A. Gagro et al., PHENOTYPIC ANALYSIS OF RECEPTOR-LIGAND PAIRS ON B-CELLS IN B-CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC-LEUKEMIA, Leukemia & lymphoma, 25(3-4), 1997, pp. 301-311
Whole-blood three-color immunofluorescence analysis was used to invest
igate the role of CD5/CD72 and CDZ1/CD23 receptor-ligand pair formatio
n on B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) cells as well as sCD23 and
bcl-2 oncoprotein expression in disease progression and activity and
total tumor mass in B-cell chronic leukemia (B-CLL) patients, Thirty-f
our patients with B-CLL and 19 controls were included in the study. Th
e majority of B-cells in B-CLL patients coexpressed CD5 and CD72 as we
ll as the CD23 antigen. Unlike B-cells in B-CLL patients, B-cells in a
ll healthy controls tested had high expression of CD21 antigen. We ide
ntified two groups of B-CLL patients according to high (n = 20) or low
levels (n = 14) of CD21 expression on CD19(+)CD23(+) B-cells. Only in
the patients with high CD21 expression, were sCD23 levels positively
correlated with factors known to have prognostic significance in B-CLL
(Rai stage and TTM) and could, therefore, be used as a prognostic par
ameter for these B-CLL patients. Bcl-2 oncoprotein expression did not
differ between these patient groups. We presumed that in patients with
a lower expression of CD21 antigen, the contribution of the CD21 mole
cule to homotypic adhesion was lacking. Further studies are necessary
to determine the possible association of higher expression of the CD21
antigen with disease progression and the agressive character of the B
-CLL.