Process for tumor cell depletion of CD34-positive cells

摘要

A process for selectively eliminating (purging) tumour cells from preparations containing CD34-positive cells using CD44-specific antibodies is disclosed. The invention is based on the surprising discovery that CD34-positive cells, unlike many tumour cells, do not express the variant exons CD44v5 and CD44vt, or only to a very minor extent. A new molecular marker is thus provided by means of which tumour cells that contaminate strain cell preparations can be selectively destroyed. To destroy tumour cells, CD44v-specific antibody molecules can be linked to a cytotoxic agent, for example the exotoxin of the species pseudomonas.