Monoclonal antibodies against human myelomonocytic cells: detection of certain lineage-specific antigens on CFU-GM progenitor cells.

A series of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) were raised against nonlymphoid leukemic cell lines. Three of them have been characterized in detail. mAb H8 (IgG2), mAB U2 (IgG1), and mAb ML143 (IgM) were established with HEL, an erythroleukemia cell line, U937, a monocytoid (histiocytic) line, and ML-1, a myeloid cell line as immunogen, respectively. A 65 to 75 KD polypeptide was precipitated from monocytes by mAb H8, a 160 KD protein from monocytes by mAb U2, and two broad bands in the regions of 150 and 195 KD from granulocytes by mAb ML143. All three mAb stained peripheral blood monocytes and granulocytes, but not lymphocytes, platelets, and erythrocytes. The mAb reacted with immature myeloid cells in bone marrow, ranging from myeloblasts to mature myelomonocytic cells. They also were reactive with various nonlymphoid cell lines and leukemia of myelomonocytic origin. They did not react with B cell lines and B cell CLL cells. By complement-mediated cytolysis and/or an immune rosette method, antigens H8 and U2 were found to be expressed on the vast majority of CFU-GM (14 days) progenitors but not on BFU-E. Antigen ML143 was not expressed by either progenitor. Furthermore, ML143 antigen was found on T leukemia cell lines, a subpopulation of mitogen-activated T cells, and certain non-T/non-B ALL cells. This reactivity was not found with mAb H8 and U2. The relationship between these mAb and those reported are discussed. The possibility of using these mAb to obtain a markedly enriched CFU-GM progenitor population is also raised.