Covariances of Mitogenic Responses in Leukaemic Blood Lymphocytes: a Functional Marker System for the Human B Lymphocyte Differentiation

Abstract

Various polyclonal activating substances have been shown to stimulate human chronic lymphatic leukaemia (CLL) cells lo undergo blast transformation, to divide and to secrete monoclonal immunoglobulin. CLL cells from different patients show distinct response patterns to these ligands. We have statistically analysed these response patterns and found that responses to certain ligands demonstrate covariance; that is, a high response to one ligand is statistically associated with a high response to another ligand. A factor analysis of these data on the basis of responses of CLL cells from twenty‐one patients and from the use of five different ligands in three different concentrations has shown that as few as two factors can account for as much as 63% of the total variance of these responses. On the assumption that these two factors were T‐cell dependency of CLL responses and stage of maturity of the responding CLL cell, we have formulated a theory that explains the basis for this functional marker system for CLL cells. Its possible application to the characterization of individual CLL clones has been discussed.