Monoclonal antibody MACG1 distinguishes between different molecular species of the ganglioside GM3.
The present study investigates the chemical structure of a ganglioside, detected by monoclonal antibody (MAb) MacG1, which reacts with intracytoplasmic granules of tumor-infiltrating macrophages. The results obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis and fast-atom bombardment-mass spectrometry reveal that MAb MacG1 reacts with a subcomponent of the ganglioside GM3 found in melanoma and bovine brain. MAb MacG1 might be a powerful tool to distinguish among GM3 species and could help to define their possibly different biological functions.