Lectin-binding properties of Burkitt's lymphoma cell lines: application to bone marrow purging.

The efficacy of binding of several lectins to different Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) cell lines was investigated. Soybean agglutinin (SBA), peanut agglutinin (PNA), wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), and Sambucus nigra agglutinin (SNA) bound strongly to all BL cell lines. Because SBA has been used safely in clinical bone marrow transplantation (BMT) as part of the procedure for T-cell depletion and hence does not bind to the stem cells, we chose this lectin to establish a model for purging BL cells from human bone marrow. Using a two-step purging procedure with tumor cell agglutination by SBA in solution, a 2-log depletion could be accomplished. Using SBA-coated magnetic beads, we could improve BL cell depletion to greater than 4 logs. Because SBA seems to have a broad specificity for BL cells with concomitant enrichment in hematopoietic progenitor cells, the use of SBA-coated magnetic beads could be of interest for autologous BMT for lymphomas as well as other hematological malignancies and solid tumors with positive binding to SBA.