Identification of a highly specific surface marker of T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and neuroblastoma as a new member of the transmembrane 4 superfamily

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Five monoclonal antibodies detected a surface antigen expressed exclusively on T‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T‐ALL) in a panel of 45 human hematopoietic cell lines, including T‐cell lines derived from adult T‐cell leukemia and those established by immortalization with human T‐cell leukemia virus type 1 or Herpesvirus saimiri. Peripheral blood mono‐nuclear cells, including fresh and activated T cells, were also completely devoid of this antigen. We designated this antigen as TALLA‐1 (from T‐ALL‐associated antigen 1). By expression cloning, a cDNA clone encoding TALLA‐1 was isolated from T‐ALL cell line Molt‐4. TALLA‐1 was found to be a member of the transmembrane 4 superfamily (TM4SF). The cDNA was also essentially identical to A15, which was isolated from another T‐ALL cell line, HPB‐ALL, by differential hybridization with normal peripheral blood lymphocytes, and to CCG‐B7, which was isolated from a brain cDNA library using CCG repeat as a probe. The gene product was now characterized in detail at the protein level. Northern blot analysis showed that the gene was expressed most strongly in brain, skeletal muscle and spleen. In a panel of 52 non‐hematopoietic human cell lines, the majority of neuroblastoma cell lines were found to be positive for TALLA‐1. Like ME491, CO‐029 and L6, TALLA‐1 may be another TM4SF member behaving as a potential tumor‐associated antigen. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.