Identification of potent mixed leukocyte reaction-stimulatory cells in human bone marrow. Putative differentiation stage of human blood dendritic cells.

Dendritic cells (DC) have been isolated from blood, lymphoid tissue, and other tissues, as potential members of a hemopoietic lineage of specialist APC for naive T lymphocyte activation. To define human bone marrow (BM) DC we have attempted to identify allostimulatory cells with DC-like characteristics among human BM mononuclear cells (BMMC) by FACS cell sorting and immunophenotyping, monitoring the APC function of different cell lineages in the human primary MLR. We show that fresh human BM stimulates allogeneic T lymphocytes with an activity equal to or greater than that of peripheral blood. As with DC from other tissue sources, the most potent stimulatory activity was found in the low density BMMC, and these cells, like peripheral blood, stimulated a maximal allogeneic MLR response at days 5 to 6. FACS purification of the allostimulatory population in fresh human BMMC was undertaken by using a wide range of mAb directed against lineage-associated molecules of mature and immature lymphoid, erythroid, and myeloid cells. The most potent constitutive BMMC stimulatory activity was located in the CD3-, CD11b-, CD14-, CD15-, CD16-, CD19-, CD57-, and glycophorin A- population. A mixture of antibodies to these Ag was used to isolate a "mix-negative" BMMC population, which contained the most highly potent MLR-stimulatory cells. Further cytologic and immunophenotypic analysis of this population revealed an enriched population of HLA-DP+, HLA-DQ+, HLA-DR+, and CD45+ cells, with morphologic similarities to the human tonsil and blood DC. These cells were CD4- and CD1a- and were weakly CD33+ (but CD15-), suggesting a possible early myeloid origin distinct from both the committed granulocytic and monocytic lineages. In addition, they lacked both CD10 and CD20, making a lymphoid origin unlikely. Further identification of these putative DC precursors will allow analysis of the early phases of DC hemopoiesis, whereas the characterization of the MLR-stimulatory cells in human BM will be of major importance in the understanding of BM transplant failure and graft-vs-host disease.