Demonstration of B700 cross-reactive antigens on human and other animal melanomas

B700 is a melanoma-associated antigen originally detected by immunologic and biochemical criteria; it is expressed by several murine melanomas but is not detectable on any normal murine cells, or on murine nonmelanoma neoplasms. We have used antibodies raised against purified B700 to study the presentation of B700 and B700 crossreactive molecules on the surfaces of melanoma cells of various species and origins. The antibodies are shown to bind to all the melanoma cells tested, including five different murine melanoma lines (S91, JB/RH, JB/MS, K1735, and B16), three different B16 sublines (F1, F10, and BL6), three human, one hamster, and two swine melanoma cell lines. These results suggest the candidacy of B700-like molecules as "pan-melanoma" antigens.