Serologic and immunochemical asays have shown that the monoclonal antibody Q5/13 recognizes an antigenic determinant expressed on a subset of human Ia-like antigens. Testing with a panel of HLA typed B lymphoid cells has shown that this determinant is different from those defining the serologic polymorphism of HLA-DR antigens. The monoclonal antibody Q5/13 has been used to purify subsets of human Ia-like antigens, which are immunologically functional. These reagents should facilitate the characterization of structural and functional properties of human Ia-like antigens.