Development of a monoclonal antibody against a tumor-associated antigen.

A monoclonal antibody-producing hybrid cell line was obtained by fusing mouse myeloma cells with spleen cells from a mouse immunized with C6 glioma cells. This antibody binds to a specific cell-surface antigen that is present on C6 rat glioma cells, transformed astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, and a human glioma cell line but is absent on a normal glial cell line, fibroblasts, and primary cultures of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. The antigen also appears on tumor tissue of transformed oligodendrocytes but not on normal brain tissue.