The ability to isolate relatively pure populations of primary normal and malignant lymphocytes has brought studies of lymphoid malignancies to the forefront of cancer research. Apoptosis (programmed cell death) plays a key role in controlling normal B-cell numbers, and resistance to apoptosis contributes to lymphomagenesis and reduces the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Multiple Bcl-2 family proteins orchestrate key life and death decisions in lymphocytes, and the prototypical family member, Bcl-2, is activated by reciprocal translocation in human lymphoma. Here, we describe an immunomagnetic method to isolate and purify malignant B-cells suitable for in vitro analyses from lymph node biopsies. Methods to analyze the expression of Bcl-2 family proteins by immunoblotting also are described.
