Differential extraction of tumor-specific antigens from two ultraviolet light-induced murine fibrosarcomas with the use of 1-butanol.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the immunobiological characteristics of the tumor-specific cell surface antigen expressed by the UV-induced murine fibrosarcoma, UV-2240. UV-2240 is classified as a regressor UV tumor because it is immunologically rejected by normal syngeneic mice but grows in immunocompromised or UV-irradiated hosts. The strong tumor-specific rejection antigen expressed by UV-2240 was found on the plasma membrane, and unlike the previously characterized antigen of UV-1591, the UV-2240 antigen was removed by using the noncytolytic butanol extraction technique. The tumor antigen activity in butanol extracts was resistant to digestion by endoglycosidase F and alpha-mannosidase, but was destroyed by pronase. In addition, the immunoprotective activity in extracts of UV-2240 was thermostable. These data demonstrate that the UV-2240-specific tumor antigen possesses physicochemical properties distinct from those of its well-characterized counterpart UV-1591.