Table 2.
Major cell types used for chimerism analysis.
| Cell Type | Markers | Property | Applications | Advantages | Disadvantages | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole blood | – | PB | Routine use Engraftment confirmation Diagnosis of graft failure |
Easy to obtain sample Less manipulation |
Low sensitivity Low specificity |
[7,8,63] |
| Bulk marrow | – | BM | Engraftment confirmation Diagnosis and prediction of graft failure | High sensitivity Useful for leukopenic patients |
Low specificity | [46,51] |
| T cells | CD3 CD4, CD8 |
PB | Surrogate for graft rejection or relapse |
High frequency of MC Widely available data |
Indirect for hematopoietic reconstitution | [8,47,57,60,61,63,64,65,66,67,68,69] |
| Myeloid cells | CD33 CD14, CD15, CD66b |
BM PB |
Surrogate for relapse of AML, MDS |
Best information of hematopoietic origin | Limited available data | [13,56,63,65,70,71,72] |
| HPCs | CD34 | BM | Surrogate for relapse of AML, MDS, ALL |
High sensitivity for predicting relapse | Difficulty in obtaining sample | [68,73] |
HPCs, hematopoietic progenitor cells; PB, peripheral blood; BM, bone marrow; MC, mixed chimerism; ALL, acute lymphoblastic leukemia.