OVEREXPRESSION OF THE 77-KD ECHINODERM MICROTUBULE-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN(EMAP), A WD-40 REPEAT PROTEIN, IN BACULOVIRUS-INFECTED SF9 CELLS

The purpose of this study was to test whether any assembly-promoting m icrotubule-associated protein (MAP) would bundle microtubules and indu ce process formation in recombinant baculovirus-infected Sf9 cells, in particular, whether a non-neural MAP from a normally rounded cell wou ld produce cellular asymmetries. To carry out these experiments, we co nstructed a recombinant baculovirus that expressed the full-length 77- kD EMAP, an abundant MAP that localizes to the mitotic spindle of clea vage-stage sea urchin embryos and to the interphase array of microtubu les in adult coelomocytes. Expression of EMAP in Sf9 cells had no dete ctable effect on cellular morphology, microtubule organization, or sta bility. These results indicate that process formation in Sf9 cells is MAP specific. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.