Analysis of CD38+ and CD38- sub-clones derived from the same CLL patient

CD38 expression is an important prognostic marker in CLL with high levels of CD38 associated with shorter overall survival. In this study, we used gene expression profiling and protein analysis of highly purified cell-sorted CD38+ and CD38- chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells to elucidate a molecular basis for the association between CD38 expression and inferior clinical outcome. Paired CD38+ and CD38- CLL cells derived from the same patient were shown to be monoclonal by VH gene sequencing but despite this, CD38+ CLL cells possessed a distinct gene expression profile when compared with their CD38- sub-clones. Keywords: Sub-clonal analysis of CLL cells derived from the same leukemia sample These experiments compared the gene expression profile of CD38+ and CD38- sub-clones derived from 6 individual CLL patients.