Monoclonal antibody OKT-9 recognizes the receptor for transferrin on human acute lymphocytic leukemia cells

The monoclonal antibody OKT-9 recognizes a surface protein of human lymphocytes that consists of a disulfide bonded homodimer of m.w. 200,000 intact and 95,000 reduced. A similar protein is precipitated by transferrin-agarose, but not by agarose alone. Peptide mapping by limited proteolysis shows that the proteins precipitated by OKT-9 antibodies and transferrin-agarose are homologous. It is concluded that OKT-9 antibodies recognize the transferrin receptor. Expression of receptors for transferrin may be useful as a marker for activated or dividing cells.