Polarization of the α6β4 integrin in ovarian carcinomas

By immunizing a BALB/c mouse with a human ovary‐carcinoma cell line (IGROVI), grown intraperitoneally in nude mice, a monoclonal antibody (MAb), designated MAR6, was produced and characterized. Immunofluorescence on the immunizing cell fine showed a specific labelling by MAR6 at the cell‐to‐cell contact points. In addition, MAR6 was found to immunoprecipitate the α6β4 integrin complex. Competition tests with MAbs anti‐α6, anti‐β4, anti‐β1 sub‐units demonstrated that the recognized sub‐unit is α6. Indirect immunofluorescence on various cell lines gave MAR6 as positive only on α6‐positive lines (IGROVI, OVCAR3, SW626, SKOV3, ME4405, Calu3, N592, MDA468, A431 and HT29). Moreover, on IGROVI and OVCAR3 ovary‐carcinoma cells, which normally grow either adhering to the culture flask or forming clumps in suspension in the medium, MAR6 selectively stained the connection points between the cells in clumps, where, in the same position, the presence of the β4 sub‐unit, laminin and fibronectin was detected. On the contrary, the β1 sub‐unit was distributed over the whole cell membrane. The same pattern of labelling by these MAbs was observed in 2 cases of ovarian‐carcinoma cells present in ascitic fluids obtained from patients. Immunoperoxidase tests performed on cryosections of various normal tissues showed specific reactivity of MAR6 on basal or basolateral membranes of epithelial cells. On cryosections of ovarian tumors, MAR6 reactivity correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation. Indeed, in benign and well‐differentiated tumors, a strong basal or basolateral labelling only of cells surrounding the neoplastic nodules was found. On the contrary, on undifferentiated tumors the inner part of the tumor nodules was also progressively labelled, whereas the staining on the border was weak and discontinuous as a result of the α6 sub‐unit dispersion on the tumor cell surface.