Ewing's-sarcoma-associated HBA-71 tumor antigen represents a new differentiation marker of human thymocytes.

The monoclonal HBA-71 antibody recognizes a new human tumor-associated antigen of Ewing's sarcoma and peripheral neuroectodermal tumors, which is also expressed in some normal tissues, including thymus, islets of Langerhans, ependyme, adenohypophysis, Sertoli/Leydig and granulosa cells. Besides a tumor-specific reciprocal chromosomal translocation t (11:22), the expression of the HBA-71 antigen is the only marker which can be used for reliable differential diagnosis of these rare malignancies of childhood and adolescence among other small round cell tumors. The HBA-71 antigen is further characterized here by ultrastructural, functional and cell-matrix interaction studies. In immunohistochemical staining the HBA-71 reacted with the cell surface of human cortical thymocytes. The HBA-71 antigen was also found to be localized at the cell-surface glycocalyx of tumor cells using immunogold staining and electron microscopy. A panel of additional monoclonal antibodies with reactivity patterns similar to those of the HBA-71 antibody was obtained by immunization of mice with ES cell lines and boostering with thymocytes. The HBA-71 antibody triggers proliferation of thymocytes and to a lesser extent also stimulates peripheral mononuclear blood cells. Antibody-induced thymocyte cultures exhibit the phenotype of immature, CD3low thymocytes with uniform and stable expression of the HBA-71 antigen. In contrast to the thymocytes the HBA-71 antibody has an inhibitory effect on the continuous growth of the HBA-71+ tumor cell lines. The HBA-71 antigen may be involved in the regulation of growth of the positive normal and malignant tissues. Positive modulation of the antigen expression was induced in Ewing's sarcoma cell lines in response to insulin, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and by interaction of the cells with the extracellular matrix.