Novel isoglobo-neolacto-series hybrid glycolipid detected by a monoclonal antibody is a rat colon tumor-associated antigen.

Isoglobotetraosylceramide (GalNAc(beta 1-3)Gal(alpha 1-3)Gal(beta 1-4)Glc (beta 1-1)Cer), the major glycolipid species in dimethylhydrazine-induced rat tumors of colorectal origin, was not detected in epithelial cells of normal colon but was present in the non-epithelial stroma and could be extracted from each of nine tumors studied. Monoclonal antibodies produced against isoglobotetraosylceramide detected this and another novel rat tumor-associated glycolipid not present in epithelial cells nor in non-epithelial stroma of normal rat colon (Brodin, T., Thurin, J., Strömberg, N., Karlsson, K.-A. and Sjögren, H.O. (1985) Eur. J. Immunol. 16, 951-956). This novel glycolipid was present in 8/9 of the studied tumors and was also present in two in vitro cell clones. These were originally obtained from a W49/T4 colon tumor isograft. The novel glycolipid was characterized by mass spectrometry, 1H-NMR, and methylation analysis as a hybrid between the isoglobo- and neolacto-series, with the structure GalNAc(beta 1-3)Gal(alpha 1-3)Gal(beta 1-4)GlcNA(beta 1-3)Gal (beta 1-4)Glc(beta 1-1)Cer.