Determination of antibody-complement mediated cytotoxicity using ATP release induced by a monoclonal antibody against the Burkitt lymphoma associated globotriaosylceramide antigen.

The kinetics of ATP release from Burkitt lymphoma target cells following complement activation by rat monoclonal IgM antibody have been used to develop a standard assay for antibody-complement mediated cytotoxicity. This assay permitted the study of the reactivity of the monoclonal IgM with Burkitt and non-Burkitt cell lines and to perform IgM-complement mediated cytotoxicity inhibition experiments with oligosaccharides. This led to a precise definition of the antigenic determinant recognized by the monoclonal IgM on globotriaosylceramide.