Monoclonal Antibodies to Immunogenic Lymphoma Cell Variants Displaying Impaired Neoplastic Properties: Characterization and Applications

Abstract

Immunogenic, nontumorigenic cell variants derived from the highly tumorigenic mouse lymphoma cell line S-49 were used to raise monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) in syngeneic BALB/c mice. MAbs of the following specifications were derived: ( a ) MAbs that interacted perferentially with the immunogenic variants, ( b ) MAbs that interacted with both immunogenic variants and parental tumorigenic cells, and ( c ) a MAb that interacted with both immunogenic and tumorigenic S-49 cells and the normal BALB/c splenocytes. Six MAbs raised in this way were found to recognize at least five different cell-surface epitopes. Functional analysis of the different MAbs suggested their potential usefulness in passive immunization against parental tumorigenic cells as well as in enrichment of immunogenic cells from a mixed population containing a preponderance of tumorigenic cells. [J Natl Cancer Inst 82:1821–1826, 1990]