The human repertoire of antibody specificities against Thomsen-Friedenreich and Tn-carcinoma-associated antigens as defined by human monoclonal antibodies.

Human monoclonal antibodies specific for tumour-associated Thomsen-Friedenreich (TF) [Gal(beta 1-3)GalNAc(alpha)-O-] and Tn [GalNAc(alpha)-O-] glycoproteins were prepared using peripheral blood lymphocytes from healthy blood donors. The B lymphocytes were either directly transformed with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or transformed after an in vitro stimulation period with synthetic glycoproteins. The EBV-transformed lymphocytes were subsequently fused with a mouse-human heteromyeloma to secure antibody production and stability. IgM antibodies exhibiting different patterns of specificity for synthetic TF and Tn antigens were obtained, including antibodies specific for the alpha and beta forms of different Gal(beta 1-3)GalNAc-O- and GalNAc-O- conjugates and antibodies agglutinating neuraminidase-treated erythrocytes. Several of the human monoclonal antibodies showed an increased binding to cultured carcinoma cells as compared to melanoma cells. This straightforward approach for the production of human monoclonal antibodies demonstrates the possibility of investigating the reactivity pattern of tumour-binding antibodies from peripheral blood lymphocytes. The binding patterns of these monoclonal antibodies show that healthy donors carry different fine specificities against synthetic TF/Tn antigens and that these antibodies react with different tumour cells.