Antigenic expression and proliferative status of multilineage myeloid progenitor cells (CFU-GEMM) in normal individuals and patients with chronic granulocytic leukaemia.
We assayed the number of multilineage myeloid progenitor cells (CFU-GEMM) in the blood and marrow of patients with newly diagnosed chronic granulocytic leukaemia (CGL). The mean number of CFU-GEMM in the blood was increased 600-fold and CFU-GEMM in the marrow was doubled in the CGL patients compared with normal. A complement-fixing monoclonal antibody with HLA-DR specificity inhibited the proliferation of CFU-GEMM from CGL blood to a greater extent than that of comparable cells in normal marrow. Using a hydroxyurea 'suicide' method we found that the proportion of CFU-GEMM in proliferative cycle was higher in CGL blood than in normal marrow. We conclude that (1) CFU-GEMM numbers are greatly increased in the blood of patients with CGL, (2) CFU-GEMM express HLA-DR antigens on their surface, and (3) the apparently increased expression of the antigen on CFU-GEMM from CGL blood in comparison with CFU-GEMM from normal marrow may parallel the relatively higher proportion of CGL CFU-GEMM in cell cycle.
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002455:Cell Division; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D006918:Hydroxyurea; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000097:blood*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D006918:Hydroxyurea