Identification and characterization of a novel membrane activation antigen with wide cellular distribution.

A monoclonal antibody, 7F7, raised against the Raji B lymphoblastoid cell line reacted with about 35% of peripheral blood B cells, germinal center B cells, follicular dendritic cells and some vascular endothelial cells. Although not found on resting T cells this antigen was strongly expressed on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells activated with phytohemagglutinin, pokeweed mitogen and anti-T3, and its expression on B cells was enhanced after stimulation with pokeweed mitogen. It is strongly expressed 24 h after stimulation with phytohemagglutinin and its expression is reduced but not eliminated by cyclosporin A treatment. The molecule defined by antibody 7F7 is found on some, but not all, B cell lines, on an HTLV-I-transformed T cell line and on the promyelocytic cell line U937. Immunoprecipitation from externally and metabolically labeled Raji cells revealed a single-chain molecule of 85 kDa.