CD95 expression and apoptotic induction in patients' BM plasma cells (CD38^h cells).

(A) Three-color staining and flow cytometry analysis for CD95 expression by BM plasma cells from healthy subjects (upper panel) and patients with B-CLL (lower panel). Plasma cells were selected in a CD38 CD20 plot as cells CD38^h CD20⁻. CD95 expression is shown in histograms. The results shown are representative of 8 and 5 experiments for patients with B-CLL and healthy BM samples, respectively. (B) BM cells (10⁶ cells/mL) were cultured alone and in combination with untreated autologous B-CLL cells (10⁶ cells/mL) for 48 hours. After this period, apoptotic BM plasma cells were determined in both kinds of culture as CD38^h annexin V⁺ cells. Results of one representative experiment are shown.