Motility and infiltration capacity of lymphoid tumour cells: disturbance of motile behaviour in TCLL-lymphocytes.

The capacity of T-cells from 6 normal individuals and 4 cases of TCLL to develop motile forms and migrate within a collagen matrix was compared. In order to exclude possible inhibitory or cooperative cellular interactions the lymphocytes were plated at low density. Only a small proportion of fresh T-lymphocytes from healthy individuals developed motile forms after plating on substrata of collagen or plastic. During a 2 day culture period on collagen 50 to 90% of the T enriched cells from separate normal individuals developed motile forms and migrated into the collagen. Under the same conditions on plastic 30 to 50% of the lymphocytes developed motile forms. Virtually every single lymphocyte from one TCLL case (T3+, T4-, T8-) showed motile behaviour immediately after purification on both collagen and plastic and migrated into the collagen. This patient was demonstrated to exhibit lymphocyte infiltration in non-lymphoid tissues. The majority of the leukemic lymphocytes from 2 other patients (T3+, T4+, T8- and T3+, T4-, T8+ respectively) developed motile forms on collagen immediately after purification. On plastic the development of motile forms by cells from these 2 patients was slightly delayed but within 24 hours the percentage motile lymphocytes was the same as on collagen. In the fourth case (T3+, T4-, T8+) only a few lymphocytes showed motile behaviour on collagen and plastic and no migration within collagen was observed. The low number of motile T-cells in this patient did not increase with time. This patient exhibited an aggressive clinical course but no apparent lymphocyte infiltration into non-lymphoid tissues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)