Immunocytochemical study of the formation of striated rootlets during ciliogenesis in quail oviduct.

In quail oviduct, a 175K (K = 10(3) Mr) protein associated with striated rootlets was previously identified by Klotz and co-workers using monoclonal antibody CC310. As this monoclonal antibody recognizes several proteins on immunoblots of ciliated cells, we prepared a polyclonal antibody monospecific to the 175K protein by intrasplenic immunization of mice. Immunofluorescence study confirmed the distribution of the 175K protein at the apical part of the ciliated cell and its absence in other epithelial cells.

Immunological detection of spectrin during differentiation and in mature ciliated cells from quail oviduct.

A protein that was immunologically related to the erythrocyte and brain alpha-240-subunit and to the brain beta-235-subunit of spectrin was characterized by immunoblotting and was detected by immunofluorescence in the apical part of ciliated cells from quail oviduct. After immunogold-labeling electron immunocytochemistry, spectrin was detected mainly in a fibrillar meshwork located between the proximal parts of the basal bodies. It was also observed to be in contact with the basal foot of basal bodies, but was not found to be associated with the apical plasma membrane.

Development and functions of the cytoskeleton during ciliogenesis in metazoa.

The different steps of ciliogenesis occurring in quail oviduct were compared to the ciliogenesis pattern described in other metazoan species. Centrioles are generated according to pathways that are found within the same cell: the centriolar and the acentriolar pathways. In the acentriolar pathway, centrioles are generated in the Golgi area, without contact with the preexisting centrioles of the centrosomes, and they migrate toward the apical membrane.