DIFFERENTIATION ANTIGEN, NDA4, ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEPTOR FOR B CELL GROWTH FACTOR

摘要

This invention provides a purified new differentiation antigen, designated NDA4, associated with the growth and proliferation of activated B lymphocytes and characterized by a molecular weight of about 46,000 daltons. The invention also provides an antibody capable of specifically forming a complex with purified NDA4, and a hybridoma which produces a monoclonal antibody that specifically recognizes the isolated NDA4. The invention also pertains to a method for dectecting B cells or helper T cells, each of which has a B cell growth factor receptor, which comprises contacting a sample which contains B cells or helper T cells with substances capable of forming complexes with the B cell growth factor receptors so as to form cellular complexes between the substances and the B cell growth factor receptors, and detecting such cellular complexes.