Monoclonal antibody (MAb) 3B5 generated against canine mesothelioma cells was applied to canine tumors and normal tissues via immunohistochemical and immunoblotting techniques to evaluate antigen binding. By use of an avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase complex (ABC) method, immunoreactivity was noted in reactive mesothelial cells and in normal tissues was observed primarily in mesothelial cell linings, endothelial cells, and smooth muscle of blood vessels and soft tissues; the reactivity was nearly equivalent in frozen or formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Use of the ABC method on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumors yielded moderate to strong cytoplasmic immunostaining of neoplastic cells in 10/11 (91%) mesotheliomas, 18/23 (78%) hemangiosarcomas, 4/10 (40%) intestinal and lung carcinomas, and < or = 20% of hemangiomas, leiomyosarcomas, leiomyomas, mammary carcinomas, and squamous cell carcinomas. No immunostaining of tumor cells was observed in fibrosarcomas, hemangiopericytomas, perianal gland carcinomas, and melanomas. Immunoblotting was performed on samples that demonstrated strong immunoreactivity with MAb 3B5 by the ABC method: mesothelioma, hemangiosarcoma, urinary bladder (smooth muscle), and lung (alveolar capillaries). These analyses showed that MAb 3B5 bound a major antigen of 78 kilodaltons (kd) and minor antigens at 56 and 54 kd in normal and neoplastic tissues. The preliminary immunohistochemical results suggest that MAb 3B5 may possess utility in diagnosis of mesotheliomas and hemangiosarcomas, discrimination of cell types in proliferative serosal lesions, and demonstration of vascularity or angiogenesis in neoplastic and inflammatory lesions.