Nuclear oncoprotein expression as a function of lineage, differentiation stage, and proliferative status of normal human hematopoietic cells

Relative levels of the nuclear oncoproteins c-myb, c-myc, and c-fos were determined in selected subpopulations of normal human bone marrow (BM) cells using a flow cytometric assay which simultaneously detects a cell-surface antigen (as a marker of lineage and stage of maturation) and levels of an intracellular protein. At least two monoclonal antibodies directed against each oncoprotein and specific peptide inhibition controls were used for these determinations. Hematopoietic progenitor cells (CD34+) express the highest levels of c-myb and c-myc, whereas c-fos levels in CD34+ progenitor cells are similar to c-fos levels in mature monocytes and granulocytes. Granulocytes are the only hematopoietic cells examined which do not express detectable levels of c-myb and c-myc. The levels of these oncoproteins in these normal, unstimulated BM cell populations were more closely linked to lineage and maturation stage than to the proliferative status of the given population, as determined by either DNA staining or expression of the cell-cycle specific nuclear protein, Ki67. This flow cytometric assay helps in interpreting the significance of oncoprotein levels in leukemia cells by allowing direct comparisons of a leukemia with the phenotypically similar “normal counterpart control” cell population in normal BM.