Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) antigens detected with antisera to E rosette-froming and non-E rosette-forming ALL blasts.

Based on the presence or absence of erythrocyte receptors(E) a T cell marker, acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), can be divided into E+ALL and E-ALL. We studied cell surface antigens on blasts from 12 children with untreated ALL: eight with E-ALL and four with E+ALL. Heterologous antisera were raised against thymus cells, E+ and E-ALL blasts, appropriately absorbed and tested by immunofluorescence and a radiolabeled antibody assay with normal and leukemic lymphoid cells. By both methods, anti-thymus and anti-E+ALL sera reacted with human thymocytes. Specific binding of anti-E+ALL serum to T antigens was indicated by the fact that a single absorption with thymocytes abolished its binding to allogenic thymocytes, and the reactivity of anti-E+ALL serum with thymus, blood and bone marrow lymphocytes was similar to that of anti-thymus serum. After exhaustive absorption with blood leukocytes, anti-E+ALL and E-ALL sera were negative against normal lymphocytes and bone marrow cells from children with ALL in remission. Anti-thymus and anti-E+ALL sera reacted with blasts from patients with E+ALL, but not with E-ALL. In contrast, anti-E+ALL serum reacted with 40 to 96% of blasts from all children with E-ALL, whereas of the four patients with E+ALL, two were negative and two had the lowest percentage of immunofluorescent cells (10 to 22%). These results were confirmed with the radiolabeled antibody assay. Patients with active E-ALL had cells bearing E-ALL antigen(s) in the peripheral blood and bone marrow, but the number of immunofluorescent cells was lower in blood. Cells reactive with anti-E-ALL serum did not react with thymus cells, blood lymphocytes, remission bone marrow cells, Raji cells, PWM and PHA-induced blasts and CLL cells bearing mIg (uk). These data suggest that the antigen detected on E-ALL blasts by anti-E-ALL serum is neither a HLA-related nor a cell differentiation antigen. Thus, by using antiserum to E+ALL blasts, we have confirmed the presence of a T cell-specific antigen(s) on E+ALL cells. This antiserum did not recognize other leukemia-associated antigens common to E+ and E-ALL. We have also demonstrated an antigen(s) which is regularly expressed on E-ALL blasts and is either not detectable or is present in a lower proportion of E+ALL blasts.