DETECTION OF A PUTATIVE 30-KDA LIGAND OF THE CLUSTER-2 ANTIGEN

The cluster-2 antigen, also called EGP-2, is a 38-kDa trans-membrane glycoprotein with a distribution that is largely confined to human epithelial cells and their derived carcinomas. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against EGP-2 have been extensively studies as anti-tumors agents, yet the function of the antigen is not known. In the present study we used a biotinylated recombinant soluble derivative of the EGP-2 (sEGP(bio)) as a probe to detect a possible EGP-2 ligand, using various carcinoma cell lines as a substrate. The recombinant soluble EGP-2 was expressed in the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (baculovirus) expression system. The sEGP-2, to which we engineered a poly-histidine affinity tag, was purified from infected Spodoptera frugiperda insect cells using immobilized metal-ion-affinity chromatography (IMAC). In Western blot analysis the sEGP(bio) probe bound to a 30-kDa protein band in 2 out of 5 of the assessed carcinoma cell lines, suggesting that this band may be an EGP-2 ligand. Interestingly, binding only occurred when, prior to SDS-PAGE, cell lysates had been subjected to a reducing agent (2-mercapto-ethanol). The physiological significance of this phenomenon and nature of the detected 30-kDa protein band remains to be determined. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.