Peripheral blood lymphocytes with receptors for a determinant common to B‐lymphoblastoid cell lines and acute myelogenous leukemia blasts

We investigated whether the rosetting of B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCL) by peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) reflected possible interactions between lymphoid cells and immature cells of the hematopoietic system. Rosette formation could be blocked by the addition of soluble antigen extracted from B-LCL or blasts obtained from patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). This inhibition was specific for AML blasts (similarly extracted material from melanoma lines had no inhibitory effect) and for the B-LCL receptor (leukemic extracts had no effect on surface receptors for sheep red blood cells (E) or antibody-sensitized red blood cells (EA)). The B-LCL receptor is present on leukemic Sezary T-cells as well as normal T-cells and its sensitivity to various enzymatic treatments is markedly different from that of E and EA receptors. In addition, B-LCLs derived from in vitro EB-viral infection of a normal donor's B lymphocytes were significantly rosetted by that donor's autologous PBLs. These data suggests the B-LCL receptor, present on mature T-cells, can recognize self determinants on myeloblasts and B-LCL. Further investigation will determine whether this interaction can affect the function of rosetted target cells.