Protooncogene expression in subpopulations of cells from leukemia patients.

This report describes a method for preserving the light scatter patterns of cells in which myc and myb expression are being measured. Exposure of cells to 1% paraformaldehyde for 72 h prior to antibody staining for myc and myb proteins preserved the light scatter patterns. Using this method, myc and myb expression was found to be highest in lymphocytes and monocytes and lowest in granulocytes. The measurement of differences in the level of expression of these genes in subpopulations of leukemia cells obtained from individual patients is possible as is assessment of the levels of expression amongst normal and leukemia cells present in the same patient.