Lymphocyte markers for B- and T-cells in primary immunodeficiency diseases

Immunological investigations in two brothers with ataxia telangiectasia Louis-Bar

Two of three brothers with the classical signs of ataxia telangiectasia were investigated for their immunological disorders at the ages of 13 and 16 years, respectively. The elder brother also suffers from autoimmune hemolytic anemia, a complication which has not yet been described in the course of ataxia telangiectasia. Immunological investigations made in both brothers showed a reduction in the number and function of T lymphocytes. The number of B lymphocytes was normal, among which there were cells staining for IgA, although serum IgA was absent. It seems possible that this phenomenon is caused by a disturbance in the process of maturation of lymphoid cells with a lack of differentiation into IgA-synthesizing plasma cells.

Cell cycle dependency of a T-cell marker on lymphoblasts

A T-cell marker was expressed by the leukemic lymphoblasts of a 14 years old boy. After 14 days of cultivation, a permanently growing lymphoblastic cell line JM, which manifested the T-cell marker over the whole period of subcultivation, was established from the blood. In vitro synchronization experiments showed that this important cell marker in the G1 phase of the cell cycle is expressed on the surface of the blasts to a reduced degree, compared to the level in the other cell cycle phases.

Lymphoproliferative disease in a cotton-top marmoset after inoculation with infectious mononucleosis-derived Epstein-Barr virus

Injection of concentrated EBV derived from cells of the Kaplan line of infectious mononucleosis (IM) origin resulted in malignant lymphoproliferation in one out of three cotton-top marmosets 6 weeks after inoculation. Two additional animals receiving the same isolate after incubation with an antibody-containing human serum did not develop tumors. Inoculation of concentrated virus derived from the P3HR-1 line of Burkitt origin did not lead to lymphoproliferations in five marmosets. Three of these received non-neutralized, and two received neutralized P3HR-1 virus. The tumor obtained with the Kaplan isolate revealed characteristics of a lymphosarcome. It contained EBV-specific DNA. In addition, EBV-synthesizing lymphoblastoid lines were established from a tumorous lymph-node, as well as from the spleen of the diseased marmoset. Virus recovered from these lines transformed lymphocytes derived from spleens of healthy marmosets. The tumor-bearing animal developed low levels of anti-VCA antibodies during the course of tumor growth. These data demonstrate the oncogenic potential of EBV directly derived from cells of IM origin.