Studies on cell surface antigens of mouse leukemic and normal lymphocytes. I. Categories of cell surface antigens on mouse leukemia and their serological identification.

Analysis of cell surface antigens is most advanced with mouse tumors, mainly because of the availability of inbred strains with known susceptibility to naturally occuring or induced tumors. The development of serological techniques enables identification of gene products which are expressed on the surface of tumor cells. The naturally occuring and induced leukemias in mice are a particularly suitable model for the studies of surface antigens, because the leukemia cells can be easily obtained in cell suspension, they are highly sensitive to cytotoxic antibodies and they can be compared, because of common origin, with normal thymocytes and lymphocytes. In addition to conventional alloantigens (MHC), differentiation alloantigens (Thy, Tl and Lyt) viral structural (MuLV and occasionally MMTV) also viral related cellular antigens are detectable. Various categories of cell surface antigens and antisera defining their presence on the surface of mouse lymphocyte produced and used for studies carried on in the Department of Tumor Immunology are listed and discussed in the present and following papers (No. I-V).