Southern blotting of IgH rearrangements in B-cell disorders.

Southern blotting is a method whereby DNA fragments in the gel are denatured by soaking in an alkali solution, carried out of the gel, and transferred onto a membrane. After drying the membrane, the DNA is fixed irreversibly. The net result is a replica on the membrane of the DNA fragment pattern from the agarose gel.

Clonal cytotoxic T cells in myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant disease characterized by accumulation of morphologically recognizable plasma cells producing immunoglobulin (Ig) in the bone marrow. The occurrence of clonal T cells in MM, as defined by the presence of rearrangements in the T-cell receptor (TCR)-beta chains detected on Southern blotting, is associated with an improved prognosis. This review aims to describe the various ways in which we have demonstrated the presence of such T cell clones, and to describe the phenotype of these cells.