Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Gamma (PTPgamma) is a Novel Leukocyte Marker Highly Expressed by CD34 Precursors

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase gamma (PTPgamma) is a receptor-like transmembrane protein belonging to the family of classical protein tyrosine phosphatases. PTPgamma is known to regulate haematopoietic differentiation in a murine embryonic stem cells model. We have recently demonstrated that PTPgamma mRNA is expressed in monocytes, tissue-localized myeloid dendritic cells and in both myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells in peripheral blood. We now developed a PTPgamma specific antibody that recognizes the protein by flow cytometry. PTPgamma expression was detected in monocytes and both myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells, while PMN showed a low but consistent staining in contrast with previous mRNA data. B cells were found to express the phosphatase while T cells were negative. In keeping with RNA data, PTPgamma was detected in monocyte-derived dendritic cells and its expression rose upon LPS stimulation. Finally, we discovered that CD34(+) haematopoietic precursors express high PTPgamma level that drops during in vitro expansion induced by IL-3 and SCF growth factors. We therefore propose PTPgamma as a new functionally regulated leukocyte marker whose role in normal and pathological context deserve further investigation.