Developing chick embryos express a protein which shares homology with the nuclear pore complex protein Nup88 present in human tumors.
Nup88 is a nuclear pore complex protein which is overexpressed in a variety of human tumors of the stomach, colon, liver, pancreas, breast, lung, ovary, uterus, prostate and kidney. A monoclonal antibody crossreacting with the yeast Candida albicans and Nup88 was used to investigate the expression of cross-reactive antigens in chick embryos, in an attempt to identify an experimental model for studying the role played by Nup88 during cell development and differentiation. All cells in the trilaminar embryo were labeled with the antibody, but as development advanced and organogenesis was completed, expression of the corresponding antigen became more restricted. Thus, some structures continued to be intensely labeled (skin epithelium, oropharyngeal endothelium, perichondral mesenchymal tissue), whereas others ( muscular tissue, vascular endothelium, respiratory endothelium, digestive tract mucosa, peripheral nerves, medullary white matter and the retinal axons) were more moderately stained. No immunoreactivity was observed in the medullary grey matter or cartilage. A specific band of 53 kDa observed by Western blotting of chick embryo extracts suggested that the chicken antigen recognized by the monoclonal antibody is the homologue of human Nup88, which is associated with the high proliferation and low differentiation of tumor cells. The present results indicate that the role of Nup88 in cell differentiation and organ development could be fruitfully investigated using the developing chick embryo as an experimental model.
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain.
José
J
Schneider
Rafael
R
Linares
Fernando
F
Martínez-Arribas
María-Dolores
MD
Moragues
María-José
MJ
Nuñez-Villar
María-Angustias
MA
Palomar
José
J
Pontón
D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D002642:Chick Embryo / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D028861:Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013045:Species Specificity; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; C104835:NUP88 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D028861:Nuclear Pore Complex Proteins; D004247:DNA