1993 Volume 33 Issue 1 Pages 87-94
The monoclonal antibody NCC-Lu-226 was established by fusing murine myeloma cells with splenocytes obtained from a BALB/c, nu/nu mouse immunized with human lung large cell carcinoma cell line C-Lu-65 using ‘rejection method’. Immunoprecipitation analysis of the antigen expressed on C-Lu-65 showed that the antigen was a single 130 kD cell surface protein under reducing and non-reducing conditions. The tissue distribution and expression of the antigen were examined using immunohistochemical method in human normal tissues and 142 cases of human lung cancer tissues. In normal tissues, the antigen was strongly expressed in basal side of stratified squamous epithelia, in basal layer of skin, tongue and esophagus. In human lung cancer tissues, the antigen was most strongly expressed in squamous cell carcinomas compared with adenocarcinomas, large cell carcinomas and small cell carcinomas. The expression rates of the antigen were 35 of 39 (90%) cases in squamous cell carcinomas, 21 of 61 (34%) cases in adenocarcinomas, 4 of 25 (16%) cases in large cell carcinomas and 0 of 17 (0%) cases of small cell carcinomas. The expression of the antigen was stronger on the peripheral basement membrane side of the cancer nest adjacent to the surrounding stromal tissue than in the intercellular layer among the cancer nests. According to the analysis of molecular weight and immunohistochemical study, the antigen was different from similar antigens reported up to the present. The monoclonal antibody NCC-Lu-226 may be useful not only for diagnosis and treatment of squamous cell carcinomas but also for studying the fundamental mechanisms of invasion and metastasis.
