Specific selection of lymphocyte subpopulations by avidin-biotin immune rosetting.

An immune rosetting method used for positive selection of lymphocyte subpopulations is described that uses biotinylated monoclonal antibody in conjunction with biotinylated red blood cells linked by an avidin bridge. Limiting dilution data are presented that demonstrate the ability of this method to positively select a monoclonal antibody-targeted tumor cell subpopulation. Application of the separation technique to a peripheral blood lymphocyte population resulted in the positive selection of a relatively pure targeted T cell subpopulation and the parallel efficient depletion of the targeted subpopulation from the lymphocyte population. This technique is simple and reproducible, and can be used to efficiently positively select or negatively deplete selected cell subpopulations.