Morphological evidence for a motile behavior by plasma cells.
Immunofluorescence microscopy of the adherent layer of human long-term bone marrow cultures (HLTBMCs) consistently revealed motility-associated features in a part of the plasma cells. Not only were small surface blebs observed, but also long extensions whose morphology was reminiscent of neuronal axons. The observations were made in all HLTBMCs established with normal as well as myelomatous bone marrow (BM). Plasma cells with long extensions were also noticed on May-Grünwald-Giemsa smears of original uncultured BM from normal individuals and patients with myelomatous disorders. This suggests that the motility-associated morphological features occur in vivo as well as in vitro. The observations were most striking in the one case of plasma cell leukemia, both in culture as well as in the BM smear.
Berneman
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Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, University of Antwerp (UIA), Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium.
Chen
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Peetermans
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D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002465:Cell Movement; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007952:Leukemia, Plasma Cell / Q000473:pathology; D010950:Plasma Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling