International Journal of Cell Cloning, Vol 9, 474-490, Copyright © 1991 by AlphaMed Press
Isolation and characterization of the CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells from the peripheral blood of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia
FF Silvestri, SD Banavali, BC Hulette, CI Civin and HD Preisler
Barrett Cancer Center, University of Cincinnati, Ohio 45267.
A modified version of the original reported panning technique was used to
separate CD34+ cells from the peripheral blood of patients with chronic
myeloid leukemia (CML). In 13 out of 23 separations, populations of cells
were obtained in which CD34+ cells constituted greater than 50% of the
cells present. The best recovery and enrichment of the CD34+ cells was
achieved when cells were obtained from patients in the accelerated phase of
CML, when the cells were processed on the same day they were obtained from
patients, and when adherence to soybean agglutinin flasks was used as a
pre-enrichment step. In suspension culture, the CD34+ cells were capable of
extensive proliferation and differentiation. In semi-solid culture, the
number of colony-forming units (CFUs) directly correlated with CD34
positivity. The number of clonogenic cells/CD34+ cells was highest at the
time of initial diagnosis of CML, fell during the chronic phase (CP) of the
disease, and rose at the time of disease acceleration. This observation
suggests that therapy during the CP of the disease produces a greater
reduction in clonogenic cells than in the number of CD34+ cells. This
effect disappears at the time of disease acceleration, presumably because
of the development of drug resistance in the clonogenic cells.
