Novel surface antigen expressed on dividing cells but absent from nondividing cells

Radioimmunoprecipitation followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to study the distribution on human lymphoid cells of a previously undescribed surface antigen recognized by several heteroantisera. A glycoprotein with a 90,000 mol wt (under reducing conditions) was detected on all cell lines tested including T, B, null, and myeloid cell lines, although the amount of antigen present varied considerably. The antigen was absent from normal peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), B and T cells, monocytes, granulocytes, thymocytes, and erythrocytes. After stimulation with lectins or allogeneic B cells, the antigen was induced on PBL T cells. A limited number of leukemic T cells tested all expressed the antigen, as did melanoma cell line and human embryonic lung fibroblasts. Hence, the antigen was present only on dividing lymphoid cells and absent from nondividing cells, but was also present on the two examples of dividing non-lymphoid cells tested. Under nonreducing conditions, the 90,000-mol wt band normally present disappeared to be replaced by another at approximately 200,000 mol wt. The glycoprotein bound to lectins from lentil and ricin, but not to wheat germ agglutinin. It could be readily labeled metabolically by [35S]methionine or by surface iodination, and appeared to be a major membrane protein on some cell lines.