195 binding did not correlate well with FAB classification of ANLL. The pattern of reactivity of M195 was similar but not identical to that of MY9 (CD33) on the same cases (83% concordance). Cross-blocking of M195 binding by MY9 and L4F3 (CD33) was demonstrated. M195 may bind to a different epitope on the same protein antigen. The presence of both MY9 and M195 positivity on a leukemia sample had a 98% specificity of diagnosing ANLL, which was greater than MY9 alone (88%) or M195 alone (92%). Assays of granulocytic-monocytic and erythroid colony-forming units showed M195 to be present on these hematopoietic progenitors. This pattern of reactivity of M195, together with its lack of reactivity with mature granulocytic elements or with adult tissues, make it a candidate for therapy of ANLL in vivo.

Animals↗

Discordant maturation as the primary biological defect in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Comparative studies of the in vitro growth characteristics of normal and chronic myelogenous leukemic (CML) progenitor cells have provided further evidence that discordant maturation is the primary biological defect in CML. The in vitro growth of total normal and CML granulocyte/macrophage colony forming unit (CFU-GM) populations were compared with early and intermediate (HLA-DR positive) CFU-GM derived from the same marrows. The absolute number of total CML CFU-GM exceeded the number generated by normal marrow through 7 days of culture due entirely to an excess of CML CFU-GM with limited proliferative capacity. Unlike normal colonies, relatively few of the leukemic colonies grew to a large size; the early and intermediate (HLA-DR positive) CML progenitors also exhibited limited proliferative capacity compared to normal. Highly enriched progenitor populations were prepared, and it was observed that the primitive (small) CML CFU-GM also had greatly reduced proliferative potential compared to primitive normal progenitors, but rather behaved similarly to normal mature (large) CFU-GM. Similarly, CML erythroid burst forming units were at a more advanced stage of maturation than normal erythroid burst forming units as evidenced by their reduced proliferative capacity, the observation that a reduced proportion required burst promoting activity to enable them to respond to erythropoietin and the observation that a larger fraction than normal could sustain a limited period of erythropoietin deprivation in the absence of burst promoting activity. Based on these findings and supporting evidence from our previous studies and those reported by other investigators, it is concluded that the dominance of the leukemic population is not due to unregulated proliferation but rather to discordant maturation resulting in expansion in the later maturational compartments which are not under strict regulatory control.

Bone Marrow↗

Elimination of myeloma cells from bone marrow by using monoclonal antibodies and magnetic immunobeads.

The efficacy of immunomagnetic beads to purge human myeloma cells from bone marrow ex vivo was evaluated. The optimal conditions for purging were studied first by using three myeloma cell lines: RPMI-8226, SKO-007, and SKMM-2. Myeloma cells labeled with the vital fluorescent dye Hoechst 33342 were admixed with normal bone marrow cells, and two monoclonal antibodies reactive with the myeloma cells (PCA-1 and BL-3) were added alone or in combination with the cells. Magnetic beads coated with goat antimouse immunoglobulin G were then added, and the tumor cells to which beads were attached were separated from the mixture with a magnet. The efficacy of tumor cell removal was dependent on the bead-to-tumor ratio; a ratio of more than 500 was optimal in the presence of excess normal marrow cells. The combination of monoclonal antibodies PCA-1 and BL-3 increased the tumor cell removal as compared with either antibody alone. Two cycles of treatment were more effective than one cycle was. Under optimal conditions, 2.3 to 4 logs of tumor cells could be removed from the mixture containing 10% myeloma cells without a significant loss of normal hematopoietic progenitors as measured by CFU-GM, CFU-GEM, and BFU-E. When the efficacy of this procedure was tested on fresh bone marrow from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) by using the combination of PCA-1, BL-3, and J-5, 1.6 to 2.5 logs of tumor cells could be removed by one cycle of treatment, even from marrows containing less than 10% myeloma cells. These observations support the use of monoclonal antibody combinations and immunobeads as a reliable and nontoxic method to eliminate contaminating myeloma cells ex vivo in preparation for autologous bone marrow transplantation in patients with MM.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Effects of recombinant human tumor necrosis factor on highly enriched hematopoietic progenitor cell populations from normal human bone marrow and peripheral blood and bone marrow from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Previous studies using unseparated normal human bone marrow cells have indicated that recombinant tumor necrosis factor alpha (rTNF-alpha) can inhibit the in vitro colony growth by normal granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-GM) and erythroid (BFU-E) progenitor cells in a dose-dependent manner. In the present studies, by using very low numbers of highly enriched normal bone marrow progenitor cell populations as target cells, we have extended these previous findings to provide convincing evidence that erythroid and myeloid colony growth suppression by rTNF-alpha is manifested by a direct interaction between rTNF-alpha and CFU-GM and BFU-E progenitor cells. In addition, the sensitivity of normal peripheral blood and chronic myeloid leukemia bone marrow CFU-GM and BFU-E colony growth to inhibition by rTNF-alpha was examined and found to be comparable with that of normal bone marrow CFU-GM and BFU-E. Although the continuous presence of high doses of rTNF-alpha (5000 units/ml) was required in methylcellulose cultures for maximal CFU-GM (90%) and BFU-E (70%) colony suppression, short-term exposure (24 to 72 hr) of normal bone marrow-enriched progenitor cells to rTNF-alpha, in the absence of hematopoietic growth factors, was sufficient to irreversibly suppress up to 50 to 65% of CFU-GM colony growth. In contrast, the number of BFU-E colonies was increased under these conditions. If, however, hematopoietic growth factors (Mo-T-cell-conditioned medium and erythropoietin) were present during preincubation of the cells with rTNF-alpha, BFU-E were then slightly suppressed while the extent of CFU-GM inhibition remained essentially the same. The suppressive effect of rTNF-alpha on erythroid and myeloid progenitor cell growth appears to be most pronounced on the more primative stages of committed progenitor cell development, since inhibition of CFU-GM- and BFU-E-derived colony growth progressively decreased with the delayed addition of rTNF-alpha to methylcellulose cultures. [3H]Thymidine incorporation was also inhibited by rTNF-alpha in normal bone marrow-enriched progenitor cell populations stimulated to proliferate in liquid culture by colony-stimulating factors. This effect was transient, however, since the activity of rTNF-alpha declined after the first 24 h of culture at 37 degrees C, particularly at low doses of rTNF-alpha where the activity was completely lost after 48 h of culture. This loss of activity appeared to be due to a decreased sensitivity of progenitor cells to the antiproliferative effects of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) after an initial exposure rather than a lack of available TNF.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Bone Marrow↗

Expression of two natural killer cell antigens, H-25 and H-366, by human immature myeloid cells and by erythroid and granulocytic/monocytic colony-forming units.

Two monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), H-25 and H-366, shown previously to react with human peripheral blood large granular lymphocytes with natural killer (NK) cell activity and some peripheral blood monocytes, have now been shown to also react with a significant proportion of the myeloid and erythroid precursor cells in human bone marrow and peripheral blood. In FACS IV cell sorting and immune rosetting of bone marrow cells, the antigens recognized by H-25 and H-366 were found to be expressed on most blasts and promyelocytes but sequentially fewer of the more mature cells of the myeloid lineage. Both antigens were also found on most monocytes but only a minor proportion of lymphoid and nucleated red cells in the bone marrow. In vitro assays detecting hematopoietic colony-forming units revealed that these antigens are expressed by virtually all mature erythroid colony-forming units (day-7 CFU-E), and the majority of the more primitive erythroid burst forming units (day-14 BFU-E). H-25 but not H-366 was also found on a variable proportion of the day-7 and day-14 granulocytic/monocytic colony-forming units (CFU-GM) in the bone marrow. The same type of precursor cells are also found in the H-25 and H-366 positive cell populations isolated from peripheral blood. In preliminary testing of cells from acute leukemic patients, FACS analysis showed that both antigens are also expressed on leukemic cells from patients with T cell acute lymphocytic leukemia and with myeloid leukemias. These studies demonstrate that the H-25 and H-366 positive NK cells in the peripheral blood retain some of the cell surface properties of early hematopoietic precursor cells, thus providing further evidence supporting the bone marrow origin of NK cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Photoradiation models for the clinical ex vivo treatment of autologous bone marrow grafts.

To assess the potential of photoradiation therapy for the in vitro purging of residual tumor cells from autologous bone marrow (BM) transplants, we studied normal marrow and tumor cell clonogenicity in response to different light-activated compounds by using the fluorescent dyes dihematoporphyrin ether (DHE) and merocyanine-540 (MC-540). After photoradiation of cells with white light, both DHE and MC-540 showed high cytocidal activity toward lymphoid and myeloid neoplastic cells but had a significantly lesser effect on normal granulocyte-macrophage (CFU-GM), erythroid (BFU-E), and mixed colony-forming (CFU-GEMM) progenitor cells. Acute promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60), non-B, non-T, CALLA-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Reh), and diffuse histocytic B cell lymphoma (SK-DHL-2) cell lines were exposed to different drug concentrations in combination with white light at a constant illumination rate of 50,000 lux. With DHE doses varying from 2.0 to 2.5 micrograms/mL and MC-540 concentrations of 15 to 20 micrograms/mL, clonogenic tumor cells could be reduced by more than 4 logs when treated alone or in mixtures with normal irradiated human marrow cells. However, preferential cytotoxicity towards neoplastic cells was highly dependent on the mode of light activation. MC-540 had no substantial effect on malignant lymphoid (SK-DHL-2) and myeloid (HL-60) cells and on normal marrow myeloid (CFU-GM) precursors when drug incubation was performed in the dark and followed by light exposure of washed cells. Equal doses of MC-540 (15 to 20 micrograms/mL) could preferentially eliminate tumor cells under conditions of simultaneous light and drug treatment (30 minutes at 37 degrees C). When using DHE (2.5 micrograms/mL), 29.3%, 46.8%, and 27.5% of normal marrow CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEMM, respectively, were spared after sequential drug and light exposure of cells, whereas simultaneous treatment reduced both normal (CFU-GM) and neoplastic cells below the limits of detection. In summary, our results indicate the usefulness of various photoradiation models for the ex vivo treatment of leukemic and lymphomatous bone marrow autografts.

Bone Marrow↗

Activities of four purified growth factors on highly enriched human hematopoietic progenitor cells.

The activities of four purified human growth factors: biosynthetic (recombinant) granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF); recombinant erythroid-potentiating activity (EPA); natural and recombinant pluripoietin (Ppo); and natural pluripoietin alpha (Ppo alpha), were compared on the growth of hematopoietic colonies from enriched populations of human marrow and blood progenitor cells. Conditioned medium from the Mo T cell line (MoCM) was used as a standard positive control. We found that activities of GM-CSF and Ppo alpha on the growth of hematopoietic colonies were indistinguishable; Ppo alpha is now believed to be identical to GM-CSF. Both factors were able to promote the growth of colonies derived from subpopulations of CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEM. Colonies derived from CFU-GM and CFU-GEM in cultures stimulated by GM-CSF and Ppo alpha were much smaller than in cultures stimulated by MoCM. In contrast to previous reports in which less highly enriched progenitors were used as target cells, Ppo had no detectable activity on the growth of colonies derived from BFU-E or CFU-GEM but promoted the growth of a subpopulation of CFU-GM derived colonies. Ppo is now recognized to be identical to G-CSF. The GM colonies in cultures stimulated by G-CSF (Ppo) were much smaller than in cultures stimulated by MoCM. EPA had no detectable activity on either the size or number of colonies derived from CFU-GM, BFU-E, or CFU-GEM. Results from experiments using target cell populations of marrow fractions separated by velocity sedimentation and marrow populations following freezing suggested that GM-CSF (Ppo alpha) and G-CSF (Ppo) primarily affect the growth of relatively mature subpopulations of progenitor cells. It is clear from these results that additional factor(s) are present in MoCM that are necessary to stimulate CFU-GM, BFU-E, and CFU-GEM maximally in vitro.

Bone Marrow↗

Variable expression of the translocated c-abl oncogene in Philadelphia-chromosome-positive B-lymphoid cell lines from chronic myelogenous leukemia patients.

The consistent cytogenetic translocation of chronic myelogenous leukemia (the Philadelphia chromosome, Ph1) has been observed in cells of multiple hematopoietic lineages. This translocation creates a chimeric gene composed of breakpoint-cluster-region (bcr) sequences from chromosome 22 fused to a portion of the abl oncogene on chromosome 9. The resulting gene product (P210c-abl) resembles the transforming protein of the Abelson murine leukemia virus in its structure and tyrosine kinase activity. P210c-abl is expressed in Ph1-positive cell lines of myeloid lineage and in clinical specimens with myeloid predominance. We show here that Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B-lymphocyte lines that retain Ph1 can express P210c-abl. The level of expression in these B-cell lines is generally lower and more variable than that observed for myeloid lines. Protein expression is not related to amplification of the abl gene but to variation in the level of bcr-abl mRNA produced from a single Ph1 template.

B-Lymphocytes↗

Incidence of involvement of the B and T lymphocyte lineages in chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Peripheral blood specimens were obtained from 22 patients with Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1) positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) (16 in chronic phase, 2 in an accelerated phase, and 4 in blast crisis). Studies were performed to determine the frequency of the presence of the Ph1 chromosome in cells of lymphoid lineages. Rosetted (E+) lymphocytes (T lymphocytes) from nine patients in chronic phase and one patient in blast crisis were stimulated with T cell growth factor interleukin 2 (IL-2) and/or phytohemagglutinin (PHA). All ten patients had sufficient T lymphocyte metaphases for analysis and of a total of 461 metaphases examined, only one contained the Ph1 chromosome. Nucleated cells of density less than 1.077 g/mL were infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Following infection, cell lines were established from individual colonies attached to egg albumin-coated Lab-Tek slide chambers (clonal cell lines) or from suspension culture in 96-well tissue culture cluster dishes (nonclonal cell lines). Cell surface and intracellular marker analysis confirmed the B lymphocyte phenotype of all the cell lines examined. B lymphoblastoid cell lines were established from 16 of the 22 patients. All lines from 12 patients were Ph1-negative. From two chronic phase patients, both Ph1-positive and Ph1-negative lines were established. From one patient in an accelerated phase, only Ph1-positive lines were established. From another patient in blast crisis (of myeloblastic phenotype), only Ph1-positive lines were established initially; however, five months later, after the patient had been treated with mitoxantrone, only Ph1-negative lines were derived from this patient. Based on these results, it appears that most B cells and mature T cells in most CML patients are Ph1-negative, but that about 25% of patients have predominantly Ph1-positive B cells or a mixture of Ph1-positive and Ph1-negative B cells that are capable of growing as established cell lines after transformation with EBV.

Adolescent↗

Regulation of human peripheral blood erythroid burst-forming unit growth by T lymphocytes and T lymphocyte subpopulations defined by OKT4 and OKT8 monoclonal antibodies.

To reexamine the influence that T lymphocytes have on the regulation of human peripheral blood burst-forming unit (BFU-E) proliferation in the absence of a statistically significant number of monocytes, very low numbers (3 to 10 X 10(3)/mL) of a null cell fraction highly enriched for BFU-E were cultured alone and in the presence of 5 X 10(5) sheep erythrocyte-purified, autologous T lymphocytes in a methylcellulose culture system containing erythropoietin. T lymphocytes consistently enhanced the growth of BFU-E from the null cell fraction, as reflected in both their number and size. Irradiation of T lymphocytes prior to coculture with null cells markedly reduced this enhancement, strongly suggesting that T lymphocytes synthesize erythroid burst-promoting factors (BPA). To determine whether there were functional differences between the two major T lymphocyte populations as defined by OKT4 (T helper/inducer) and OKT8 (T suppressor/cytotoxic) murine monoclonal antibodies to stimulate the growth of BFU-E, both T cell subpopulations were isolated by negative (panning) or positive (fluorescence-activated cell sorting) selection and cocultured with null cells. No statistically significant differences emerged between unseparated, OKT4+ and OKT8+ T lymphocytes in their ability to stimulate the growth of BFU-E. Thus, these studies provide further evidence that T lymphocytes are a major population of BPA-producing cells and further that OKT4+ and OKT8+ T lymphocytes equally elaborate these factors.

Animals↗

A technique to quantify cytoreduction in the bone marrow induced by cytotoxic chemotherapy.

A technique to quantify the cytoreduction in the bone marrow induced by chemotherapy in leukemia patients is reported. Bone-marrow core biopsies are obtained and the specimens are carefully minced in McCoy's 5a medium with a 20% fetal bovine serum supplement. The number of cells present per millimeter length of bone-marrow specimen is obtained by finding the concentration of cells in the supernatant, multiplying by the total volume of the supernatant, and dividing by the length of the bone-marrow biopsy specimen. Cytocentrifuge preparations are made from this supernatant and stained by standard techniques. Once the percentage of blasts is found, the absolute number of blasts per millimeter of bone marrow can be calculated. Serial measurements were made in 19 patients: nine patients were receiving first-line therapy for acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, and 10 were given experimental chemotherapy, which consisted of prolonged infusions of thymidine and cytosine arabinoside in six, and short infusions of thymidine, cystosine arabinoside, and phosphonoacetyl-l-aspartate, daily for five days in four. No patient with less than 2 log10 reduction in the number of marrow blasts achieved a remission, while only one patient in whom there was more than a 2 log10 reduction in the number of blasts failed to do so.

Acute Disease↗

Proliferative potential of subpopulations of granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells in normal subjects and chronic myelogenous leukemia patients.

The studies described compare the subpopulations of granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells present in normal marrow with those derived from the marrow of patients with Ph1-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The subpopulations were separated on the basis of size by velocity sedimentation and measured for their proliferative capacity by the colony formation technique. A pattern of development of colonies in the individual fractions was obtained by assaying the absolute number of colonies present at time intervals from 3 to 21 days. The number of colonies present at 3 days was taken as 100%, and the percentage of increase or decrease from this value was determined on subsequent days. In the fractions containing the most rapidly sedimenting large cells, the pattern of development of colonies derived from normal and CML marrow was similar. The CML colony-forming units in culture (CFU-C) began to show a deviation from the normal CFU-C pattern of development in the fractions containing CFU-C intermediate in size, and this deviation became progressively more pronounced in the slowest sedimenting small cell fractions. In these latter fractions, the CFU-C derived from CML marrow decreased in number at a rate similar to those arising from the more rapidly sedimenting fractions. This is in contrast to CFU-C derived from normal marrow, which increased in number in the more slowly sedimenting fractions and in the intermediate fractions, remained constant in number, or decreased at a rate slower than those arising from the more rapidly sedimenting fractions. The most likely explanation for these findings is accelerated maturation of the early small granulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells in CML so that these cells show the same limited proliferative capacity as do the later larger progenitor cells.

Cell Division↗