Rapid Purification and the Immunological Specificity of Mammalian Microtubular Paracrystals Possessing an ATPase Activity*
Abstract
A new procedure for the rapid purification of vinblastine-induced microtubular paracrystals is described. The paracrystals constitute about 2 per cent of the total protein in L cells. They contain a labile ATPase with a Michaelis constant of 1.0 × 10-4. In the immunofluorescence test, sera prepared against paracrystals reacted positively with intracellular paracrystals and the mitotic apparatus. Antisera against paracrystals from a malignant murine cell also labeled the mitotic apparatus of HeLa and chicken embryonic cells, revealing the presence of a common or related antigen in the mitotic apparatus of these higher vertebrates.
Footnotes
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↵ † Present address: Department of Microbiology, School of Dentistry, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
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↵ ‡ Requests for reprints may be addressed to Dr. Dales, Department of Cytobiology, The Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York, Inc., 455 First Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016.
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↵ * Supported by USPHS grant AI-07477.
