Oligosaccharide Y specific monoclonal antibody and its isotype switch variants.

Isotype switch variants of the IgG3 secreting hybridoma BR55-2 were developed with gamma 1, gamma 2b and gamma 2a heavy chains. The variants have the same affinity for antigen and expected affinities for the Fc receptor. The Y antigen defined by MAb BR55-2 has a restricted distribution to breast, colorectal, pancreatic, gastric and small cell lung carcinomas. The MAb BR55-2 also bound to prostatic and laryngeal carcinomas. The BR55-2 defined epitope is expressed by gastrointestinal cancer cell lines as a glycolipid, while the breast carcinoma cells express the same epitope on glycoproteins. These differences may influence tumor cell susceptibility to lysis by MAb BR55-2 and its isotype switch variants.