Human lymphocyte motility: normal characteristics and anomalous behavior of
chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells
SC Jarvis, R Snyderman and HJ Cohen
The characteristics of human lymphocyte motility and its relationship to
the redistribution of surface membrane antigens (capping) are poorly
defined. Since chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells cap poorly when
compared with normal human lymphocytes, this study was undertaken to
compare the motility of these two cell types. A modification of the Boyden
chamber system was employed to quantify lymphocyte motility by placing
lymphocyte suspensions on 8-mum convoluted-pore nitrocellulose filters and
measuring the depth of migration of the cells into the filter at 37 degrees
C. After 3 hr of incubation, CLL cells migrated significantly less into the
filter than normal cells. Incubation in the presence of sodium azide or at
4 degrees C abolished all motility, indicating the active nature of the
process. The relative motility of individual CLL patients' cells correlated
best with the proportion of abnormal cells present as determined by surface
receptor assays. The possibility that decreased cell motility in CLL was a
reflection of enrichment by a "bone marrow-derived" (B cell) population was
eliminated by the finding that normal B cells purified by gradient
separation of rosetted cells migrated faster than normal T cells and
considerably faster than CLL cells. Motility of normal and CLL lymphocytes
was decreased by cytochalasin B and increased by colchicine, vincristine,
and vinblastine. Thus, human lymphocyte motility appears to be dependent on
microfilament integrity but not to require the colchicine-sensitive
cytoskeleton. The decreased motility of CLL cells is the result of an
intrinsic cell abnormality, but this finding cannot fully explain the
decreased capping, since in human lymphocytes the latter is not prevented
by an inhibitor of motility.
Volume 48,
Issue 5,
pp. 717-729,
11/01/1976
Copyright © 1976 by The American Society of Hematology
