Immunohistochemical localization of the mouse stage-specific embryonic antigen 1 in human tissues and tumors.

Normal human tissues and various human tumors were surveyed by immunohistochemical techniques for expression of the stage-specific embryonic antigen 1 (SSEA-1). The antibody reacted with many normal and neoplastic human tissues. In most instances, equivalent human and mouse tissues expressed SSEA-1; however, different tissue localization patterns were sometimes seen between these two species. Most SSEA-1-positive tumors originate from tissues that normally expressed this antigen; however, some breast and ovarian tumors are SSEA-1 positive, and these organs are SSEA-1 negative. SSEA-1-positive tumors were composed of both immunoreactive and nonreactive tumor cells. These data show that SSEA-1, initially defined as a mouse embryonic antigen, represents a heterogenetic antigen present in many normal human tissues. It is retained on many but not all neoplastic cells originating in these normal tissues and also appears on the surface of some tumor cells developing in SSEA-1-negative tissues.