MHC antigens expressed on 3LL metastatic variants: correlation with the expression of a TSP-180 protein.

In attempts to correlate metastatic potential with specific properties of tumor cells, homogeneous subpopulations, which are endowed with low or high metastatic potential, have been selected from Lewis lung carcinoma (3LL). In particular, since cell surface constituents are possibly involved in the metastatic process, changes in antigen expression have been correlated with the metastatic potential of 3LL variants. In this view, we quantitated the expression of MHC (Db,Kb) antigens and of a tumor specific protein (TSP) identified by the monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 135-13C on some "in vitro" and "in vivo" variants of 3LL. The MoAb 135-13C was found to recognize a TSP-180 protein that appears on the cell surface of several murine carcinomas, but is not detected on normal cells in culture. Studies of the MHC expression on these variants, by the use of the indirect immunofluorescent staining or the direct binding of the MoAb to H-2Db (28-14-8) and the MoAb to H-2Kb (28-13-3), demonstrate that "in vivo" and "in vitro" 3LL variants which, are endowed with a higher metastatic potential, express on the cell surface a higher amount of the Db antigen. By contrast, all the 3LL lines have few cells recognized by the MoAb to H-2Kb and express low amounts of this antigen on the cell surface. The direct binding to different tumor lines and the analysis of the immunoprecipitates from the cell lysates by the use of the MoAb 135-13C demonstrate that the TSP-180 protein is highly expressed on 3LL cells which possess high capacity to metastasize to the lung. The variations induced in 3LL metastatic phenotype by the injection of the variant lines in allogeneic mice (Balb/c, C3HeB:H-2d,H-2k, respectively) or after treatment with the specific MoAb 135-13C have, also, been studied. An attempt was made to correlate the changes in 3LL metastatic phenotype with the expression of the TSP-180 protein and of the MHC antigens. We conclude that a high expression on the cell surface of the Db antigen and of the TSP-180 protein, is associated with a high malignant phenotype of 3LL tumor cells.