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A microtubule-associated protein in the mitotic spindle and the interphase nucleus

Nature volume 295, pages 248–250 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

Accurate chromosome segregation during mitosis is contingent on the controlled polymerization and function of spindle microtubules. Assembly-promoting polypeptides that co-sediment with microtubules during cycles of polymerization in vitro are attractive candidates for regulators of the formation and function of the mitotic apparatus in vivo. However, previous work has shown that the major species of microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) from mammalian brain or tissue culture cells are either not associated with the mitotic spindle1 or are associated with both mitotic and interphase cytoplasmic microtubules2–4. We have therefore sought a novel way to identify spindle regulatory factors. In the study reported here, monoclonal antibodies have been prepared against a MAP fraction from HeLa cells. One of the resulting hybridoma clones produces IgG that binds to a polypeptide of molecular weight ∼200,000. During cell division this antigen is associated with fibres in the mitotic apparatus, but in interphase it is located primarily in the nucleus. Surprisingly, the antigen is also detectable on the plasma membrane of circulating human erythrocytes. This spindle component is distinct from previously characterized MAPs and may represent a regulatory factor in the assembly and function of the mitotic apparatus.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, 80309, USA

    Jonathan G. Izant & J. Richard McIntosh

  2. Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, 01545, USA

    James A. Weatherbee

Authors
  1. Jonathan G. Izant
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  2. James A. Weatherbee
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  3. J. Richard McIntosh
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Izant, J., Weatherbee, J. & McIntosh, J. A microtubule-associated protein in the mitotic spindle and the interphase nucleus. Nature 295, 248–250 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/295248a0

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