Rat monoclonal antibodies to the external domain of the product of the C-erbB-2 proto-oncogene.

With the breast carcinoma cell line BT 474 used as a source of antigen, four rat monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) (3 IgG2a and I IgA) have been prepared against the external domain of the product of the c-erbB-2 proto-oncogene. All 4 antibodies stain frozen sections of tissues that over-express the product of the c-erbB-2 proto-oncogene, and competitive binding assays showed that the antibodies recognized 2 non-overlapping epitopes. Representative antibodies from the two groups (ICR12 and 13) were shown to specifically immunoprecipitate a 190 kDa protein from 35S-methionine-labelled breast carcinoma cells where the c-erbB-2 is amplified (BT 474 and MDA-MB 361). Two of the antibodies (ICR12 and ICR17) bind to the denatured antigen in Western blots and ICR12 stains formolsaline-fixed sections of breast carcinoma tissue that over-expresses the product of the c-erbB-2 proto-oncogene. These antibodies should be useful not only for immunocytochemical diagnoses but also for radio-immunoscintigraphic and therapeutic applications.