Assessment of proliferation during maturation of the B lymphoid lineage in normal human bone marrow.

Different stages of B lymphoid maturation were identified in normal bone marrow using multiple cell surface markers. The proliferation status of each of these maturational stages was determined by simultaneous quantitative DNA analysis on a flow cytometer. The technique used to quantify these parameters preserved the cell surface immunofluorescence, the light scattering properties and the stoichiometric binding to DNA. The proliferating cells were confined to a distinct population of cells expressing CD10. The number of proliferating cells in these populations was relatively constant among 12 separate bone marrow samples. The data suggest that the timing and rate of proliferation of cells within a single lineage may be a preprogrammed aspect of normal maturation.