Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of cellular proteins reveals myeloid origin of blasts in two children with otherwise undifferentiated leukemia.

ABSTRACT

In previous studies, two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis allowed the detection of 11 polypeptide markers that distinguished between subtypes of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and between acute lymphoblastic and acute myelocytic leukemia. This report describes the occurrence of polypeptide markers in two-dimensional gels that indicate a myeloid origin of blasts obtained from two children who presented with acute leukemia, the cells of origin of which could not be determined, at the time of diagnosis, by morphologic, cytochemical, or immune marker analysis. The authors conclude that two-dimensional electrophoresis provides a new tool for the delineation of the cell of origin in acute leukemia.