Aman P, Mellstedt H
Department of Clinical Genetics, University Hospital of Lund, Sweden.
Leuk Res. 1991;15(8):715-9. doi: 10.1016/0145-2126(91)90074-4.
Some patients with CLL survive for decades with a stable lymphocytosis without other signs of progression of the disease. This condition has been termed monoclonal lymphocytosis of undetermined significance (MLUS). The aim of the present study was to search for functional differences between the monoclonal B-cell population of CLL (n = 3) and MLUS (n = 5) patients. MLUS derived B-cell populations were susceptible to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection measured as the production of EB nuclear antigen (EBNA) whereas CLL derived cells were resistant. In 4 out of 5 MLUS patients, lymphoblastoid cell line (LCL) like cell-clumps were formed, but not in CLL. The clonal B-cell population from 2 of 5 MLUS patients was immortalized by EBV (LCL restricted to the expression of one Ig light chain) while no cell line emerged from the CLL patients. Phorbol esters induced cell to cell adhesion of MLUS and normal B cells but not of CLL derived cells. This study further enlarges previous observations and strengthens the assumption that MLUS clonal B cells are functionally close to normal B cells while CLL B cells display various functional abnormalities.
一些慢性淋巴细胞白血病（CLL）患者可存活数十年，淋巴细胞增多稳定，无疾病进展的其他迹象。这种情况被称为意义未明的单克隆淋巴细胞增多症（MLUS）。本研究的目的是寻找CLL患者（n = 3）和MLUS患者（n = 5）的单克隆B细胞群体之间的功能差异。以EB核抗原（EBNA）的产生来衡量，MLUS来源的B细胞群体易受爱泼斯坦 - 巴尔病毒（EBV）感染，而CLL来源的细胞具有抗性。在5例MLUS患者中的4例中，形成了类淋巴母细胞系（LCL）的细胞团块，但CLL患者中未形成。5例MLUS患者中有2例的克隆B细胞群体被EBV永生化（LCL限于一种Ig轻链的表达），而CLL患者未产生细胞系。佛波酯可诱导MLUS和正常B细胞的细胞间黏附，但不能诱导CLL来源细胞的细胞间黏附。本研究进一步扩展了先前的观察结果，并强化了以下假设：MLUS克隆B细胞在功能上接近正常B细胞，而CLL B细胞表现出各种功能异常。
