Spontaneous shedding and antibody induced modulation of histocompatibility antigens on murine lymphomata: Correlation with metastic capacity.

The lability of cell surface histocompatibility antigens of 2 murine lymphomata was examined. These 2 tumours differ greatly in their capacity to metastasize in syngeneic hosts. Cells of the metastatic lymphoma released histocompatibility antigens in vivo and in vitro at a greater rate than cells of the non-metastasizing lymphoma. Antigen/antibody complexes formed by the addition of allo-antiserum to intact cells disappeared more rapidly from the surface of cells of the metastatic line. We propose that the instability of surface antigens may be an integral feature of malignant cells and that there may be a quantitative relationship between the lability of membrane components and the capacity of the tumour to metastasize.