Cell cycle-dependent changes in localization of a 210-kDa microtubule-interacting protein in Leishmania

Using the monoclonal antibody MA-01, a new 210-
kDa microtubule-interacting protein was identified in
Leishmania promastigotes by immunoblotting and by
immunoprecipitation. The protein was thermostable
and was located on microtubules prepared by taxoldriven
polymerization in vitro. On fixed cells the antibody
gave specific staining of flagellum, flagellar
pocket, and mitotic spindle. Subpellicular microtubules
were basically not decorated but posterior poles
of the cells were labeled in a cell-cycle-dependent
manner. In anterior and posterior poles of cells the
210-kDa protein codistributed with the 57-kDa protein,
immunodetected with anti-vimentin antibody,
that was located only on cell poles. Immunolocalization
of the 57-kDa protein was most prominent in dividing
cells. The presented data suggest that the 210-
kDa protein is a newly identified microtubuleinteracting
protein of Leishmania that could be
involved in anchoring the microtubules in posterior
poles of these cells. The striking codistribution of the
microtubule-interacting protein and the 57-kDa protein
in protozoa is described for the first time.