The ultrastructural localization of immunoglobulins in human b cells of
immunoproliferative diseases
MF Gourdin, JP Farcet and F Reyes
The cellular distribution of immunoglobulins in human malignant and normal
B cells was investigated by immunoelectron microscopy by direct incubation
of fixed cells with electron microscopy by direct incubation of fixed cells
with peroxidase-coupled antibody. These conjugates penetrated into the
cell, resulting in the simultaneous detection of surface and cytoplasmic
immunoglobulins. The latter were seen as specific intracisternal staining
of the perinuclear space and endoplasmic reticulum and occasionally of the
Golgi complex. Plasma cells were frequently characterized by a
heterogeneity of reactivity of the endoplasmic reticulum. Minute amounts of
cytoplasmic immunoglobulin were demonstrated in cells without developed
secretory organelles, such as lymphoma cells and lymphocytes from chronic
lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The method allowed us to define several subsets
of cells according to the expression of surface and cytoplasmic
immunoglobulins and thus to determine the stage of maturation of cells
involved in monoclonal proliferation.
Volume 59,
Issue 6,
pp. 1132-1140,
06/01/1982
Copyright © 1982 by The American Society of Hematology
