To date, only anti-glycophorin-A monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been widely used as anti-erythroid probes in the diagnosis of leukemias. We have examined blood, bone-marrow and lymph-node samples from 474 patients, adults and children, with different hemopoietic malignancies, using a panel of MAbs including 2 anti-erythroid MAbs directed to glycophorin-A and an antigen of erythroblasts, Ag-Eb. MAb HAE9 directed against a human epitope of Ag-Eb has earlier been shown to be highly specific for immature erythroid cells. Of all the patients, 2.7% demonstrated glycophorin-A expression on blast cells, while anti-Ag-Eb MAb HAE9 reacted positively with cells from 6.0% of patients. Samples from 31 of 474 (6.5%) patients expressed one or both erythroid markers. Our results indicate that MAb HAE9 may be useful, in combination with anti-glycophorin-A MAbs, as an anti-erythroid probe for immunophenotyping human leukemias.

The activities of membrane-bound proteases: ƒÁ-glutamyltranspeptidase (ƒÁ-GTP), microsomal alanyl aminopeptidase (mAAP, formerly APM), glutamyl-aminopeptidase (EAP, formerly APA) and dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV)-were examined in 11 cases with non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphomas (NHL), in 7 cases with Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 8 cases with reactive follicular hyperplasia (RFH) by means of enzyme histochemical methods. The results indicated that there was correlation between grade malignancy of NHL and ƒÁ-GTP activity: marker with which to predict drug-and irradiation resistance. Moreover, mAAP-and EAP pattern in the lymphoid cells may be useful in defining in lymph nodes the metastatic tumour cells with strong activities of these enzymes.

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We have studied the reactivity patterns of a previously described pan-macrophage monoclonal antibody (MAb) D11 in 324 cases of acute leukemia and malignant lymphoma (ML). Reaction of D11 in tissue sections was restricted to histiocytes and macrophages. In non-Hodgkin's ML, D11 helped to confirm or to establish the histiocytic nature in 8 of 96 cases, i.e., in 4 of 6 histiocytic MLs; 2 of 13 anaplastic large-cell lymphomas; 1 of 4 large-cell immunoblastic clear-cell MLs; and 1 of 2 histiocytosis X cases. Positive reaction of D11 in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) was found in 9 of 86 cases (all belonging to early B-lineage leukemia), of which 4 were CD34-positive and 5 co-expressed 1 or more myeloid/monocytic antigens. MAb D11 did not react in 42 cases of acute-myeloblastic-leukemia (AML) FAB variants M0-M5, except 1 acute mixed-lineage leukemia M1/pre-pre-B. Comparative study of the MAb D11 and a standard CD68 MAb KP- 1 showed that the antigens belong to different epitopes of different molecules.

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