METHOD FOR SEPARATING CELLS USING IMMUNOROSETTES

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods for separating cells using immunorosettes. The method involves contacting a sample containing nucleated cells and red blood cells with an antibody composition which allows immunorosettes of the nucleated cells and the red blood cells to form. The antibody composition preferably contains bifunctional antibodies or tetrameric antibody complexes.

Description: Title: Method for Separating Cells Using Immunorosettes FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to methods for separating cells using immunorosettes The invention includes novel antibody compositions for use m the method of the invention BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In many applications it is desirable to enrich or, alternatively, deplete certain cell populations in a biological sample The fields of hematology, immunology and oncology rely on samples of peripheral blood and cell suspensions from related tissues such as bone marrow, spleen, thymus and fetal liver The separation of specific cell types from these heterogeneous samples is key to research m these fields, diagnostics and therapy for certain malignancies and lmmune/hematopoietic disorders Purified populations of immune cells such as T cells and antigen presenting cells are necessary for the study of immune function and are used in immunotherapy Investigation of the cellular, molecular and biochemical processes require analysis of certain cell types in isolation Numerous techniques have been used to isolate T cell subsets, B cells, basophils, NK cells and dendritic cells The isolation of hematopoietic stem cells has also been an area of great interest Pure populations of stem cells will facilitate studies of hematopoiesis and transplantation of hematopoietic cells from peripheral blood and /or bone marrow is increasingly used in combination with high-dose chemo- and /or radiotherapy for the treatment of a variety of disorders including malignant, nonma gnant and genetic disorders Very few cells in such transplants are capable of long-term hematopoietic reconstirution, and thus there is a strong stimulus to develop techniques for purification of hematopoietic stem cells Furthermore, serious complications and mdeed the success of a transplant procedure is to a large degree dependent on the effectiveness of the procedures that are used for the removal of cells m the transplant that pose a risk to the transplant recipient Such cells include T lymphocytes that are responsible for graft versus host disease (GVHD) m allogemc grafts, and tumor cells in autologous transplants that may cause recurrence of the malignant growth It is also important to debulk the graft by removing unnecessary cells and thus reducmg the volume of cyropreservant to be infused In certain instances it is desirable to remove or deplete tumor cells from a biological sample, for example m bone marrow transplants Epithelial cancers of the bronchi, mammary ducts and the gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts represent a major type of solid tumors seen today Micrometastatic tumor cell migration is thought to be an important prognostic factor for patients with epithelial cancer (Braun et al , 2000, Vaughan et al , 1990) The ability to detect such metastatic cells is limited by the effectiveness of tissue or fluid sampling and the sensitivity of tumor detection methods A technique to enrich circulating epithelial tumor cells in blood samples would mcrease the ability to detect metastatic disease and facilitate the study of such rare cells and the determmation of the biological changes which enable spread of disease Hematopoietic cells and immune cells have been separated on the basis of physical characteristics such as density and on the basis of susceptibility to certain pharmacological agents which kill cycling cells The advent of monoclonal antibodies against cell surface antigens has greatly expanded the potential to distinguish and separate distmct cell types There are two basic approaches to separating cell populations from blood and related cell suspensions usmg monoclonal antibodies They differ in whether it is the desired or undesired cells which are distinguished /labelled with the antιbody(s) In positive selection techniques the desired cells are labelled with antibodies and removed from the remaining unlabelled/unwanted cells In negative selection, the unwanted cells are labelled and removed Antibody /complement treatment and the use of lmmunotoxins are negative selection techniques, but FACS sortmg and most batch wise immunoadsorption techniques can be adapted to both positive and negative selection In immunoadsorption techniques cells are selected with monoclonal antibodies and preferentially bound to a surface which can be removed from the remainder of the cells e,g column of beads, flasks, magnetic particles Immunoadsorption techniques have won favour clinically and in research because they maintain the high specificity of targeting cells with monoclonal antibodies, but unlike FACSorting, they can be scaled up to deal directly with the large numbers of cells m a clinical harvest and they avoid the dangers of usmg cytotoxic reagents such as lmmunotoxins, and complement They do however, require the use of a "device' or cell separation surface such as a column of beads, panning flask or magnet Current techniques for the isolation of hematopoietic stem cells, immune cells and circulating epithelial tumor cells all involve an initial step to remove red cells then antibody mediated adherence to a device or artificial particle (Firat et al , 1988, de Wynter et al , 1975, Shpall et al , 1994, Thomas et al , 1994, Miltenyi Biotec Inc , Gladbach, Germany) In the case of positive selection there is yet another step, removal of the cells from the device or particle All these multiple steps require time and incur cell loss Slaper-Cortenbach et al (1990) describes a method for purging bone marrow of common acute leukemic (cALL) cells usmg lmmunorosettmg The method requires that the erythrocytes are first removed from the bone marrow sample and are labelled with antibodies that bmd to the cALL cells The labelled erythrocytes are then added back to the sample where the cALL cells are immunorosetted The depletion method works best when followed by an additional step of complement mediated lvsis of the cALL cells Density Separations are commonly used to isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells from granulocytes and erythrocytes. Ficoll (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech AB, Uppsala Sweden) is the most popular density solution used for this application. In a Ficoll density separation whole blood is layered over Ficoll, and then centrifuged. The erythrocytes and granulocytes settle to the cell pellet and the mononuclear cells remain at the Ficoll plasma interface. The success of this technique relies on the difference in density between mononuclear cells and granulocytes. If whole blood is stored for more than 24 hours the granulocytes change density and will not pellet with the red cells. Suspensions of pure mononuclear cells can not be obtained from stored blood or samples with altered cell density in a single density separation. In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art to provide novel methods for separating desired cells or removing unwanted cells from biological samples. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present inventors have developed a method for separating cells by immunorosetting the cells with red blood cells or erythrocytes already existing in the sample. The method of the invention is a much simpler yet equally efficient immunoaffinity technique as compared to the prior art methods. There is no "device" or need for an artificial separation surface (e.g., magnetic particles, affinity column) not normally present in the cell suspension. There is no need to first remove the erythrocytes from the sample and to then re-introduce them once they have been labelled with antibodies. Specific cell types are cross-linked to autologous erythrocytes found within the sample and subsequent rosettes are then removed by sedimentation or centrifugation. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the present invention provides a method of separating nucleated cells from a sample comprising the nucleated cells and erythrocytes comprising: (1 ) contacting the sample with an antibody composition comprising (a) at least one antibody that binds to an antigen on the nucleated cells to be separated linked, either directly or indirectly, to (b) at least one antibody that binds to the erythrocytes, under conditions to allow immunorosettes of the nucleated cells and the erythrocytes to form; and (2) removing the immunorosettes from the sample. The method can be used in both positive and negative selection protocols. The method can be used on any sample that contains red blood cells including whole blood, bone marrow, fetal liver, cord blood, buffy coat suspensions, pleural and peritoneal effusion and samples of thymocytes and splenocytes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described m relation to the drawings in which Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a rosette of erythrocytes formed around an unwanted nucleated cell usmg tetrameric antibody complexes DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION I. METHOD OF THE INVENTION As hereinbefore mentioned, the present invention relates to a method for separating cells by immunorosetting the cells with red blood cells In its broadest aspect, the present invention provides a method of separatmg nucleated cells from a sample comprismg the nucleated cells and erythrocytes comprising (1 ) contactmg the sample with an antibody composition comprismg (a) at least one antibody that binds to an antigen on the nucleated cells to be separated lmked, either directly or indirectly, to (b) at least one antibod) that bmds to the erythrocytes, under conditions to allow immunorosettes of the nucleated cells and the erythrocytes to form, and (2) removmg the immunorosettes from the sample The method can be used m both positive and negative selection protocols In positive selection, the desired cells are rosetted In such an embodiment, the method would further mclude the step of lysing the red blood cells m the immunorosettes and separatmg the desired cells Accordingly, m a positive selection method the antibody composition will contain (a) at least one antibody specific for the nucleated cells that one wishes to obtam or separate from the sample Preferably, the method of the invention is used in a negative selection protocol In negative selection, the desired cells are not immunorosetted and would be remaining in the sample once the immunorosettes have been removed In a negative selection method, the antibody composition will contain (a) at least one antibody specific for the cells that one wishes to remove from the sample Accordingly, the present mvention provides a negative selection method for enπchmg and recovering desired cells m a sample containing the desired cells, erythrocytes and undesired cells comprismg (1 ) contactmg the sample with an antibody composition comprising (a) at least one antibody that bmds to an antigen on the undesired cells lmked, either directly or indirectly, to (b) at least one antibody that bmds to the erythrocytes, under conditions to allow immunorosettes of the undesired cells and the erythrocytes to form, and (2) separating the immunorosettes from the remamder of the sample to obta a sample enriched in the desired cells The immunorosettes between the erythrocytes and the unwanted cells formed in step (1) can be separated from the desired cells usmg a variety of techniques In one embodiment, the sample, contammg the immunorosettes, is layered over a buoyant density solution (such as Ficoll-Hypaque) and centrifuged The immunorosettes pellet and the desired cells remain at the interface between the buoyant density solution and the sample The desired cells are then removed from the mterface for further use In another embodiment, the sample contammg the immunorosettes obtained in step (1) is mixed with a sedimentation reagent (such as hydroxyethyl starch, gelatin or methyl cellulose) and the rosettes are permitted to sediment The desired cells remam in suspension and are removed for further use In a further embodiment, the sample containing the immunorosettes obtained in step (1) is allowed to sediment with or without the aid of centπfugation or Counter Flow Elutπation The desired cells remain in suspension and are removed for further use The antibody compositions for use in the present invention are described in greater detail below The method of the invention may be used m the processmg of biological samples that contam erythrocytes including blood (m particular, cord blood and whole blood) bone marrow, fetal liver, buffy coat suspensions, pleural and peritoneal effusions and suspensions of thymocytes and splenocytes Surprisingly, the mventors have found that the method can be used to remove cells directly from whole blood or whole bone marrow without prior processing This offers a significant advantage of the method of the mvention over the prior art methods In particular, the erythrocytes do not have to be removed, labelled and added back to the sample The method of the invention can be used to prepare enriched samples of any cell type including, but not limited to, T cells, B cells, NK cells, dendritic cells, monocytes, basophils, mast cells, progenitor cells, stem cells and tumor cells In one embodiment, the method of the invention can be used to prepare hematopoietic progenitor and stem cell preparations from bone marrow samples For example, the method of the invention may be used in a negative selection protocol to deplete or purge B and T lymphocytes, monocytes, NK cells, granulocytes, and /or tumor cells from samples to prepare hematopoietic progenitor and stem cell preparations for use m transplantation as well as other therapeutic methods that are readily apparent to those of skill in the art For example, bone marrow or blood can be harvested from a donor in the case of an allogemc transplant and enriched for progenitor and stem cells by the method described herem Usmg negative selection the human hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells m the preparation are not coated with antibodies, or modified making them highly suitable for transplantation and other therapeutic uses that are readily apparent to those skilled m the art In another embodiment, the method of the invention can be used to isolate and recover mature dendritic cells and their precursors from blood Dendritic cells have many useful applications including as antigen presentmg cells capable of activatmg T cells both in vitro and in vivo As an example, dendritic cells can be loaded (pulsed) in vitro with a tumor antigen and injected in vivo to mduce an anti-tumor T cell response In a further embodiment, the method of the invention may also be used to prepare a cell preparation from samples such as blood and bone marrow, which is enriched m a selected differentiated cell type such as T-cells, B-cells, NK cells, monocytes, dendritic cells, basophils and plasma cells This will enable studies of specific cell to cell mteractions including growth factor production and responses to growth factors It will also allow molecular and biochemical analysis of specific cells types Cell preparations enriched in NK cells, dendritic cells and T-cells may also be used m immune therapy against certain malignancies In yet another embodiment, the method of the invention can be used to separate tumor cells, such as non-hematopoietic metastatic tumor cells from a sample The method is useful m the detection of non-hematopoietic tumor cells from blood, bone marrow, and peritoneal and pleural effusions of patients to aid m the diagnosis and detection of metastatic disease, monitoring the progression of metastatic disease, or monitormg the efficacy of a treatment II. ANTIBODY COMPOSITIONS The mvention includes the antibody compositions for use m the method of the present invention The antibody composition will contain (a) at least one antibody that bmds to an antigen on nucleated cells lmked, either directly or indirectly, to (b) at least one antibody that bmds to an antigen on erythrocytes The term "at least one antibody" means that the antibody composition mcludes at least one type of antibody (as opposed to at least one antibody molecule) One type of antibody means an antibody that binds to a particular antigen For example, antibodies that bmd to the antigen CD2 are considered one ty pe of antibody Preferably, the antibody compositions of the mvention contain (a) more than one antibody type that bmds to nucleated cells The two antibodies (a) and (b) may be directly linked by preparing bifunctional or bispecific antibodies The two antibodies (a) and (b) may be indirectly lmked for example, by preparmg tetrameric antibody complexes All of these are described hereinafter In one aspect, the antibody specific for the nucleated cells is lmked directly to the antibody specific for the erythrocytes In one embodiment, the antibody composition of the present invention contams bifunctional antibodies comprismg at least one antibody specific for the nucleated cells lmked directly to (b) at least one antibody specific for the ervthrocytes Bifunctional antibodies may be prepared by chemically coupling one antibody to the other, for example by usmg N-succιnιmιdyl-3-(2-pyrιdyldιthιo) propionate (SPDP) In another embodiment, the antibody composition contams bispecific antibodies Bispecific antibodies contain a variable region of an antibody specific for erythrocytes and a variable region specific for at least one antigen on the surface of the nucleated cells to be separated The bispecific antibodies may be prepared by forming hybrid hybπdomas The hybrid hybndomas may be prepared usmg the procedures known in the art such as those disclosed m Staerz & Bevan, (1986, PNAS (USA) 83 1453) and Staerz & Bevan, (1986, Immunology Today, 7 241) Bispecific antibodies may also be constructed by chemical means usmg procedures such as those described by Staerz et al , (1985, Nature, 314 628) and Perez et al , (1985 Nature 316 354), or by expression of recombinant lmmunoglobubn gene constructs In another aspect, the antibody composition of the present invention comprises (a) at least one antibody specific for a nucleated cell type indirectly linked to (b) at least one antibody specific for the erythrocyte By "indirectly linked" it is meant that antibody (a) and antibody (b) are not directly covalently linked to each other but are attached through a linking moiety such as an immunological complex In a preferred embodiment, the antibody to the nucleated cell type is indirectly linked to the antibody specific for the erythrocytes by preparing a tetrameric antibody complex A tetrameric antibody complex may be prepared by mixmg a first monoclonal antibody which is capable of binding to the erythrocytes, and a second monoclonal antibody capable of binding the nucleated cells to be separated The first and second monoclonal antibody are from a first animal species The first and second antibody are reacted with approximately an equimolar amount of monoclonal antibodies of a second animal species which are directed agamst the Fc-fragments of the antibodies of the first animal species The first and second antibody may also be reacted with an about equimolar amount of the F(ab ) 2 fragments of monoclonal antibodies of a second animal species which are directed against the Fc-fragments of the antibodies of the first animal species (See U S Patent No 4,868,109 to Lansdorp, which is incorporated herein by reference for a description of tetrameric antibody complexes and methods for preparmg same) Preferably, the antibody specific for the erythrocytes is anti-glycophorm A The anti-glycophorm A antibodies contained in the antibody composition of the mvention are used to bind the erythrocytes Examples of monoclonal antibodies specific for glycophorm A are 10F7MN (U S Patent No 4,752,582, Cell lines ATCC accession numbers HB-8162), and D2 10 (Immunotech, Marseille, France) Preferably, the antibody specific for the nucleated cells is a combination of antibodies The combination of antibodies may be specific for a number of cell types so that many cell types may be removed from the sample When usmg a combmation of antibodies, each antibody will be lmked (either directly or indirectly) to an antibody specific for erythrocytes In a preferred embodiment, the antibody composition is a tetrameric complex comprising (a) anti-glycophorm A antibodies to bind the erythrocytes, (b) an antibody that bmds to a nucleated cell type that one wishes to immunorosette and (c) antibodies that bind the Fc portion of both (a) and (b), optionally F(ab') 2 antibody fragments The molar ratio of (a) (b) (c) may be approximately 1 3 4 When several types of cells are to be separated, complexes are made with several anh-nucleated cell antibodies (b) The complexes may then be mixed together to form an antibody composition for use m the method of the invention Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a rosette formed by tetrameric antibody complexes Within the context of the present invention, antibodies are understood to include monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal antibodies, antibody fragments (e g , Fab, and F(ab ) 2 ), chimeπc antibodies, bifunctional or bispecific antibodies and tetrameric antibody complexes Antibodies are understood to be reactive agamst a selected antigen on the surface of a nucleated cell or erythrocyte if they bind with an appropriate affinity (association constant), e g greater than or equal to 10 7 M "1 Monoclonal antibodies are preferably used in the antibody compositions of the invention Monoclonal antibodies specific for selected antigens on the surface of nucleated cells may be readily generated using conventional techniques For example, monoclonal antibodies may be produced by the hybndoma technique originally developed by Kohler and Milstein 1975 (Nature 256, 495-497, see also U S Patent Nos RE 32,011, 4,902,614, 4,543,439, and 4,411,993 which are incorporated herein by reference, see also Monoclonal Antibodies, Hybndomas A New Dimension in Biological Analyses, Plenum Press, Kennett, McKearn, and Bechtol (eds ), 1980, and Antibodies A Laboratory Manual, Harlow and Lane (eds ), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1988) Other techniques may also be utilized to construct monoclonal antibodies (for example, see William D Huse et al , 1989, "Generation of a Large Combinational Library of the Immunoglobuhn Repertoire in Phage Lambda,' Science 246 1275-1281, L Sastry et al , 1989 "Cloning of the Immunological Repertoire in Escheπchia coh for Generation of Monoclonal Catalytic Antibodies Construction of a Heavy Chain Variable Region-Specific cDNA Library,' Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 86 5728-5732, Kozbor et al , 1983 Immunol Today 4, 72 re the human B-cell hybndoma technique, Cole et al 1985 Monoclonal Antibodies in Cancer Therapy, Allen R Bliss, Inc , pages 77-96 re the EBV-hybπdoma technique to produce human monoclonal antibodies, and see also Michelle Altmg-Mees et al , 1990 "Monoclonal Antibody Expression Libraries A Rapid Alternative to Hybndomas," Strategies in Molecular Biology 3 1-9) Hybndoma cells can be screened immunochemically for production of antibodies specifically reactive with an antigen, and monoclonal antibodies can be isolated Antibodies can be fragmented using conventional techniques and the fragments screened for utility in the same manner as described above for whole antibodies For example, F(ab ) 2 fragments can be generated by treatmg antibody with pepsm The resulting F(ab ) 2 fragment can be treated to reduce disulfide bridges to produce Fab fragments The invention also contemplates chimeπc antibody derivatives, I e , antibody molecules that combme a non-human animal v ariable region and a human constant region Chimeric antibody molecules can mclude, for example, the antigen binding domam from an antibody of a mouse, rat, or other species, with human constant regions A variet of approaches for makmg chimeric antibodies have been described and can be used to make chimeric antibodies containing the immunoglobulin variable region which recognizes selected antigens on the surface of differentiated cells or tumor cells See, for example, Morrison et al , 1985, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 81,6851, Takeda et al , 1985, Nature 314 452, Cabilly et al , U S Patent No 4,816,567, Boss et al , U S Patent No 4,816,397, Tanaguchi et al , European Patent Publication EP171496, European Patent Publication 0173494, United Kmgdom patent GB 2177096B Bifunctional antibodies may be prepared by chemical conjugation, somatic hybridization or genetic engmeermg techniques Chemical con j ugation is based on the use of homo- and heterobifunctional reagents with ε-amino groups or hmge region thiol groups Homobifunctional reagents such as 5,5'-Dιthιobιs(2-nιtrobenzoιc acιd)(DNTB) generate disulfide bonds between the two Fabs, and 0-phenylenedιmaleιmιde (O-PDM) generate thioether bonds between the two Fabs (Brenner et al , 1985, Glennie et al , 1987) Heterobifunctional reagents such as N- succmιmιdyl-3-(2-pyπdyldιtιo) propionate (SPDP) combine exposed ammo groups of antibodies and Fab fragments, regardless of class or isotype (Van Dijk et al , 1989) Somatic hybridization includes fusion of two established hybndomas generatmg a quadroma (Milstem and Cuello, 1983) or fusion of one established hybndoma with lymphocytes derived from a mouse immunized with a second antigen generatmg a trioma (Nolan and Kennedy, 1990) Hybrid hybndomas are selected by makmg each hybndoma cell lme resistant to a specific drug-resistant marker (De Lau et al , 1989), or by labeling each hybndoma with a different fluorochrome and sorting out the heterofluorescent cells (Karawajew et al , 1987) Genetic engmeermg mvolves the use of recombinant DNA based technology to ligate sequences of DNA encodmg specific fragments of antibodies mto plasmids, and expressmg the recombmant protein Bispecific antibodies can also be made as a smgle covalent structure by combining two s gle chams Fv (scF\ ) fragments usmg lmkers (Wmter and Milstem, 1991), as leucme zippers coexpressing sequences derived from the transcription factors fos and jun (Kostelny et al , 1992), as hehx-turn-helix coexpressing an mteraction doma of p53 (Rheinnecker et al , 1996), or as diabodies (Holliger et al , 1993) Table 1 provides examples of antibodies to particular human antigens on nucleated cells that may be used in the method of the present ιn\ ention The method of the mvention may also be used for other species The choice of the antibody or antibodies to the nucleated cells will depend on the nature of the sample, the choice of the cells to be enriched or depleted and whether the method is a positive or negative selection protocol In all cases, the antibody (or antibodies) to the nucleated cells to be immunorosetted will be linked, either directly or indirectly, to the antibody specific for the erythrocytes when used in the method of the mvention The methods and antibody compositions of the mvention are preferab used m negative selection protocols to prepare a cell preparation which is enriched for a specific cell type This is achieved by usmg antibody compositions which lack antibodies to the specific cell type that you wish to isolate Accordingly, the present invention provides an antibody composition for ennchmg and recovermg desired cells m a sample containing desired cells, erythrocytes and undesired cells comprising (a) at least one antibody that bmds to an antigen on the undesired cells lmked to (b) at least one antibody that bmds to the erythrocytes Particular embodiments of the antibody compositions that may be used in negative selection protocols of the mvention for human cells are set out in Table 2 This Table provides a list or cocktail of antibodies to particular antigens that can be used as antibody (a) in the above method to enrich for a particular cell type In most cases, several choices for the essential antibodies are provided as well as several optional antibodies For example, for enriching for T cells antibody (a) may be a cocktail of antibodies to (1) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, (2) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24 and/or Ig, and (3) CD36 and/or CD14 The cocktail may optionally include antibodies to CD33 and/or CD56 and/or IgE and/or CD41 In addition to the antibody combinations listed in Table 2, one skilled in the art will appreciate that other antibody combmations may be used to enrich for specific cell types such as those described in U S Patent No 5,877,299 which is incorporated herein bv reference As the invention relates to the preparation of immunorosettes to prepare enriched cell preparations, one skilled m the art will appreciate that other antibodies and antibody combmations may be used The methods and antibody compositions of the mvention may be used m positive selection protocols to prepare a cell preparation m w hich the desired cells are lmmunorosetted Some examples of antibody combinations useful m positive selection protocols are set out below To separate non-hematopoietic tumor cells m a positive selection protocol, the antibody composition includes antibodies specific for non-hematopoietic antigens expressed on tumor cells, such as antibodies agamst antigens expressed on the surface of breast and lung carcinoma and neuroblastoma cells The antibodies to the non- hematopoietic antigens expressed on epithelial tumor cells may be obtained from commercial sources (for example as shown m Table 3) or prepared usmg techniques known m the art To separate B cells m a positive selection protocol, the antibody composition contams antibodies agamst CD24 and/or CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD22 To separate T cells in a positive selection protocol, the antibody composition contams antibodies agamst CD3 and/or CD2 and/or CD5 and/or both CD4 and CD8 To separate NK cells in a positive selection protocol, the antibody composition contams antibodies agamst CD56 To separate granulocytes in a positive selection protocol, the antibody composition contams antibodies against CD16 and/or CD66e and/or CD66b To separate monocytes m a positive selection protocol, the antibody composition contams antibodies agamst CD14 The following non- mitmg examples are illustrative of the present mvention EXAMPLES Example 1 Preparation of Tetramers In order to prepare a tetrameric antibody complex for use m the method of the present invention, the following protocol may be used (a) take 1 mg of antibody specific for cells to be rosetted (e g antι-CD2, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14, CD16, CD19 etc ), (b) add 3 mg anti-Glycophoπn A antibody (agamst red blood cells), mix well (c) then add 4 0 mg of P9 antibody or 2 72 mg of the P9 F(ab') 2 antibody fragment Incubate overnight at 37°C The P9 antibody bmds the Fc portion of the antibodies added m steps (a) and (b) resultmg in a tetrameric antibody complex For more information on the preparation of tetramers see U S Patent No 4,868,109 to Lansdorp, which is incorporated herein by reference Tetrameric antibody complexes incorporating different antibodies to antigens expressed or nucleated cells are prepared separately and then mixed The antibody compositions are made by combmmg various tetrameric antibody complexes dependmg on which cells one wishes to deplete The concentration of the various tetrameric antibody complexes vanes typically antibodies to antigens expressed on nucleated cells are at 10-30 μg/mL m tetrameric complexes The composition is then diluted 1 /10 into the cells so the final concentrations of each anti nucleated cell antibody m the cell suspensions is 1 0-3 0 μg/mL Example 2 Method of Immunorosetting Using Ficoll A negative selection protocol for immunorosetting cells from whole peripheral blood usmg Ficoll Hypaque is set out below 1 Add lOOμL antibody composition per mL of whole peripheral blood 2 Incubate 20 mmutes at room temperature 3 Dilute sample with an equal volume of phosphate buffered salme (PBS) + 2% fetal calf serum (FCS) and mix gently 4 Layer the diluted sample on top of Ficoll Hypaque or layer the Ficoll underneath the diluted sample 5 Centrifuge for 20 mmutes at 1200 x g, room temperature, with the brake off 6 Remove the enriched cells from the Ficoll plasma interface 7 Wash enriched cells with 5-10x volume of PBS + 2% FBS Note For enrichment of monocytes and other adherent cells, add 1 mM EDTA to the sample of whole blood and to all wash /dilution solutions Example 3 Method of Immunorosetting Using Hetastarch Sedimentation A negative selection protocol for immunorosetting cells from whole peripheral blood using hetastarch is set out below Hetastarch is one of a number of compounds that mcreases red blood cell sedimentation rates through agglutination 1 Add 1 mL of 6% hetastarch m salme per 5 mL of blood and mix 2 Add antibody composition described m Example 1 to whole blood such that each anti-nucleated cell antibody is at a final concentration of 1 0-2 0 μg/mL 3 Incubate 10 mmutes at room temperature 4 Centrifuge for 5 mmutes at 50 x g, room temperature 5 Remove supernatant This fraction contams the enriched cells 6 Wash enriched cell fraction with 2-5 x volume of PBS +2% fetal bovme serum (FBS) Example 4 Method of Immunorosetting Using Hetastarch/Iodixanol Mixture A negative selection protocol for immunorosetting cells from whole peripheral blood is set out below 1 Add 1 mL of 6% hetastarch in salme per 5 mL of blood and mix 2 Add 0 6 mL of 60% w/v lodixanol and mix Iodixanol is one of a number of compounds that increases the aqueous solution density appreciably 3 Add antibody composition described m Example 1 to whole blood such that each anti-nucleated cell antibody is at a final concentration of 1 0-2 0 μg/mL 4 Incubate 10 mmutes at room temperature 5 Centrifuge for 5 mmutes at 50 xg, room temperature 6 Remove supernatant This fraction contams the enriched cells 7 Wash enriched cell fraction with 2-5 x volume of PBS +2% FBS Example 5 Method of Immunorosetting - Positive Selection A positive selection protocol for immunorosetting cells from whole peripheral blood is set out below I Set aside 1 mL of blood 2 Layer 10 mL of blood over Ficoll-Paque and centrifuge for 20 mmutes at 1200xg, room temperature, brake off 3 Recover the MNC layer at the Ficoll plasma interface, wash with PBS+2% FBS 4 Count cells and resuspend at lxl0 8 /mL 5 Measure sample volume, designated volume A 6 Add 0 2 mL of reserved blood from Step 1 7 Make up total volume to twice volume A with PBS+2% FBS 8 Add a tetrameric antibody complex specific to a given antigen at a fmal concentration of 1 0 μg/mL, the synthesis of which is described m Example 1 9 Incubate 20 mmutes at room temperature 10 Dilute by a factor of 2 with PBS+2% FBS and layer over Percoll prepared at a density of 1 085 g/mL and an osmolaπty of 280 mOsm II Centrifuge for 20 mmutes at 1200xg as in Step 2 12 Discard supernatant and resuspend pellet containing the enriched cells 13 Lyse red blood cells with ammonium chloride solution and wash with PBS+2% FBS Example 6 Enrichment of T cells - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll This example demonstrates the enrichment of T cells from whole peripheral blood using the method described in Example 2 A T cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies against CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The results, shown m Table 4, demonstrate that the method of the mvention results m 95% purity of T cells with a recovery of close to 50% Example 7 Enrichment of CD8 + T cells - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll This example demonstrates the enrichment of CD8 + T cells from whole peripheral blood using the method described m Example 2 Two cocktails of tetrameric antibody complexes were tested One cocktail contamed antibodies agamst CD4, CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD56 the other contamed antibodies to CD4, CD16, CD19, CD36, CD56 and IgE The results, shown in Table 5, demonstrate that the addition of anti IgE to the cocktail improves the purity of CD8 + T cells with no effect on recovery Example 8 Enrichment of CD4 + T cells - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll This example demonstrates the enrichment of CD4 + T cells from whole peripheral blood usmg the method described m Example 2 Two CD4 T cell enrichment cocktails of tetrameric antibody complexes were prepared One cocktail contained antibodies to CD8, CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD56 The other cocktail contamed antibodies to CD8, CD16, CD19, CD36, CD56 and IgE The results, shown m Table 6, demonstrate that the method of the mvention results m 93% purity of CD4 + T cells with a recovery of 46% and that addition of anti-IgE to the enrichment cocktail improves the purity of CD4 + T cells Example 9 Enrichment of B cells - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll This example demonstrates the enrichment of B cells from whole peripheral blood usmg the method described m Example 2 Two B cell enrichment cocktails of tetrameric antibody complexes were prepared One cocktail contamed antibodies to CD2, CD3, CD16, CD36 and CD56 The other cocktail contamed antibodies to CD2, CD3, CD16, CD36, CD56 and IgE The results, shown m Table 7, demonstrate that the method of the mvention results m 88% purity of B cells with a recovery of 43% and that addition of anti- IgE to the cocktail improves the purity of B cells Example 10 Enrichment of NK cells - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll This example demonstrates the enrichment of NK cells from whole peripheral blood using the method described in Example 2 Two NK cell enrichment cocktails of tetrameric antibody complexes were prepared One cocktail contamed antibodies to CD3, CD4, CD19, CD66b and CD36 The other cocktail contamed antibodies to CD3, CD4, CD19, CD66b, CD36 and IgE The results, shown m Table 8, demonstrate that the method of the invention results m 74% purity of NK cells with a recovery of 44% and that the addition of anti-IgE to the cocktail improves purity but decreases recovery Example 11 Enrichment of Progenitors This example demonstrates the enrichment of progenitor cells from whole umbilical cord blood using the method described m Example 2 Two different cocktails of tetrameric antibody complexes were used, (a ) the progenitor enrichment cocktail containing tetrameric antibody complexes to CD2, CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD24, CD56 and CD66b, (b) the de-bulkmg cocktail containing tetrameric antibody complexes to CD2, CD14, CD19 and CD66b The results, shown m Table 9, demonstrate that the method of the mvention results m 29% purity of CD34 + cells with a recovery of 53% for the extensive progenitor enrichment cocktail and only 5% purity and 45% recovery for the four antibody de-bulkmg cocktail Example 12 Enrichment of Monocytes - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll This example demonstrates the enrichment of monocytes from whole peripheral blood usmg the method described m Example 2 Several monocyte enrichment cocktails of tetrameric antibody were prepared (see Table 10) The results shown m Table 10 demonstrate that the method of the invention results m 76% purity of CD14 + cells with 65% recovery of CD14 + cells and that the addition of anti CD8 or anti-IgE improved the purity of monocytes but addmg both antι-CD8 and IgE did not have an additive effect Example 13 Enrichment of Non-Hematopoietic Tumor Cells This example demonstrates the enrichment of breast cancer cells from whole peripheral blood using the method described m Example 2 Cells from the CAMA breast cancer cell lme were seeded into samples of whole peripheral blood at a frequency of 1/10 3 , l/10 and 1/10 5 Three tumor cell enrichment cocktails of tetrameric antibody complexes were prepared The antibody composition of the cocktails is listed in Table 11 The results, shown in Table 12, demonstrate that the method of the invention results in greater than 2 log enrichment of tumor cells with 20-50% recovery of tumor cells The more extensive cocktail offers a greater degree of tumor cell enrichment Example 14 T Cell Enrichment - Effect of Substituting Anti-CD14 with Anti-CD36 This example demonstrates the improved T cell enrichment from whole peripheral blood usmg the method described m Example 2 when the enrichment cocktail is modified by substituting antι-CD36 for antι-CD14 The results in Table 13 show a 24% mcrease m %punty of CD3 + cells with the antibody substitution Example 15 Enrichment of Specific Cell Populations Using Hetastarch Sedimentation This example demonstrates the enrichment of various cell populations from whole peripheral blood usmg the method described m Example 3 A T cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies agamst CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The method of the mvention results m greater than 95% purity of T cells, with a recovery of 60% A B cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies agamst CD2, CD3, CD16, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The method of the mvention results in 75% purity of B cells, with a recovery of 39% A NK cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies agamst CD3, CD4, CD19, CD36 and CD66b was prepared The method of the mvention results in 65% purity of NK cells, with a recovery of 27% Example 16 Enrichment of Specific Cell Populations Using Hetastarch/Iodixanol Mixture This example demonstrates the enrichment of various cell populations from whole peripheral blood using the method described m Example 4 The results, listed in Table 14, are summarized as follows A T cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies against CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The method of the mvention results m 95% purity of T cells, with a recovery of 61% A CD4 + T cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies agamst CD8, CD16, CD 19, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The method of the mvention results m 89% purity of CD4+ T cells, with a recovery of 64% A CD8 + T cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies agamst CD4, CD16, CD 19, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The method of the invention results m 80% purity of CD8+ T cells, with a recovery of 43% A B cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies agamst CD2, CD3, CD16, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The method of the mvention results m 84% purity of B cells, with a recovery of 58% A NK cell enrichment cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg antibodies agamst CD3, CD4, CD 19, CD36 and CD66b was prepared The method of the mvention results m 80% purity of NK cells, with a recovery of 50% Example 17 Immunorosetting Using Different Layering Media This example demonstrates that the method of Example 2 can be modified by substituting different media for Ficoll-Hypaque m Step 4 The density of Ficoll was 1 077 g/mL and the osmolarity was approximately 300 mOsm Percoll and Iodixanol solutions were prepared with a density of 1 085 g/mL and an osmolarity of 280 mOsm A B cell enrichment cocktail contammg antibody complexes agamst CD2, CD3, CD16, CD36 and CD56 was prepared The results of B cell enrichments for two separate samples, shown m Table 15, demonstrate that the use of different layermg media at a higher density can mcrease the recovery of B cells without lowermg the B cell purity Example 18 Purging of T Cells Using Immunorosettes This example demonstrates the removal of T cells from whole peripheral blood using the method described in Example 2 T cells purging cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes to CD3 was prepared The method of the invention resulted m 2 3 log depletion of CD3 + cells Example 19 Purging of B Cells Using Immunorosettes This example demonstrates the removal of B cells from whole peripheral blood usmg the method described in Example 2 B cells purging cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes to CD19 was prepared The method of the mvention resulted m 3 0 log depletion of CD19 + cells Example 20 Purging of Breast Carcinoma Cells Using Immunorosetting This example demonstrates the removal of breast carcinoma cells from whole peripheral blood seeded with 1-5% CAMA breast carcinoma cells usmg the method described m Example 2 A purgmg cocktail of tetrameric antibody complexes contammg anti-breast carcinoma antibodies 5E11 and BRST 1 was prepared The results shown m Table 16 demonstrate the method of the invention results in 1 0-1 4 log depletion of breast carcmoma cells Example 21 Removal of Granulocytes from Previously Stored Whole Peripheral Blood The density of granulocytes in samples of whole peripheral blood decreases with >24 hours of storage Density separation methods commonly used to remove red cells and granulocytes from fresh whole blood do not efficiently remove granulocytes from stored blood samples The sedimentation rate of stored granulocytes can be increased to allow efficient removal m a standard Ficoll density separation (1 077 g/mL) by immunorosetting This example demonstrates the removal of granulocytes from stored (48 hour) whole peripheral blood using the method described in Example 2 A granulocyte depletion cocktail containing tetrameric antibody complexes agamst CD66b was prepared The results, shown m Table 17, demonstrate that the method of the mvention results m 1 8-2 6 log depletion of granulocytes Example 22 Positive Selection of Specific Cell Populations Using Immunorosetting This example demonstrates the enrichment of CD8 + cells from whole peripheral blood usmg the positive selection method described in Example 5 A tetrameric antibody complex agamst CD8 was prepared The method of the invention results m the enrichment of CD8 + cells as a percentage of the mononuclear cell fraction from 25% m the start to 32% in the pellet While the present mvention has been described with reference to what are presently considered to be the preferred examples, it is to be understood that the mvention is not limited to the disclosed examples To the contrary, the invention is mtended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included withm the spirit and scope of the appended claims All publications, patents and patent applications are herem incorporated by reference m their entirety to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference in its entirety TABLE 1 Antibodies used in Cell Separation TABLE 2 Immunorosetting Cocktails of Antibodies for Negative Selection of Human Cells T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and /or CD14 and optionally antι-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 Resting T Cell Enrichment Anti- HLA-DR and /or CD25, CD69 CD16 and /or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally antι-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 γδ T Cell Enrichment Anti- αβTCR CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and /or CD14 and optionally antι-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 αβT Cell Enrichment Anti- γδTCR CD16 and /or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally antι-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 TABLE 2 (Cont'd) CD4+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD8 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 Naive CD4+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD8 CD45RO and/or CD29 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 Memory CD4+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD8 CD45RA CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/ or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 Resting CD4+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD8 HLA-DR and/or CD25, CD69 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 TABLE 2 (Cont'd) CD4+ αβT Cell Enrichment Anti- γδTCR CD8 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 TH1 CD4+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD8 CD124 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 TH2 CD4+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD8 CCR5 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 CD8+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD4 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 TABLE 2 (Cont'd) Naive CD8+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD4 CD45RO and/or CD29 CD16 and /or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 Memory CD8+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD4 CD45RA CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 Resting CD8+ T Cell Enrichment Anti- CD4 HLA-DR and /or CD25, CD69, CD27 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 CD8+ αβT Cell Enrichment Anti- γδTCR CD4 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD19 and/or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24, Ig CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, IgE, CD41 TABLE 2 (Cont'd) B Cell Enrichment Anti- CD2 and/or CD3, both CD4 and CD8 CD16 and/or CD66b, CDllb, CD15 CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD56, CD41 NK Cell Enrichment Anti- CD3 CD66b and/or CD15 CD19 and /or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24 CD36 and/or CD14 and optionally anti-CD33, CD4, IgE, CD41 Monocyte Enrichment Anti- CD2 and/or CD3, CD5 CD19 and /or CD20, CD21, CD22, CD24 CD66b and/or CD16 and optionally anti-CD8, CD56 Dendritic Cell Enrichment Anti- CD3 CD14 CD16 CD19 CD34 CD56 CD66b TABLE 2 (Cont'd) Basophil Enrichment Anti- CD2 CD3 CD14 CD15 CD16 CD19 CD24 CD34 CD36 CD56 CD45RA Progenitor Enrichment Anti- CD2 and/or CD3 CD16 and/or CD66b CD19 and/or CD24 CD14 and optionally anti- CD56, CD10, CD45RA, CD38, CD36, CD33, CD71 Erythroid Progenitor Enrichment Anti- CD2 and/or CD3 CD16 and/or CD66b CD19 and/or CD24 CD14 CD45RA CD33 CD10 and optionally anti- CD56 TABLE 2 (Cont'd) Myeloid Progenitor Enrichment Anti- CD2 and/or CD3 CD16 and/or CD66b CD19 and/or CD24 CD14 CD71 CD10 and optionally anti- CD56 Megakaryocyte Progenitor Enrichment Anti- CD2 and/or CD3 CD16 and/or CD66b CD19 and/or CD24 CD14 CD45RA CD10 and optionally anti- CD56 Epithelial Tumor Cell Enrichment Anti- CD45 CD66b and optionally CD2, CD3, CD14, CD16, CD19, CD36, CD38, CD56, CD66e TABLE 3 Antibodies Recognizmg Non-Hematopoietic Antigens Expressed on Epithelial Tumor Cells TABLE 4 T Cell Enrichment - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll Purity mean 95 SD 4 n 19 Recovery mean 46 SD 12 1 n ' 19 SD = Standard deviation from the mean Purity = % CD3 + cells Recoverv = Recoverv of CD3 + cells TABLE 5 CD8 + T Cell Enrichment - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll SD = Standard Deviation from the mean Purity = % CD8 + cells Recovery = % Recovery of CD8 + cells * n = 4 SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 25) TABLE 6 CD4 + T Cell Enrichment - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll SD = Standard Deviation from the mean Purity = % CD4 + cells Recovery = % Recovery of CD4 + cells * n = 5 SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 25) TABLE 7 B Cell Enrichment - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll SD = Standard Deviation from the mean Purity = % CD19 + cells Recovery = % Recovery of CD19 + cells TABLE 8 NK Cell Enrichment - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll SD = Standard Deviation from the mean. Purity = % CD56 + cells Recoverv = % recoverv CD56 + cells TABLE 9 Enrichment of CD34 + cells from Whole Cord Blood - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll Purity = % CD34 + cells Recovery = % recovery CD34 + cells SD = Standard Deviation from the mean TABLE 10 Monocyte Enrichment - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll Purity = %Purity CD14 + cells Recovery = %Recovery CD14 + cells TABLE 11 Antibody Composition of Tumor Enrichment Cocktails TABLE 12 Enrichment of CAMA Breast Cancer Cells from Whole Blood SUBSTΓΓLΠΈ SHEET (RULE 26) TABLE 13 T Cell Enrichment - Immunorosetting Using Ficoll SD = Standard Deviation from the mean Purity = %Purity CD3 + cells Recovery = %Recovery CD3 + cells TABLE 14 Immunorosetting Using Hetastarch/Iodixanol Mixture SD = Standard Deviation from the mean Purity = % Purity desired cell type (T cells = CD3 + cells, CD4 + cells, CD8 + cells, B cells = CD19 + cells, NK cells = CD56 + cells) Recovery = % Recovery of desired cells SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 25) TABLE 15 Immunorosetting Using Different Layering Media B Cell Enrichment SE = Standrad Error of the mean Purity = % Purity of CD19 + cells Recovery = % Recovery of CD19 + cells TABLE 16 Puging of Breast Carcinoma Cells Using Immunorosetting TABLE 17 Removal of Granulocytes from Stored Whole Peripheral Blood Immunorosetting = Method outlined in Example 2, with depletion cocktail containing anti-CD66b Ficoll alone = Standard Ficoll density separation without immunorosetting FULL CITATIONS FOR REFERENCES REFERRED TO IN THE SPECIFICATION 1 Braun et al , N Engl J Med , 342 525 533 2 Brenner, M B , Trowbπdge, I S , Strommger, J L , 1985, Cell 40 183-190 3 De Lau, W B , Van Loon, A E , Hei j e, K , Valerio, D , Bast, B J , 1989, J Immunol Methods, 117 1-8 4 deWynter, E A et al , 1975, Stem Cells, Vol 13 524-532 5 Firat et al , 1988, Bone Marrow Transplantation, Vol 21 933-938 6 Glenme, M J , McBπde, H M , Worth, A T , Stevenson, G T , 1987, T Immunol , 139 2367-2375 7 Holhger, P , Prospero, T , Winter, G , 1993, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 90 6444- 6448 8 Horrocks, C, M Fairhurst and T Thomas, 1998 Blood Vol 92, p 25A Karawajew, L , Micheel, B , Behrsmg, O , Gaestel, M , 1987, J Immunol Methods 96 265-270 10 Kostelny, S A , Cole, M S , Tso, J Y , 1992, J Immunol 148 1547-1553 11 Kohler and Milstem, 1975, Nature 256, 495-497 12 Milstem, C , Cuello, A C , 1983, Nature, 305 537-540 3 Nolan, O , Kennedy, O R , 1990, Biochem Biophys Acta, 1040 1-11 4 Perez et al , 1985, Nature 316 354 5 Rheinnecker et al , 1996, J Immunol 1572989-2997 6 Shpall, E J , et al 1994, J of Clinical Oncology 12 28-36 7 Slaper-Cortenbach, Ineke C M , et al , 1990, Exp Hematol 18 49-54 8 Staerz & Bevan, 1986, PNAS (USA) 83 1453 9 Staerz & Bevan, 1986, Immunology Today, 7241 0 Staerz et al , 1985, Nature, 314 628 1 Thomas, T E , 1994, Cancer Research, Therapy and Control 4(2) 119-128 2 Van Drjk, J et al , 1989, Int J Cancer 44 738-743 3 Vaughan et al , 1990, Proc Am Soc Clm Oncol 9 9 4 Wmter, G , Milstem, C , 1991, Nature, 349 293-299

Claims: WE CLAIM: 1 A negative selection method for enriching and recovermg desired cells in a sample contammg the desired cells, erythrocytes and undesired cells comprismg (1 ) contactmg the sample with an anhbodv composition comprismg (a) at least one antibody that bmds to an antigen on the undesired cells linked, either directly or indirectly, to (b) at least one antibody that binds to the ervthrocytes under conditions to allow immunorosettes of the undesired cells and the erythrocytes to form, and (2) separatmg the immunorosettes from the sample to obtam a sample enriched m the desired cells 2 A method according to claim 1 wherem the immunorosettes are separated m step (2) by density separation 3 A method accordmg to claim 1 wherem the immunorosettes are separated m step (2) by sedimentation 4 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of monocytes wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3 and/or CD5, (2) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24, and (3) CD66b and/or CD16 5 A method accordmg to claim 4 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 and/or CD8 6 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of B cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3 and/or both CD4 and CD8, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, and (3) CD36 and / or CD14 7 A method according to claim 6 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 8 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of T cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmding to the antigens (1) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, (2) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24 and/or Ig, and (3) CD36 and/or CD14 9 A method according to claim 8 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD56 10 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of CD4 + T cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD8, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, (3) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24 and/or Ig, and (4) CD36 and/or CD14 11 A method according to claim 10 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD56 12 A method according to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of CD8 + T cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD4, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, (3) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24 and/or Ig, and (4) CD36 and/or CD14 13 A method according to claim 12 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 14 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of NK cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD3, (2) CD66b and/or CD15, (3) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24, and (4) CD36 and/or CD14 15 A method according to claim 14 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD4 16 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of basophils wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD3, (2) CD2, (3) CD14, (4) CD15, (5) CD16, (6) CD19, (7) CD24, (8) CD34, (9) CD36, (10) CD56, and (11) CD45RA 17 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of dendritic cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD3, (2) CD14, (3) CD16, (4) CD19, (5) CD34, (6) CD56, and (7) CD66b 18. A method according to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of hematopoietic progenitor cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3; (2) CD16 and/or CD66b; (3) CD19 and/or CD24; and (4) CD14. 19. A method according to claim 18 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD56. 20. A method according to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of erythroid progenitor cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3; (2) CD16 and/or CD66b; (3) CD19 and/or CD24; and (4) CD14; (5) CD45RA; (6) CD33; and (7) CD10. 21. A method according to claim 20 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD56. 22. A method according to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of myeloid progenitor cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3; (2) CD16 and/or CD66b; (3) CD19 and/or CD24; and (4) CD14; (5) CD71; and (6) CD10. 23. A method according to claim 22 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD56. 24. A method according to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of megakaryocyte progenitor cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3; (2) CD16 and/or CD66b; (3) CD19 and/or CD24; and (4) CD14; (5) CD45RA; and (6) CD10. 25. A method according to claim 24 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD56. 26. A method according to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of non- hematopoietic tumor cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigen (1) CD45; and (2) CD66b. 27 A method according to claim 26 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD2, CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD38 28 A method accordmg to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of epithelial tumor cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigen (1) CD45, and (2) CD66b 29 A method according to claim 28 wherein antibody (a) further comprises CD2, CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD38 30 A method according to claim 1 for the enrichment and recovery of mononuclear cells from a sample that contams granulocytes wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigen CD66b or CD66abce 31 A method accordmg to claim 30 wherem the sample is stored whole blood or cord blood 32 A method accordmg to claim 31 wherem the density of the granulocytes m the sample is lower than the density of granulocytes from fresh whole blood 33 A method accordmg to claim 1 wherem the antibody composition comprises tetrameric antibody complexes comprising (a) an antibody that bmds to the antigen on the undesired cells, and (b) an antibody that bmds to the erythrocytes, and (c) two antibodies that bmd to the Fc fragment of the antibodies defmed in (a) and (b), wherem the antibodies m (a) and (b) are of the same animal species and the antibodies m (c) are of a different animal species from the antibodies m (a) and (b) 34 An antibody composition for enriching and recovering desired cells m a sample contammg desired cells, erythrocytes and undesired cells comprismg (a) at least one antibody that bmds to an antigen on the undesired cells lmked, either directly or indirectly to (b) at least one antibody that binds to the erythrocytes 35 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of monocytes wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3 and/or CD5, (2) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24, and (3) CD66b and/or CD16 36. A composition accordmg to claim 35 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 and/or CD8 37. A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of B cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3 and/or both CD4 and CD8, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, and (3) CD36 and/or CD14 38. A composition accordmg to claim 37 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 39 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of T cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmding to the antigens (1) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, (2) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24 and/or Ig; and (3) CD36 and/or CD14 40. A composition accordmg to claim 39 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56. 41. A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of CD4 + T cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD8; (2) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15, (3) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24 and/or Ig; and (4) CD36 and/or CD14 42. A composition accordmg to claim 41 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56. 43. A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of CD8 + T cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD4, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b and/or CDllb and/or CD15; (3) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24 and/or Ig, and (4) CD36 and/or CD14 44. A composition accordmg to claim 43 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 45. A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of NK cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD3, (2) CD66b and/or CD15, (3) CD19 and/or CD20 and/or CD21 and/or CD22 and/or CD24, and (4) CD36 and/or CD14 46 A composition accordmg to claim 45 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD4 47 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of basophils wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD3, (2) CD2, (3) CD14, (4) CD15, (5) CD16, (6) CD19, (7) CD24, (8) CD34, (9) CD36, (10) CD56, and (11) CD45RA 48 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of dendritic cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD3, (2) CD14, (3) CD16, (4) CD19, (5) CD34, (6) CD56, and (7) CD66b 49 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of hematopoietic progenitor cells wherein antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b, (3) CD19 and/or CD24, and (4) CD14 50 A composition accordmg to claim 49 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 51 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of erythroid progenitor cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b, (3) CD19 and/or CD24, and (4) CD14, (5) CD45RA, (6) CD33, and (7) CD10 52 A composition accordmg to claim 51 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 53 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of myeloid progenitor cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b, (3) CD19 and/or CD24, and (4) CD14, (5) CD71, and (6) CD10 54 A composition accordmg to claim 53 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 55 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of megakaryocyte progenitor cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigens (1) CD2 and/or CD3, (2) CD16 and/or CD66b, (3) CD19 and/or CD24, and (4) CD14, (5) CD45RA, and (6) CD10 56 A composition accordmg to claim 55 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD56 57 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of non- hematopoietic tumor cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmding to the antigen (1) CD45, and (2) CD66b 58 A composition accordmg to claim 57 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD2, CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD38 59 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of epithelial tumor cells wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of binding to the antigen (1) CD45, and (2) CD66b 60 A composition accordmg to claim 59 wherem antibody (a) further comprises CD2, CD16, CD19, CD36 and CD38 61 A composition accordmg to claim 34 for the enrichment and recovery of mononuclear cells from a sample that contams granulocytes wherem antibody (a) comprises antibodies capable of bmdmg to the antigen CD66b or CD66abce 62 A method of separating nucleated cells from a sample comprising the nucleated cells and erythrocytes, comprismg (1 ) contactmg the sample with an antibody composition comprismg (a) at least one antibody that bmds to an antigen on the nucleated cells to be separated lmked, either directly or indirectly, to (b) at least one antibody that bmds to the erythrocytes, under conditions to allow immunorosettes of the nucleated cells and the erythrocytes to form, and (2) separatmg the immunorosettes from the remainder of the sample 63 A method according to claim 62 wherem the antibody composition comprises a bifunctional antibody wherem the antibody that bmds to the nucleated cells is directly lmked to the antibody that bmds to the erythrocytes 64 A method according to claim 62 wherein the antibody composition comprises tetrameric antibody complexes comprising (a) an antibody that bmds to the antigen on the nucleated cells, and (b) an antibody that binds to the erythrocytes, and (c) two antibodies that bind to the Fc fragment of the antibodies defined in (a) and (b), wherem the antibodies in (a) and (b) are of the same animal species and the antibodies m (c) are of a different animal species from the antibodies m (a) and (b) 65 A method accordmg to claim 62 wherem the nucleated cells are selected from the group consistmg of T cells, B cells, NK cells, dendritic cells, monocytes, basophils, dendritic cells, plasma cells, mast cells, hematopoietic progenitor cells, hematopoietic stem cells, progenitor cells and tumor cells 66 A method accordmg to claim 62 wherem the antibody that bmds to the erythrocyte is anti-glycophorm A 67 A method according to claim 62 further comprising (3) lysing the erythrocytes m the immunorosettes to isolate the cells

Inventors: LANSDORP PETER, PETERS CARRIE, THOMAS TERRY E, LANSDORP, PETER, PETERS, CARRIE, THOMAS, TERRY, E.
Applicants: LANSDORP PETER, PETERS CARRIE, STEMCELL TECHNOLOGIES INC, THOMAS TERRY E, LANSDORP, PETER, PETERS, CARRIE, STEMCELL TECHNOLOGIES INC., THOMAS, TERRY, E.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: G01N33
IPC codes: C12N1, C12N5, G01N33