Spurious E rosette formation in B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia due to monoclonal anti-sheep RBC antibody

The apparent simultaneous presence of surface markers characteristic of both B and T cells is a phenomenon being described with increasing frequency in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). We describe a patient with CLL whose B lymphocytes possessed surface immunoglobulin reactive with neuraminidase-treated sheep erythrocytes (SRBCs) and produced E rosette formation. Cytofluorography using monoclonal antibodies demonstrated the B cell nature of these cells and the absence of the SRBC receptor. Further documentation that the binding of SRBCs was mediated through immunologic reaction included E rosette formation inhibition by monospecific antisera and hemagglutination of SRBCs by a paraprotein isolated from the patient's serum. Fusion of the CLL cells with a human hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine-sensitive plasma cell line resulted in the production of human hybridomas that secreted the SRBC-reactive IgM antibody. An analysis of clinical histories of CLL patients whose cells exhibited this phenomenon from both immunologic and clinical perspectives is presented.