Carcinoembryonic antigen family: expression in a mouse L-cell transfectant and characterization of a partial cDNA in bacteriophage lambda gt11.

Genomic DNA and mRNA from the adenocarcinoma cell line LoVo were used to generate L-cell transfectants and a bacteriophage lambda gt11 cDNA clone that express epitopes of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). Primary and secondary L-cell transfectants expressing CEA were selected with a fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). These transfectants, including some clones that were selected for high-level CEA expression by multiple rounds of FACS sorting, express a surface protein of 150 kDa that reacts with all anti-CEA antibodies tested. In parallel, a cDNA library of LoVo poly(A)+ RNA was constructed in lambda gt11 and fusion proteins were screened with polyclonal antisera against CEA. One positive clone, lambda cLV7, was identified that hybridized specifically to transfectant DNA. The nucleic acid sequence of the cDNA insert (cLV7) contained two regions of extensive internal homology, with greater than 70% identity at the amino acid level. cLV7 hybridized to three mRNA species of LoVo cells and to a predominant mRNA of the CEA-expressing transfectants. Hybridization of cLV7 to restriction endonuclease-digested genomic DNA of colon carcinoma cells, normal human cells, and human-mouse somatic cell hybrids revealed the presence of multiple hybridizing bands, one of which was present in transfectant cells. These CEA-related sequences are not rearranged in tumors and, by somatic cell hybrid analysis, were mapped to human chromosome 19.