Nuclear membrane antigen specific to nerve and muscle tissues.

ABSTRACT

A monoclonal antibody, 2F7, raised against a nuclear protein subfraction recognized the nuclear membrane of nervous and muscular tissues of guinea pig, rat and rabbit, but no other tissue was stained. In the nervous system, both neurons and glial cells were labelled. An electron microscopic immunohistochemical study demonstrated that 2F7 antibody labelled the inner surface of the nuclear membrane. Western blot analysis on the nuclear envelope fraction containing nuclear lamina revealed that this antibody reacted to two minor component proteins of 80 and 82KDa. These 2F7 antigens expressed preferentially in the nervous and muscular tissues were distinct from the major nuclear envelope proteins reported so far and might be related to neuronal or muscular tissue-specific functions.