title: Expression of the immunoglobulin-associated protein B29 in B cell disorders with the monoclonal antibody SN8 (CD79b).
abstract: We studied the expression of the immunoglobulin-associated membrane protein B29 in 499 cases of chronic B cell diseases using the monoclonal antibody SN8 (CD79b). SN8 was positive in 5% (17/330) of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and 100% (15/15) of B prolymphocytic leukemia. The expression of B29 in other B cell disorders was, as a rule, significantly higher than in CLL. Two thirds of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in leukemic phase were SN8 positive, including lymphoplasmacytic (45%), follicular (83%), mantle cell (92%) and splenic lymphoma with villous lymphocytes (74%) while only 25% of hairy cell leukemias were SN8 positive. Within CLL, 2.3% of typical cases were SN8+ while 16% of cases with atypical morphology and an increased number of prolymphocytes were SN8+. Our results suggest a useful role for SN8 in the immunophenotypic differentiation of B cell disorders as a marker for non-CLL diseases. The analysis of B29 expression may throw light into the structure of the B cell antigen receptor in B cell malignancies while the distinctive reactivity profile of SN8 has direct applications to diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Haematology and Cytogenetics, Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Zomas
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matutes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morilla
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Owusu-Ankomah
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Seon
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Catovsky
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis*; D051925:CD79 Antigens; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D015463:Leukemia, Prolymphocytic / Q000378:metabolism*; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D015703:Antigens, CD; D051925:CD79 Antigens; C497883:CD79B protein, human