Production and Characterization of a Monoclonal Antibody against an Antigen on the Surface of Non-Small Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Background: Lung carcinoma is a multiple type cancer comprising of small cell and non-small cell carcinomas (NSCLC). For therapeutic and diagnostic purposes, serum monoclonal antibodies have been produced against lung cancer. Objective: To charac-terize a murine monoclonal antibody (ME3D11) reactive with human NSCLC. Methods: A murine monoclonal antibody (ME3D11) reactive with human NSCLC was selected after immunization of BALB/c mice with a human large cell carcinoma with neuroen-docrine differentiation, and was tested by immunofloursence staining and Western blot analysis. Results: Our study showed that the antigen recognized by ME3D11 antibody was a cell surface antigen of 170kDa. This antigen is expressed on the cell surface of all NSCLC and a few carcinoma cell lines. In contrast, this antigen is neither expressed on the cell surface of human sarcoma, nor on the hematopoietic and normal cell lines. This anti-body had no effect on spontaneous proliferation of Mehr-80 cell line in vitro. Conclusion: High degree of binding of this monoclonal antibody to NSCLC and some other carci-noma cells warrants further studies on its potential use in diagnosis and therapy of can-cer by conjugation to drugs, toxins or radionuclides.