Rat monoclonal antibody distribution in mice: an epitope inside the lung vascular space mediates very efficient localization.

MoAb to an epitope on lung endothelial cells accumulates rapidly in the lung resulting in localization ratios of over 100. MoAb to a macrophage antigen found in spleen and lung has maximum localization ratios of 24 and 5, respectively, while MoAb specific for a human tumor grown in nude mice has a maximum ratio of about 4. Epitope concentrations in target organs (300-600 ng/mg protein) are comparable in all three systems, indicating that the MoAb to endothelium is efficient in localization to the lung.