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The ultrastructural organization and the state of silver-staining nucleoli (Ag-NOR) of peripheral blood and bone marrow lymphoblasts of 10 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were studied in the complex with the biochemical assay of the ribosomal levels in the cellular cytoplasm of these patients. In the majority of the patients investigated the morphological picture of the nucleolus and the character of Ag-NOR have evidenced the high functional activity of pRNA-synthesizing apparatus and correlated with the high ribosomal level in the cytoplasm of the cells studied. Significant accumulation of granular components (RNP-particles) in the nucleoli of the lymphoblasts, reflecting disorders in their transport from nucleus to cytoplasm, were detected only in 2 patients.

The levels of ribosomes in B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) T lymphocytes have been shown to be within normal whereas those in B-CLL B-lymphocytes to vary from normal to fairly low levels. There was no dependence of the ribosome content on the maturation of B lymphocytes as it was established by levels rosetting with mouse red blood cells.