Distribution of a cross-species melanoma-associated antigen in normal and neoplastic human tissues

In previous studies the monoclonal antibody (MoAb) M2590 elicited in C57/BL6 mice with the syngeneic melanoma cell line B16 has been shown to recognize a 31K glycoprotein expressed by human melanoma cell lines. The present study has shown that the MoAb M2590 cross-reacts with surgically removed benign and malignant lesions of melanocyte origin. The reactivity pattern of the MoAb M2590 with these lesions is different from that of the anti-high-molecular weight-melanoma associated antigen (HMW-MAA) MoAb 225.28S, of the anti-115K MAA MoAb 345.134S, and of the anti-100K MAA MoAb 376.96S, which were elicited with human melanoma cell lines. In particular, the MoAb M2590 reacts with blue nevi. The MoAb M2590-defined MAA, like other types of MAA, is heterogeneous in lesions removed from different patients, in autologous lesions removed from different anatomic sites, and in cells within a lesion. The distribution of the MoAb M2590-defined MAA in normal tissues and in tumors of nonmelanocyte origin is broader than that of the HMW-MAA, but is similar to that of the 115K MAA and of the 100K MAA. The results of this investigation suggest that immunization with xenogeneic melanoma cells may broaden the range of specificity of antihuman MAA MoAbs and provide information about the phylogenetic evolution of MAAs.