S. Maekawa et al., PURIFICATION OF A LOW-MOLECULAR-WEIGHT MICROTUBULE-BINDING PROTEIN FROM SEA-URCHIN EGGS, Biochimica et biophysica acta. Protein structure and molecular enzymology, 1207(2), 1994, pp. 194-200
A low molecular weight microtubule binding protein(SU-MAP34) was purif
ied from sea urchin eggs. This protein bound strongly to the microtubu
le formed from purified echinoderm tubulin but showed no cross-linking
of microtubules. Monospecific antibody against SU-MAP34 was produced
and an immunoblotting analysis showed that this protein was not a brea
kdown product of a protein of a higher molecular mass. Whole cell stai
ning and confocal laser scanning microscope observation showed that SU
-MAP34 localized on the filamentous structure of mitotic apparatus and
this structure was identified as the microtubule with double staining
using anti-SU-MAP34 and anti-tubulin. An immunoblotting experiment sh
owed an enrichment of SU-MAP34 in a microtubule protein fraction prepa
red using taxol from a crude extract of the cell.