Tumor-associated neural differentiation antigens detected on C1300 neuroblastoma cells by hybridoma monoclonal autoantibodies

Abstract

Immune isoantisera and hybridoma monoclonal autoantibodies against syngeneic C1300 neuroblastoma (NB) cells were produced from BALB/c mice. Isoantisera were obtained (i) from mice immunized with membrane preparations from cloned NB cells and (ii) from mice bearing NB tumors. After repetitive absorptions on several different syngeneic or allogeneic tumor cell lines and syngeneic normal kidney, liver, spleen, bone marrow, and brain mouse tissue powders, these sera still retained antibodies reacting with tissue-differentiation antigens present on both NB cells and normal nerve sympathetic cells on cryostat whole body sections of neonatal mice. Monoclonal autoantibodies against NB cells were the products of the fusion between plasmacytoma cells and spleen cells from mice bearing syngeneic NB tumors. These anti-NB monoclonal antibodies revealed a restricted spectrum of distinct alloantigenic specificities against syngeneic bone marrow, fetal and adult brain cells, and nerve sympathetic cells present on neonatal rather than adult mice. A mixture of four monoclonal antibodies, recognizing, respectively, an epitope of the Ia complex and three distinctive neuronal-restricted antigens, proved to be a powerful and specific probe for histological immunodiagnosis of neuroblastoma, on cryostat sections of NB tumors, metastases, and tumor-draining lymph nodes.