RECEPTORS FOR IGM - FEATURE OF SUB-POPULATIONS OF BOTH T-HUMAN LYMPHOCYTES AND B-HUMAN LYMPHOCYTES

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 32  (2) , 324-332
Abstract
Receptors for Ig[immunoglobulin]M were detected on peripheral blood and tonsil human lymphocytes by a rosette technique with ox red blood cells (ORBC) coated with anti-ORBC rabbit IgM. The receptors were very sensitive to handling procedures of cells and to low temperatures. An overnight incubation period at 37.degree. C was the optimal condition for the maximum expression of receptors for IgM, but the use of IgM-free media in these cultures was not an essential or favorable factor for an optimal rosette formation when ORBC heavily coated with rabbit IgM were used. The great majority of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients presented a high number of EA(IgM)-RFC [erythrocyte IgM complex-rosette forming cell] on freshly drawn or cultured lymphocytes. Fractionation procedures of normal peripheral blood and tonsil lymphocytes demonstrated that a subpopulation of B [bone marrow-derived] cells, like T [thymus-derived] cells, also possessed receptors for IgM. The receptors for IgM on B cells were less easily detectable and seemed to possess a lower avidity for IgM than those present on T lymphocytes.