ANALYSIS OF CELL SURFACE ANTIGEN ON NEOPLASTIC LYMPHOCYTES BY THE USE OF ANTI-HUMAN BRAIN SERUM

Cell surface antigens on neoplastic lymphoid cells of T cell lineage were analyzed with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FAGS-II) by utilizing rabbit antisera raised against human brain tissue (anti-Br) and fetal thymocytes (anti-Ty). Both before and after extensive absorption with normal peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), the anti-Br antiserum was capable of staining neoplastic lymphoid cells from patients with Sézary syndrome, mycosis fungoides, thymoma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The absorption of anti-Ty with normal PBL, however, resulted in loss of the ability to stain these neoplastic cells. The anti-Br preabsorbed with normal PBL was found to stain normal bone marrow cells and neoplastic myeloid cells but not fetal thymocytes. It is suggested that the absorbed anti-Br is capable of detecting differentiation antigens present on immature hematopoietic cells in the bone marrow, which would be anomalously expressed on neoplastic lymphoid cells of T cell lineage.