Lysosomal acid hydrolases in established lymphoblastoid cell lines, transformed by Epstein-Barr virus, from patients with genetic lysosomal storage diseases.

Lysosomal acid hydrolases were determined in established lymphoblastoid cell lines, transformed in vitro by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) from lymphocyte-rich cell populations isolated from the peripheral blood of patients with genetic lysosomal storage diseases--Hurler syndrome, Scheie syndrome, GM1-gangliosidosis type 1 and type 2, Tay-Sachs disease, and I-cell disease--and from obligate heterozygotes for these diseases. The respective enzyme activity was undectectable in lymphoblastoid cells from the patients, but not from controls. Obligate heterozygotes could not always be distinguished from controls in lymphoblastoid cells as well as in leukocytes. These results suggest that established lymphoblastoid cell lines are useful material for the enzymatic study of genetic lysosomal storage diseases.