Monoclonal antibody AHN-1 inhibits phagocytosis by human neutrophils

The granulocyte-specific monoclonal antibody, AHN-1, immunoprecipitates two major surface-iodinated proteins of 105,000 and 145,000 to 150,000 daltons from normal human neutrophils. In this study, the effect of AHN-1 on a number of neutrophil functions was evaluated in vitro. Both complement- and antibody-mediated phagocytosis were inhibited when human neutrophils were pretreated with AHN-1 and opsonized bacteria were used as targets. The inhibition of phagocytosis was specific, in that lysosomal enzyme release and chemotaxis were not altered by treatment with AHN-1. AHN-1 did inhibit superoxide production by neutrophils in response to particulate stimuli, but not in response to the soluble stimulus, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. The data indicate that one or both of these surface proteins may be important in the process of phagocytosis. AHN-1 should be useful in isolating and further characterizing the nature of these molecules.