Variants of lymphoid lines produced with ricin A-chain monoclonal antibody conjugates.

Conjugates of ricin A-chain with monoclonal anti-light chain antibodies specifically killed cells hearing kappa or lambda immunoglobulin (Ig) light chains. Exposure of cells from B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCL) to conjugate for less than 30 h had only a slight effect on cell growth, but on 48 h exposure a marked killing effect was achieved. After recovery of growth, cells were re-exposed to conjugate for 9-14 days. Treatment of cells from the EB4 line (sIgG lambda) in this way yielded 4 variants which showed a marked reduction in levels of surface Ig lambda and secreted Ig lambda with slight, or no, reduction in MHC class II expression and similar growth rates to the parent line. Variant lines retained their phenotype over long periods of culture.