Isolation and characterization of a tumor cell surface antigen from spontaneously transformed BALB/c mouse fibroblasts.

This work describes the detection, isolation, and partial characterization of a BALB/c mouse fibroblast cell surface antigen. This antigen migrates as a polypeptide of approximately 100,000 daltons in a discontinuous sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system, can be labeled by either lactoperoxidase-catalyzed cell surface 125I iodination or metabolic incorporation of [3H]glucosamine, and can be isolated by concanavalin A affinity chromatography. This cell surface glycoprotein is antigenic in BALB/c mice and has been correlated with the rejection of immunogenic tumor cells. Also, antiserum specific for Moloney leukemia virus precipitates the 100,000-dalton cell surface protein from viral and immunogenic spontaneous transformants. This virus-related antigen comigrates on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels with the major iodinated cell surface protein of these transformants. Rabbit antiserum to the purified antigen demonstrates a marked preference for the surfaces of immunogenic tumor cells as compared with normal cells and nonimmunogenic tumor cells.