Secretory epithelial cell marker on gastrointestinal tumors and in human secretions defined by a monoclonal antibody.

A new marker for human secretory epithelial cell types (Exo-1) has been defined by a mouse monoclonal antibody (Pa-G14). The antibody was raised against a human exocrine pancreatic tumor cell line (Capan-1) and tested against 46 cultured human cell types and 228 freshly frozen human tissue sections. It reacted specifically with 28 normal and 55 secretory neoplastic epithelial tissues tested. Eleven different secretory epithelial cell types expressed this antigen, as well as human fetal tissues of the gut and bronchi. One hundred and twenty samples of normal tissues, cells, and tumors of nonexocrine origin were Exo-1 negative. In normal secretory tissues staining was most pronounced at the apical poles and as shown by immunoelectron microscopy in the case of the duodenum, at the microvilli. In cultured Exo-1 positive tumor cells the antigen was not demonstrable on the cell surface but in the cytoplasm after acetone/methanol fixation only. The antigen was identified biochemically as a polar neutral glycolipid and detected in human salivary, bronchial, pancreatic, and intestinal secretions by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, but was not found in sera of healthy controls or patients with gastrointestinal and other tumors. Antigen Exo-1 represents a novel common antigen for normal and tumorous glandular epithelial cells.