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 taxol-driven 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 microtubule-interacting 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.