Harper D M, Flessas D A, Reinisch C L
Department of Comparative Medicine, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, Massachusetts 01536.
J Invertebr Pathol. 1994 Nov;64(3):234-7. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2011(94)90300-x.
Bivalve molluscs such as the soft shell clam (Mya arenaria) develop leukemias in the hemolymph which are fatal. The prevalence of leukemia in Mya was evaluated using a murine monoclonal antibody which recognizes a leukemia-specific protein expressed by tumor cells. The reactivity with a polyclonal antibody to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) of both normal circulating cells and tumor cells was also determined. Both leukemia prevalence and PCB reactivity were ascertained by flow cytometry. Analytical chemistry was used to quantitate the amount of Aroclor per tumor cell population and compared directly to flow cytometric results. Our results show that the prevalence of leukemia consistently exceeds 60% when clams are retrieved from New Bedford Harbor, a site heavily contaminated with PCBs. Both normal circulating cells and tumor cells are extremely reactive with the PCB antibody. When clams from two other sites were compared with clams from New Bedford Harbor, both disease prevalence and cell reactivity to the PCB antibody were reduced. Our experiments are the first which use the flow cytometer to demonstrate PCBs in cell populations of marine invertebrates. Our results further demonstrate that the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls in vivo is directly correlated with environmentally linked leukemia.
双壳贝类软体动物，如软壳蛤（砂海螂），会在血淋巴中患上致命的白血病。利用一种鼠单克隆抗体评估了砂海螂中白血病的患病率，该抗体可识别肿瘤细胞表达的白血病特异性蛋白。还测定了正常循环细胞和肿瘤细胞与多氯联苯（PCBs）多克隆抗体的反应性。通过流式细胞术确定白血病患病率和PCBs反应性。采用分析化学方法对每个肿瘤细胞群体中的多氯联苯含量进行定量，并直接与流式细胞术结果进行比较。我们的结果表明，当从新贝德福德港（一个多氯联苯严重污染的地点）采集蛤类时，白血病患病率始终超过60%。正常循环细胞和肿瘤细胞与PCBs抗体的反应性都极强。将来自其他两个地点的蛤类与新贝德福德港的蛤类进行比较时，疾病患病率和细胞对PCBs抗体的反应性均降低。我们的实验首次使用流式细胞仪在海洋无脊椎动物的细胞群体中证实了多氯联苯的存在。我们的结果进一步证明，体内多氯联苯的存在与环境相关的白血病直接相关。
