A New Monoclonal Antibody that Recognizes 180 kDa Polypeptide Expressed on Early Mouse Embryos and Mouse Embryonal

Kenji Abe1, Nobuo Takagi2, Masaharu Naiki3

  • 1Chromosome Research Unit, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, North 10, West 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060, Japan.

A hybridoma clone 1F7 producing a monoclonal antibody against OTF9-63 mouse embryonal carcinoma cell line was isolated with the aid of the intrasplenic primary immunization technique. This antibody was capable of recognizing embryonal carcinoma cell lines originated from certain mouse strains, including 129/Sv, but not those which were established from other strains as well as human and other murine cell lines except FM3A, a mouse mammary carcinoma cell line. Indirect immunofluorescence study revealed that 1F7 antigen was expressed on early mouse embryos in a stage specific manner. In order to characterize the 1F7 antigenic molecules, we analyzed both glycoshingolipids and glycoproteins recovered from OTF9-63 by means of immunostaining after thin layer chromatography and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by Western blotting, respectively. It was concluded that 1F7 antigenic determinants were carried by 180 kDa polypeptides. One of the most interesting characteristics of 1F7 antigen is complete failure to express on the embryonic ectoderm of 5.5d and 6.5d embryos, one of cell types most closely related to embryonal carcinoma cells. 1F7 antibody may help analyse the process of teratocarcinogenesis in 129/Sv mice.