Mitogenic stimulation of malignant B cells CLL: Diminished in-vitro stimulation with anti-CR1 antibodies

Peripheral B lymphocytes of five CLL patients were tested in a radioimmunoassay to determine the density of the C3b receptor (CR1) and the cells were assayed for their ability to mature into IgM secreting cells after in-vitro culture with a combination of Pokeweed Mitogen (PWM) and antibodies directed against CR1. Despite the presence of normal amounts of CR1 on the leukemic B cells, crosslinking of these receptors by anti-CR1 antibodies stimulated only a fraction of the leukemic cell population to differentiate into IgM secreting cells. These results add to the partial functional impairment of CLL-B cells.