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Cellular interactions responsible for regulating in vitro erythropoiesis were studied using murine monoclonal antibodies recognizing antigens expressed by human mononuclear cells. Cell populations of interest were negatively selected by complement- dependent cytotoxicity and then evaluated for their effect on in vitro growth of erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E). The data suggest that normal peripheral blood T cells contain at least two functionally distinct subpopulations with opposing regulatory effects: one that enhances burst formation had one that limits burst formation. Whether these effects are mediated by direct interactions of T cells with BFU-E or with auxillary cells remains to be determined.

Affinity-purified rabbit antibody to human lambda and kappa chains (R alpha H lambda kappa) was conjugated to the A-chain of the plant toxin, ricin. The resulting immunotoxin (R alpha H lambda kappa-A) killed cells from the tumor cell line Daudi, which bears surface immunoglobulin, but was nontoxic to the CFU-E, BFU-E, and CFU-GM of human bone marrow. R alpha H lambda kappa-A eliminated 99% of clonogenic Daudi cells that had been mixed with marrow cells in vitro, without demonstrable toxicity to hematopoietic cells. Thus, in vitro treatment of marrow with R alpha H lambda kappa-A may increase the incidence of cure following autologous bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of human B-cell malignancies.

Within the hematopoietic system, monoclonal antibodies reactive with antigenic determinants, expressed in a lineage- and stage-restricted fashion, can be used to map myeloid differentiation. We have generated a series of monoclonal antibodies that reacts with myeloid-associated determinants on committed myeloid stem cells and their progeny. Their reactivity with peripheral blood cells was identified by immunofluorescence assays, with bone marrow cells by fluorescence- activated cell sorting, and with committed hematopoietic progenitor cells by both cytotoxic assays and fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Antibody 1G10, which has previously been reported to react with cells of the granulocytic lineage and with a minor subset of mature monocytes, was shown to react with granulocyte-macrophage colony- forming units (CFU-GM). Three antibodies not previously characterized (T5A7, L4F3, L1B2) were shown to react with both granulocytic and monocytic cells and in fluorescence-activated cell sorting studies to detectably stain granulocytic cells at different stages of maturation. These three antibodies also react with CFU-GM, two (L4F3 and L1B2) reacting with all CFU-GM, while T5A7 reacts with only a portion of the day 7 CFU-GM. Antibody L4F3 also reacts with a portion of erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E). In contrast, the previously reported antibody 5F1, which reacts with monocytic cells, nucleated erythroid cells, and platelets, was shown to react with erythroid colony-forming units (CFU-E). Potential applications of these antibodies to studies of normal and malignant hematopoiesis are discussed.

A radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to quantitate biologically active gamma interferon (INF-gamma) in sera and in supernatants of cultured mononuclear cells obtained from 50 patients with aplastic anemia. Only five of the 50 serum samples had INF-gamma levels above background (greater than 0 less than 0.5 units per mL). Detectable levels of spontaneous INF-gamma (0.3 to 868 U/mL) were found in 18 of the 50 mononuclear cell supernatants tested. The addition of patient sera or INF-gamma positive supernatants to cultures of normal hematopoietic colonies did not result in reduced colony growth. Flow cytofluorimetric analysis of mononuclear cells failed to establish a correlation between the presence of INF-gamma in supernatants and the number of activated T cells or natural killer (NK) cells in the mononuclear cell population. However, a significant correlation did exist between the presence of monocytes and the production of INF-gamma. Contrary to previous reports, our data suggest that patients with aplastic anemia do not have high circulating levels of INF-gamma. Unstimulated mononuclear cells from some patients will produce significant levels of INF-gamma, but this does not result in decreased in vitro hematopoiesis.

Two in vitro tests were applied to 54 consecutive patients with severe aplastic anemia who were treated in Seattle with antithymocyte globulin. In the first test, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were collected from each patient before antithymocyte globulin therapy and then treated with a panel of monoclonal antibodies and complement. The treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells were assayed for erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E). This test was designed to determine whether removing various subpopulations of peripheral blood mononuclear cells would increase the number of detectable BFU-E. In the second test, peripheral blood was collected within 48 hr after completion of antithymocyte globulin therapy, and cells were immediately assayed for BFU-E without any further treatment. Data from both tests were analyzed to determine whether the in vitro results correlated with patient response to therapy. Binary logistic regression analyses indicate that a modest correlation (p = 0.04) exists between test 1 in vitro results and patient response to therapy. However, the strength of this association appears to decrease as the interval between diagnosis and treatment increases. In contrast, test 2 had a very significant correlation (p = 0.001) with response to therapy among patients diagnosed more than 1 mo prior to treatment, whereas such an association was not apparent among patients treated within 1 mo of diagnosis.

Marrow graft failure observed in association with histocompatibility differences between donor and recipient is often attributed to rejection mediated by host-derived cytolytic T lymphocytes. The data presented in this report indicate that persistent host antibodies specific for donor antigen may also mediate graft failure, either by antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), or complement- mediated cytotoxicity. In the case of HLA Class I disparity, where all donor cells express the target antigen, the presence of alpha-donor antibody was associated with complete graft failure and death. In the case of ABO blood group antigen disparity, the presence of alpha-donor antibody resulted in erythroid hypoplasia. The latter cases proved informative insofar as they established that host antibodies could persist for more than 18 months after chemoradiotherapy and impair marrow function.

We have previously shown that the addition of normal dog peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) to cultures of allogeneic marrow increases the number of marrow-derived erythroid colonies (EC), but that PBL from transfused dogs usually inhibit EC growth from marrow of the transfusion donor. In this study, the cells in normal dog PBL responsible for stimulating EC growth were shown to sediment in a narrow peak at 4.30 mm/hr. A similar population of stimulating cells exists in transfused dogs and can be separated, on the basis of size, from cells that inhibit EC growth. EC-stimulating cells from transfused dog PBL sediment at 3.3--5.0 mm/hr, while cells responsible for inhibition are larger and sediment more rapidly at 5.4--8.1 mm/hr. These data demonstrate that cells capable of stimulating allogeneic EC are present in transfused dogs, but their stimulating ability is masked by the presence of EC-inhibiting cells. Thus, coculture experiments designed to test lymphocyte/marrow cell interactions may miss significant but opposing effects if unfractionated cells are used.