WPC channel

The WPC channel was designed to further classify samples initially flagged positive for ‘Blasts/Abn Lympho?’ by the XN-DIFF channel.

The reagent reaction caused by the explicit reagents for the WPC channel depends specifically on the composition of the membrane lipids. Mature white blood cells have a membrane lipid composition different to immature or reactive cells, so they are affected to a greater extent, leaving the cells in a less native stage. This makes the membrane more permeable for the proprietary fluorescence marker that labels the cells in the second stage of the reaction. The signals corre¬sponding to cell volume and fluorescence are therefore directly related to the functionality of the cells.

Due to their membrane lipid composition, blasts are not permeated very strongly by the lysis reagent. Consequently, they show relatively low fluorescence signals and high signals for cell volume because they remain mostly intact. Neoplastic lymphocytes on the other hand are more mature and their membranes are more readily permeated, causing higher fluorescence signals and smaller volume signals due to cell shrinking. These differences allow a reliable identification of such malignant cells.