Abstract
Immunofluorescence study of viable and fixed cells was performed on marrow and blood samples from 25 patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. Whereas intracytoplasmic staining for IgM was restricted to the plasma cells and to a limited number of lymphocytic cells, the vast majority of the pleomorphic “lymphoid” proliferating cells in the marrow were shown to bear the monoclonal IgM on their surface. All IgM-secreting plasma cells displayed membrane positivity. Most lymphocytic proliferating cells carried the monoclonal IgM on their surface in the absence of detectable amounts of intracytoplasmic IgM. Despite the usual absence of increase in blood lymphocyte counts, a large number of circulating lymphocytes were shown to bear membrane-bound monoclonal IgM in patients with active disease. The number of fluorescent spots, their size and brightness varied greatly from cell to cell in marrow and blood samples of a given patient, and this finding is in contrast to the homogeneous fluorescent pattern observed in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The data suggest that macroglobulinemia represents the proliferation of a clone of B cells which continues to mature and differentiate.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Harris R., Ukaejiofo E. O. Tissue typing using a routine one-step lymphocyte separation procedure. Br J Haematol. 1970 Feb;18(2):229–235. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1970.tb01436.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kincade P. W., Lawton A. R., Cooper M. D. Restriction of surface immunoglobulin determinants to lymphocytes of the plasma cell line. J Immunol. 1971 May;106(5):1421–1423. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Klein E., Eskeland T., Inoue M., Strom R., Johansson B. Surface immunoglobulin-moieties on lymphoid cells. Exp Cell Res. 1970 Sep;62(1):133–148. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(79)90515-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Klein E., Klein G., Nadkarni J. S., Nadkarni J. J., Wigzell H., Clifford P. Surface IgM-kappa specificity on a Burkitt lymphoma cell in vivo and in derived culture lines. Cancer Res. 1968 Jul;28(7):1300–1310. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Paraskevas F., Lee S. T., Israels L. G. Cell surface associated gamma globulins in lymphocytes. I. Reverse immune cytoadherence: a technique for their detection in mouse and human lymphocytes. J Immunol. 1971 Jan;106(1):160–170. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pernis B., Forni L., Amante L. Immunoglobulin spots on the surface of rabbit lymphocytes. J Exp Med. 1970 Nov;132(5):1001–1018. doi: 10.1084/jem.132.5.1001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Preud'homme J. L., Hurez D., Seligmann M. Immunofluorescence studies in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. Rev Eur Etud Clin Biol. 1970 Dec;15(10):1127–1131. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Preud'homme J. L., Klein M., Verroust P., Seligmann M. Immunoglobulines monoclonales de membrane dans les leucémies lymphoïdes chroniques. Rev Eur Etud Clin Biol. 1971 Dec;16(10):1025–1031. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rabellino E., Colon S., Grey H. M., Unanue E. R. Immunoglobulins on the surface of lymphocytes. I. Distribution and quantitation. J Exp Med. 1971 Jan 1;133(1):156–167. doi: 10.1084/jem.133.1.156. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rabellino E., Grey H. M. Immunoglobulins on the surface of lymphocytes. 3. Bursal origin of surface immunoglobulins on chicken lymphocytes. J Immunol. 1971 May;106(5):1418–1420. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Raff M. C., Sternberg M., Taylor R. B. Immunoglobulin determinants on the surface of mouse lymphoid cells. Nature. 1970 Feb 7;225(5232):553–554. doi: 10.1038/225553a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sherr C. J., Uhr J. W. Immunoglobulin synthesis and secretion. VI. Synthesis and intracellular transport of immunoglobulin in nonsecretory lymphoma cells. J Exp Med. 1971 Apr 1;133(4):901–920. doi: 10.1084/jem.133.4.901. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Unanue E. R., Grey H. M., Rabellino E., Campbell P., Schmidtke J. Immunoglobulins on the surface of lymphocytes. II. The bone marrow as the main source of lymphocytes with detectable surface-bound immunoglobulin. J Exp Med. 1971 Jun 1;133(6):1188–1198. doi: 10.1084/jem.133.6.1188. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]