RAPID METHOD FOR PURIFICATION OF CD56(-KILLER-CELLS WITH PREFERENTIALENRICHMENT OF THE CD56(BRIGHT+) SUBSET() NATURAL)

A rapid method for the purification of CD56(+) natural killer (NK) cel ls with the preferential enrichment of the CD56(bright) subset is desc ribed. The method;is based on the adsorption of CD56(+) cells indirect ly stained with a biotinylated antibody on an avidin-coated column. Th e adsorbed CD56(+) cells can then be squeezed out mechanically without damaging the viability or the function of the cells. Starting from pe ripheral mononuclear cells from adult donors, the recovery of the CD56 (+) cells was 11.9+/-9.0% (n = 8), the purity 93.0+/-4.9% (n = 10), an d the enrichment factor 7.5+/-1.7 (n = 8). Further phenotypic classifi cation of the CD56(+) cells into CD56(dim+) and CD56(bright+) cells sh owed a preferential enrichment of the CD56(bright+) phenotype with a r ecovery of 40.5+/-19.6% (n = 8), a purity of 30.3+/-13.2% (n = 8), and an enrichment factor of 29.8+/-7.2 (n = 8). In conclusion, the descri bed method allows the rapid purification of CD56(+) NK cells with the preferential enrichment of the CD56(bright+) subset. (C) 1994 Wiley-Li ss, Inc.