Monoclonal antibodies against plant proteins recognise animal intermediate filaments

Plectin-like proteins are present in cells of Chlamydomonas eugametos (Volvocales)

Using both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against mammalian plectin (multifunctional protein cross-linking cytoskeletal structures, mainly intermediate filaments, in mammalian cells), several putative isoforms of plectin-like proteins were found in protein extracts from the green alga Chlamydomonas eugametos (Volvocales). Immunofluorescence and immunoblotting revealed that some of the plectin-like proteins were present in perinuclear region or localized near the cell wall, probably being attached to the cytoplasmic membrane.

Purification and immunological detection of pea nuclear intermediate filaments: evidence for plant nuclear lamins

A major structural component of the inner face of the nuclear envelope in vertebrates and invertebrates is the nuclear lamina, an array of 1–3 extrinsic membrane proteins, lamins A, B and C. These proteins are highly homologous to intermediate filaments and are classified as type V. We report the first purification, antigenic characterization and immunocytochemical localization of putative plant lamin proteins from pea nuclei. We conclude that plant cells contain this ancestral class of intermediate filaments in their nuclei and that regulation of nuclear envelope assembly/disassembly and mitosis in plants may be similar to that in animal cells.

Identification of a 220 kDa membrane-associated plant cell protein immunologically related to human beta-spectrin

Electrophoretic analysis of low ionic strength extracts of tomato plant leaves revealed the presence of two proteins of apparent molecular weights of 240 kDa and 220 kDa which co-migrated with purified human erythrocyte alpha- and beta-spectrin subunits. Immunochemical analyses employing an affinity-purified polyclonal antibody to human erythrocyte beta-spectrin reacted specifically with the 220 kDa plant cell protein. Immunofluorescence microscopy indicated that the beta-spectrin antibody recognized an antigen which was primarily restricted to the peripheral areas of the cells. Collectively, these results suggest that the cells of higher plants contain polypeptides related to the spectrin family of proteins. It is proposed that the plant cell possesses a membrane skeleton which is structurally and perhaps functionally analogous to that of the animal cell.

Reconstitution of intermediate filaments from a higher plant

Immunological studies have shown that plants contain intermediate-filament antigens, but it is not known whether these proteins are capable in themselves of forming filaments. To address this problem, a detergent-resistant and high-salt-insoluble fraction from carrot (Daucus carota L.) suspension cells was solubilized with 9 M-urea and then subjected to a two-step dialysis procedure, devised for the reconstitution of animal intermediate filaments. This induced the self-assembly of 10 nm filaments and large bundles of filaments. The predominant components of reconstituted material were polypeptides with apparent molecular masses between 58 and 62 kDa. These polypeptides immunoblotted with two monoclonal antibodies known to show broad cross-reactivity with intermediate filaments across the phylogenetic spectrum. This establishes that the antigens are able to self-assemble into intermediate-sized filaments.

Microtubule-binding proteins from carrot : I. Initial characterization and microtubule bundling

Microtubules (MTs) participate in several processes of fundamental importance to growth and development in higher plants, yet little is known about the proteins with which they associate. Information about these molecules is important because they probably play a role in mediating functional and structural differences between various MT arrays. As a first step in gaining insight into this problem, we have isolated, from suspension-cultured cells of carrot (Daucus carota L.), non-tubulin proteins which bind to and affect microtubules (MTs) in vitro. These proteins were isolated using taxol-stabilized neuronal MTs as an affinity substrate. They cause MT bundling at substoichiometric concentrations, support the assembly of tubulin in vitro, and at low concentrations, decorate single MTs in a periodic fashion. The bundled MTs formed in vitro share similarities with those seen in situ in a variety of plant cells, including a center-center spacing of 34 nm, cold stability, resistance to anti-microtubule drugs, and sensitivity to calcium. The bundling activity is specific; other cationic proteins, as well as poly-L-lysine, do not behave in a similar manner. The bundling activity is insensitive to ATP. By assaying bundling activity with dark-field microscopy and employing standard biochemical procedures, a small number of polypeptides involved in the bundling process were identified. Affinity-isolated antibodies to one of these polypeptides (Mr=76000) were found to co-localize with MTs in the cortical array of protoplasts. Our findings are discussed with reference to the importance of these proteins in the cell and to their relationship to microtubule-associated proteins in other eukaryotes.