Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes and proliferative activity of lymphoid cells—an immunocytochemical study

• Published in: Clinical and experimental immunology 1991-11, Vol.86 (2), p.240-245
• Main Authors: PAN, L., BEVERLEY, P. C. L., ISAACSON, P. G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antibodies, Monoclonal; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Cycle; cell proliferation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Humans; Immunobiology; Immunohistochemistry; In Vitro Techniques; Isoenzymes; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase - metabolism; LDH isoenzymes; Leukemia - enzymology; lymphocyte; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocytes - cytology; Lymphocytes - enzymology; Lymphocytes - pathology; Lymphoid cells: ontogeny, maturation, markers, receptors, circulation and recirculation; Tumor Cells, Cultured
• ISSN: 0009-9104; 1365-2249
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1991.tb05803.x

SUMMARY In a recent immunohistochemical study, we suggested that elevation of LDH isoenzymes is generally related to cell proliferalion. To explore this relationship further, we have now examined the expression of H‐ and M‐type LDH isoenzymes immunocytochemically in human resting and mitogen‐activated B and T lymphocytes. In the resting state, T lymphocytes showed strong staining for H‐type LDH but showed little or no staining for M‐type LDH, while B lymphocytes showed only weak staining for M‐type LDH. During activation of T cells, M‐type LDH started to increase when cells entered the early stages of the cell cycle. The staining intensity increased to a maximum when the percentage of the T cells at the S/G2/M phases of the cell cycle reached its peak. M‐type LDH expression declined when the activated T cells returned to their resting state. Staining for H‐type LDH remained strong in T cells during activation. In B lymphocytes, both H‐ and M‐type LDH isoenzymes increased concomitantly following activation and the staining intensity also correlated well with the percentage of the S/G2/M fraction. The expression of H‐ and M‐type LDH was also determined in fresh leukaemia and a variety of lymphoid cell lines. It was noted that cells of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and pro‐lymphocytic leukaemia (PLL), morphologically similar to normal lymphocytes, showed a LDH staining pattern resembling that of resting B lymphocytes, while lymphoblasts in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T‐ALL). high grade B cell lymphoma and Epstein Barr virus (EBV) transformed cell lines showed a LDH staining pattern similar to that in activated T or B lymphocytes. Taken together, our results have demonstrated a significant correlation between expression of LDH and proliferative activity of cells. Immunostaining with the MoAbs to H‐ and M‐type LDH can, therefore, provide a useful means not only for identification of T and B lymphocytes but also for rapid evaluation of the proliferating fraction of normal and neoplastic human cell populations.