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. 2010 Dec;43(6):579-83.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2184.2010.00707.x.

Chromatin-bound PCNA as S-phase marker in mononuclear blood cells of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or multiple myeloma

F Zölzer  1 , O Basu, P U Devi, S P Mohanty, C Streffer
Affiliations

Chromatin-bound PCNA as S-phase marker in mononuclear blood cells of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or multiple myeloma

F Zölzer et al. Cell Prolif. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) has often been used as a marker to aid assessment of tumour growth fraction. This paper addresses the question of whether it can be used as an S-phase marker, when the non-chromatin-bound form of the protein is removed by pepsin treatment.

Materials and methods: Cytofluorometric measurements were carried out after immunofluorescence staining of PCNA and counterstaining of DNA. S-phase fraction was determined with the help of windows on PCNA versus DNA scattergrams, or mathematically from DNA histograms.

Results: S-phase fractions obtained using the two methods correlated well, but did not always agree, exact discrepancies depending on the mathematical model used for histogram analysis.

Conclusions: Determination of S-phase fractions with the help of PCNA immunofluorescence staining is possible, and probably more reliable than calculation of S-fractions from DNA histograms. It thus offers an alternative to assays involving BrdU labelling in vivo.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative scattergrams of PCNA‐labelled cells from ALL patients (upper panel: aneuploid tumour, lower panel: diploid tumour).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between PCNA‐positive fractions and S‐phase fractions from DNA histograms for the three subsets of patients (ALL – peripheral blood, ALL – bone marrow, MM – bone marrow).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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