Rosetting of antibody-sensitized tumor cells with anti-immunoglobulin antibody-coated erythrocytes by a new method for detecting antigens on cells.

Tumor cells were treated with rabbit antibody to tumor-associated cell surface antigens and tested with erythrocytes coated with antibody specific for the sensitizing rabbit immunoglobulin. The sensitized tumor cells formed rosettes with the indicator cells. By this method, we confirmed that line 1 and line 10 hepatoma cells (from two tumors independently induced by diethylnitrosamine in strain 2 guinea pigs) bear antigens not present on normal liver cells. We also confirmed that line 1 and line 10 cells bear antigenically different tumor-associated cell surface antigens. This method appears simpler than other serological methods for detecting tumor-associated cell surface antigens on tumor cells. Also, this method may be a general one for detecting and enumerating cells bearing surface antigens.