Chromosomal Changes of Immunoglobulin-Producing Cell Lines from Human Lymph Nodes With and Without Lymphoma

Summary

Chromosomal studies of immunoglobulin-producing “lympho-blastoid”cell lines derived from two malignant lymphomas and two histologically normal lymph nodes revealed a varying proportion of chromosomally abnormal cells intermingled with normal diploid cells. Chromosomally, the abnormal cell populations were clonal. Repeatedly the same marker karyotypes were found in most of the abnormal cells within each culture, but the changes were dissimilar between cultures. Characteristically, the chromosomal abnormalities were single trisomies resulting in 47 chromosome cells and marker chromosomes whose origin was obvious in most instances. Numerical variation was generally within normal limits, and in some, cells with normal diploid karyotype formed the majority. As the cultures were followed, a chromosomally altered population was replaced by another in two cultures, but the type of the produced immunoglobulin was unchanged.