M2, a novel myelomonocytic cell surface antigen and its distribution on leukemic cells.

The selectivity of a novel myelomonocytic cell surface antigen, designated M2, has been assessed in a series of 208 leukemias. The M2 antigen is defined by a monoclonal antibody (VIM-2) of the IgM class. Its expression within the normal hemopoietic system is restricted to myelomonocytic cells. Lymphocytes, erythrocytes, thrombocytes and their morphologically recognizable precursors are negative. Sixty of the 66 acute myeloblastic leukemias (= 91%) and 28 of the 30 myeloid blast crises of CML patients (= 93%) were M2-positive. As expected from our findings with normal myeloid cells, the myeloid cells found in stable phase of CML were also in all instances, M2-positive. Quite in contrast, lymphoid cells from patients with B-CLL, T-CLL, prolymphocytic leukemia, hairy-cell leukemia, lymphoblastic lymphoma, Sézary syndrome, from CML patients in lymphoid blast crisis and from the majority of patients with ALL, were completely M2-negative. Also negative were the blast cells of patients with acute megakaryoblastic leukemia and acute erythroleukemia. A direct comparison of M2 expression with the display of the 3-fucosyl-N-acetyllactosamine determinant, the structure recognized by most of the anti-myeloid monoclonal antibodies reported so far, shows that more AMLs are M2-positive and the proportion of M2-positive blast cells in individual AML samples is higher.