Hybridoma Antibodies Reactive with Human Bladder Carcinoma Cell Surface Antigens

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Abstract
Hybridoma antibodies to the human bladder cancer cell line RT4 were prepared by fusing spleen cells from RT4-immunized BALB/c mice with the murine plasmacytoma line NS-1. When antibodies were characterized by direct serological testing, antibody A2 exhibited highly restricted specificity for an antigen found only on RT4. Further analysis with absorption, a standard serologic technique that has not been widely applied to hybridoma antibodies because of their monoclonal nature, revealed that the antigen could also be found on one other bladder cancer cell line, 5637, and on the human cervical carcinoma line ME-180. Quantitative absorption assays suggest that this phenomenon of absorption-positive, direct test-negative cells may be related to the amount of antigen present on the cell surface. Another antibody, A80, detected an antigen with broader distribution. Both antibodies described heat-labile, trypsin-resistant antigens present on a restricted range of cells. The role of these antibodies in identifying subsets of malignant urothelial cells is being investigated.