Identification of the alternatively spliced exons of murine CD45 (T200) required for reactivity with B220 and other T200-restricted antibodies.

Cell lines expressing specific variants of murine CD45 (T200) were established by infection with retroviral constructs of four cDNAs encoding different forms of CD45. These lines were then used to determine which sequences encoded by alternatively spliced exons of CD45 were required to generate antigenic determinants recognized by anti-CD45 mAbs. The binding of two B220 antibodies (14.8 and RA32C2) to CD45 was dependent on the expression of the first alternatively spliced exon (exon A). A third B220 antibody, RA3-6B2, did not bind to any of the forms of CD45 expressed on fibroblasts. A newly defined anti-CD45R antibody, C363.16A, reacts with an antigenic site dependent upon the expression of the second alternatively spliced exon, exon B.