Reaction of human keratinocytes with the monoclonal antibody anti-Leu-11: an immunohistologic study.

Biopsy specimens from skin of 99 patients with 26 different dermatoses and 17 specimens from normal skin were labeled with regard to the reactivity of keratinocytes with the monoclonal natural killer-associated antibody anti-Leu-11b by means of the avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method. Reactivity occurred in 64.7% of the preparations from normal skin and in 84.8% of the preparations from diseased skin. The membranes of the subcorneal keratinocyte layers were labeled regularly. In some of the preparations cytoplasmic reactivity and labeling of the basement membrane zone occurred in addition. Most labeled preparations and the highest labeling intensities were shown in the skin tumors and in the infectious dermatoses. The biologic significance of this finding is discussed.