Aberrant interaction of B-cell lymphocytic leukemia cells with antibody coated polyacrylamide beads

Anti-immunoglobulin coated polyacrylamide beads have been used to assess surface membrane immunoglobulin in normal and lymphoproliferative states. The polyvalent anti-immunoglobulin bead reacts with normal B cells and cells from patients with hairy cell leukemia and lymphosarcoma cell leukemia but not with cells from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. This may relate to the relative surface immunoglobulin density of these cells. Monospecific beads and mixtures of monospecific beads do react with chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells presumably because of the higher concentration of the appropriate antibody on the bead. These findings suggest cautious interpretation of the results of B lymphocyte evaluation with anti-immunoglobulin coated polyacrylamide beads.