Antigenic characteristics of circulating CFU-GM in chronic granulocytic leukaemia resemble those of CFU-GM in normal marrow and differ from those in normal blood.
We studied the surface antigenic determinants of myeloid progenitor cells (Day 7 CFU-GM, Day 14 CFU-GM and BFU-E) in the peripheral blood and bone marrow of patients with chronic granulocytic leukaemia (CGL) and normal subjects by complement-mediated cytotoxicity with a panel of 8 selected murine monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) followed by culture in methyl cellulose. All classes of progenitor cell studied expressed HLA-DR antigens and also expressed other antigens recognized by two of the McAbs (S3-13 and S17-25) with myeloid specificity. Two other McAbs (R1.B19 and WGHS.29.1). Recognized antigens on Day 14 CFU-GM derived from normal marrow but not on those from normal blood. The pattern of reactivity of Day 14 CFU-GM from the blood of patients with CGL resembled to a considerable extent that of CFU-GM from normal marrow and differed from that of CFU-GM from normal blood. BFU-E from the blood of patients with CGL reacted with these McAbs in a manner very similar to that of BFU-E from normal blood; however the same two McAbs (R1.B19 and WGHS.19.1) reacted with a much higher proportion of the BFU-E from the marrows of CGL patients than of normal subjects. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that normal blood-derived CFU-GM are more primitive than marrow-derived CFU-GM; however the CFU-GM in the circulation in CGL differ from those in normal blood, perhaps because they reflect overflow from or exchange with a hyperplastic marrow population.