The sialosyl Lewis a ganglioside is present in tumorigenic human urothelial cell lines.

The sialosyl Lewis a antigen was identified in a ganglioside extract from a malignant human urothelial cell line (Hu 1703He) by fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. The presence of this antigen in urothelial cell lines with varying tumorigenic properties was further studied using the 19-9 monoclonal antibody (MAb). The sialosyl Lewis a ganglioside was expressed only in the tumorigenic cell lines. Thus, the expression of this antigen is a marker of malignancy for human urothelial cell lines. Mass spectrometry also suggests that the fucosyl GM1 ganglioside was expressed in the Hu 1703He cell line. This was confirmed using the F12 MAb, specific for fucosyl GM1. However, the expression of this antigen was not confined to cell lines with tumorigenic properties.