Several mouse monoclonal IgG antibodies (AB1, AB2, AB3, and AB5) were developed that reacted with a 140,000 mol wt glycoprotein on the surface of cultured RAJI B lymphoid cells. The antibodies reacted with purified normal human peripheral blood B cells and CLL Ig+ B cells and showed specific germinal center and mantle zone staining in tissue sections of secondary lymphoid organs. Immunodepletion studies using 125I surface-labeled Raji cell membrane antigens demonstrated that the antigen identified by AB5 is the same 140,000 mol wt glycoprotein detected by anti-B2 that has recently been shown to react with the C3d fragment or CR2 receptor. (Iida et al: J Exp Med 158:1021, 1983). Addition of the AB series and anti-B2 monoclonal antibodies to cultures of purified human peripheral blood B cells resulted in the uptake of 3H- thymidine at two to six times background control levels provided that irradiated autologous T cells were added to the culture. Stimulation was not evoked by other monoclonal antibodies to B cell surface molecules (ie, B1, BA-1, BA-2, and HLA-DR). Pepsin-generated F(ab')2 fragments of anti-CR2 antibodies were essentially as effective as the intact IgG molecule in stimulating B cells. Induction of B cell proliferation by antibody binding to CR2 suggests that the C3d receptor may have an integral role in regulation of humoral immune response.
Monoclonal antibodies to the 140,000 mol wt glycoprotein of B lymphocyte membranes (CR2 receptor) initiates proliferation of B cells in vitro
