SURFACE-ANTIGEN EXPRESSION ON CD34(-BLOOD CELLS - COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS BY FLOW-CYTOMETRY AND LIMITING DILUTION (LD) RT-PCR OF CHYMOPAPAIN-TREATED OR UNTREATED CELLS() CORD)
Bl. Ziegler et al., SURFACE-ANTIGEN EXPRESSION ON CD34(-BLOOD CELLS - COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS BY FLOW-CYTOMETRY AND LIMITING DILUTION (LD) RT-PCR OF CHYMOPAPAIN-TREATED OR UNTREATED CELLS() CORD), Cytometry, 25(1), 1996, pp. 46-57
Expression of antigens coexpressed on cord blood (CB) CD34(+) cells wa
s evaluated by flow cytometry analysis and reverse transcriptase polym
erase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Antigen expression was also comparative
ly analyzed by flow cytometry and limiting dilution (LD) RT-PCR to inv
estigate effects of chymopapain on epitopes of several cell surface ma
rkers: LD RT-PCR allows detection of the expression of antigens degrad
ed by chymopapain which are not identified by flow cytometry. Monoclon
al antibodies (MoAbs) that recognize chymopapain resistant epitopes on
several coexpressed cell surface markers were identified: these inclu
ded MoAbs directed against CD11a, CD13, CD18, CD38, CD45R0, CD51, HLA-
DR, Thy-1, c-kit, flt-3 (STK-1), and mdr-l. Interestingly, chymopapain
treatment caused enhanced staining with MoAbs against HLA-DR, Thy-1,
flt-3, mdr-l, and CD51. The frequency (LD RT-PCR) of CD18, CD38, Thy-1
, and c-kit RT-PCR signals on pure sorted CD34(+) CD18(-), CD34(+) CD3
8(-), CD34(+) Thy-1(-), and CD34(+) c-kit(-) cells, respectively, was
similar in correspending subsets treated or not with chymopapain. In c
ontrast, the frequency of CD33 RT-PCR signals on sorted CD34(+)CD33(-)
cells was higher in chymopapain-treated samples than in untreated sam
ples and thus confirmed at the transcriptional level that the epitope
recognized by anti-CD33 is chymopapain sensitive. Our findings extend
data on the phenotypic profile of CB CD34(+) cells and show that sever
al key cell surface markers of hematopoietic progenitor cells are chym
opapain resistant. In addition, the results of the present study demon
strate that the RT-PCR can be applied to the analysis of multiple RNA
species in small numbers of hematopoietic progenitor cells and show th
at LD RT-PCR allows the identification and frequency determination of
rare cells which are undetectable by flow cytometry. (C) 1996 Wiley-Li
ss, Inc.