A monoclonal antibody that recognizes sialyl-Lea oligosaccharide, but is distinct from NS 19-9 as to epitope recognition

A murine monoclonal antibody, designated as MSW 113, was generated using a human colonic cancer cell line, SW 1116, as the immunogen. MSW 113 was shown to be directed mainly to mucin-type oligosaccharide with sialyl-Lea antigens. The reactivity of MSW 113 to sialyl-Lea was stronger than that of NS 19-9, which is believed to be raised against the same determinant group. MSW 113 binds to sialyl-Lea-ol, LS-tetrasaccharide a, and disialyllacto-N-tetraose with higher affinities, compared to NS 19-9. These two antibodies could clearly be distinguished in that MSW 113 bound to sialic acid but not to fucose, whereas NS 19-9 bound to fucose but not to sialic acid. Thus, MSW 113 is directed more toward sialic acid-containing terminal structures while NS 19-9 is directed toward fucose-containing internal structures. MSW 113 was found to be useful for detecting antigens in the bloodstream of patients, especially those with pancreas cancer. Even NS 19-9 negative patient sera were positive for MSW 113.