Monoclonal Antibody to Abelson Lymphoma Cells

The Abelson murine leukemia virus (A-MuLV) is a defective transforming retrovirus that rapidly induces a variety of hematopoietic neoplasms including those of B-celis when injected into mice (reviewed in Risser 1982; Rosenberg and Baltimore 1980). A-MuLV is a genetic recombinant between Moloney MuLV (M-MuLV) and a normal cellular proto-oncogene, c-abl (Goff et al., 1980). The strain of A-MuLV used here encodes a novel gag-abl fusion protein of 160 kd (Goff et al 1981; Grunwald et al 1982). This v-abl product is a phosphoprotein that will phosphorylate itself and other proteins on tyrosine residues in immuno-precipitates (Van de Ven et al 1980; Witte et al 1980; Sefton et al 1981). Using tumor regressor antiserum Witte et al (1979) identified a cellular protein of 150 kd (NCP150) in uninfected cells that is serologically related to the v-abl product; thus NCP150 is a candidate for the c-abl product. Ponticelli et al (1982) demonstrated that NCP150 shares 5 phosphopeptides with v-abl pl60. Wang and Baltimore (1983) demonstrated that c-abl mRNA was found in all normal cells and cell lines tested, though in highest quantities in mouse thymocytes and NIH 3T3 cells. We report here the isolation of a monoclonal antibody, 442, which reacts with normal protein(s) that have molecular properties reminiscent of those of the c-abl product or some receptors for growth factors (Cohen et al 1982).