Stable expression and visualization of Mat-8 (FXYD-3) tagged with a fluorescent protein in Chinese hamster ovary...

A type I transmembrane protein, Mat-8 (FXYD-3), was tagged with fluorescent protein, Discosoma red fluorescent protein, at the carboxyl terminal cytoplasmic tail, and stably expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO)-K1 cells. The fluorescence signal was distributed in intracellular membranes, being not only detected around the nuclear envelope but also partly overlapping with an endoplasmic reticulum marker. Subcellular fractionation by density gradient centrifugation supported this partial overlapping. The spherical structures observed were not colocalized with markers for lysosomes, endosomes, and Golgi bodies, suggesting that Mat-8 is distributed in a distinct endoplasmic reticulum region and the nuclear envelope after synthesis on membrane-bound ribosomes.