Characterization of a monoclonal antibody specific for novel Bcr/Abl out-of-frame fusion proteins

Hybridoma (Larchmt). 2011 Jun;30(3):261-9. doi: 10.1089/hyb.2010.0122.

Abstract

The new tumor-specific antigens Bcr/Abl-OOF, identified in Philadelphia chromosome (Ph)-positive leukemia cells, are derived from an alternative splicing event involving BCR exons 1, 13, or 14 and ABL exons 4 and 5. The COOH-terminus of these transcription products contain an amino acid portion derived from an out-of-frame (OOF) reading of the ABL gene; these variants are expressed in Ph-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and acute lymphocytic leukemia patients. Previously, we confirmed the presence of out-of-frame peptide-specific T cells in the peripheral blood of CML patients with the ability to lyse primary autologous CML cells. We also demonstrated that the out-of-frame Abl portion was immunogenic in HLA-A2.1 transgenic mice. Here we describe the production and characterization of monoclonal antibody 1D8G8, a new tool for localization and functional studies of the tumor antigen Bcr/Abl-OOF. This antibody recognizes the out-of-frame protein portion of the native full-length Bcr/Abl-OOF protein expressed in cells transiently transfected, as demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence, and binds to a specific epitope of this antigen presented in association with HLA-A2.1 molecules at the surface of these cells, as demonstrated by flow cytometry. Thus this MAb could be useful to better understand how this new protein presents in Ph-positive cells beside the canonical Bcr/Abl fusion proteins.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / biosynthesis*
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology
  • Blotting, Western
  • Cell Line
  • Centrifugation
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Dendritic Cells / metabolism
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Frameshift Mutation / genetics
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / genetics*
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / immunology*
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / metabolism
  • Genes, abl / genetics
  • Humans
  • Hybridomas / immunology
  • Hybridomas / metabolism
  • Immunoprecipitation
  • Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / immunology
  • Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive / metabolism*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / immunology
  • Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl