Subpopulations of common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen-positive lymphoid cells in normal bone marrow identified by hematopoietic differentiation antigens.

Bone marrow samples from normal adults and children with nonhematologic malignancies not involving the marrow, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in continued remission, and immune cytopenias were studied by two-color immunofluorescence (IF) and flow cytometry to characterize common acute lymphoblastic leukemia antigen (CALLA)-positive marrow lymphoid cells. Marrow was separated by Ficoll/Hypaque centrifugation followed by passage over a monoclonal antibody affinity column to remove myeloid cells prior to IF staining. A higher proportion of CALLA-positive cells was found in the pediatric marrows (mean, 33.7% +/- 6.3% SEM) than in the adult marrows (mean, 4.5% +/- 1.6% SEM). Two subpopulations of CALLA-positive cells identified by cell sorting to be of lymphoid morphology were found in both adult and pediatric marrows. A small subpopulation comprising 12.3% of the total CALLA-positive cells was characterized by a high intensity of CALLA, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), and MY10 expression, but low B1, common leukocyte antigen, and peanut agglutinin receptor expression. The remainder of the CALLA-positive cells displayed low intensity of CALLA expression, positivity for the common leukocyte antigen, B1 and peanut agglutinin, and negative reaction with TdT and MY10. Both CALLA-positive subpopulations were positive for HLA-DR and the pan-B cell marker B4, but negative for cytoplasmic immunoglobulin, B2 and Leu 1. BrdU labelling studies showed that a similar proportion of cells in each subpopulation was in S phase. A slightly higher proportion of the strongly CALLA-positive cells possessed the morphologic features of high nuclear/cytoplasmic (N/C) ratio and prominent nucleoli. These studies suggest that a discrete maturation step occurs among CALLA-positive marrow lymphoid cells, resulting in the loss of TdT and MY10 expression, but gradual acquisition of the B cell marker B1 and the common leukocyte antigen. The presence of B4 antigen in nearly all CALLA-positive cells suggests that both subpopulations of normal CALLA-positive marrow cells are committed to the B cell lineage.