Expression by human neuroblastoma cells of an antigen recognized by naturally occurring mouse anti-brain autoantibody

A number of human tumor cell lines of both neural and nonneural origin have been assayed for the expression of an interspecies brain antigen (mouse brain antigen 2), detected by naturally occurring antibodies in normal mouse sera. These experiments indicate that mouse brain antigen 2 is present on four human neuroblastoma cell lines but not on other human tumor cell lines tested, including four glial cell lines and a retinoblastoma. These findings demonstrate the value of naturally occurring antibodies in normal mouse sera for the detection and serological classification of human tumor antigens and indicate that considerable caution should be used in attempts to distinguish tumor-specific and tissue-specific antigen expression on human neuroblastoma cells.