DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY TO T-ANTIGEN - (GAL-BETA-1-3GALNAC-ALPHA-O)

The saccharide antigen, Gal beta 1-3GalNAc or T antigen, is of biologi c importance in many systems. It is a tumor-associated carbohydrate an tigen, a temporally expressed antigen in germinal center B cells and c ortical T cells, a parasite-associated antigen, a spermatozoa vitality marker and an antigen on aged red blood cells, It may play a role in normal cellular adhesion and in tumor cell metastasis, Well characteri zed monoclonal antibodies (MAb) to Gal beta 1-3GalNAc will be useful f or further studies in these areas. We developed an IgG(3) MAb to Gal b eta 1-3GalNAc by immunizing the mice with a synthetic Gal beta 1-3GalN Ac-BSA conjugate. The MAb was analyzed using inhibition enzyme immunoa ssays with related synthetically prepared sugars to determine the rest rictions involved in the antibody binding, Use of synthetic sugars as competitors enabled us to delineate the epitope restrictions on the bi nding activity of this monoclonal and will enable use of this MAb in s tudies concerning the biologic importance of this disaccharide.