Comparison of the pattern of expression of Leu-M1 antigen in adenocarcinomas, neutrophils and Hodgkin's disease by immunoelectron microscopy.

The mouse monoclonal antibody anti-Leu-M1 (CD15) recognizes the carbohydrate determinant lacto-N-fucopentaose III, an oligosaccharide believed to be involved in cell-cell interactions. Anti-Leu-M1 is used in surgical pathology as an aid in the diagnosis of Hodgkin's disease. Additionally, adenocarcinomas derived from various organs stained positively with anti-Leu-M1 at the light microscopic level. Since mesotheliomas do not display positive reactivity to this antibody, Leu-M1 is clinically useful as part of a panel of antibodies in distinguishing adenocarcinomas from mesotheliomas. Previous work was carried out using post-embedding protein A-gold immunocytochemistry on thin sections embedded in Lowicryl K4M from a patient with Hodgkin's disease of the nodular sclerosing type; intense and precise labeling by gold particles was revealed in cytoplasmic granules, which were often clustered in a perinuclear location, in the Golgi apparatus, and focally along the plasma membrane of Reed-Sternberg cells. Moreover, polymorphonuclear leukocytes demonstrated similar labelling along the plasma membrane and over cytoplasmic granules. To define precisely the intracellular localization of Leu-M1 in human adenocarcinomas, we have performed post-embedding immunoelectron microscopy with the protein A-gold technique on sections embedded in Lowicryl K4M from neoplasms of the lung, stomach, colon, and breast. The pattern of labeling by gold particles indicative of Leu-M1 binding varied in adenocarcinomas of the different organs.