A human nucleolar antigen (pp90) associated with cell growth and its induction by Epstein-Barr virus and human...

Immunofluorescent staining of HeLa cells with rabbit antiserum raised against isolated HeLa cell nucleoli showed bright nucleolar fluorescence. Immunoprecipitation of nuclear extracts obtained from HeLa cells labelled with 35S-methionine or 32P-orthophosphate followed by gel electrophoresis of the precipitate revealed a major band of 90 kd. This antigen, called pp90, was judged to be responsible for the nucleolar fluorescence. Serine residues were predominantly phosphorylated in pp90. Similar nucleolar fluorescence was observed commonly in human cells derived from malignant tumors including acute lymphatic leukemia, adult T-cell leukemia, hepatitis B virus-associated hepatoma, adenocarcinoma, and in 5 lymphoid cells derived from Burkitt lymphoma but not in normal human lymphocytes or liver cells. In immunoprecipitation, 32P-labelled pp90 was commonly detected as the major component in all of those cells which showed nucleolar fluorescence. Resting human embryo lung (HEL) cells were negative for both nucleolar fluorescence and pp90 in immunoprecipitation, but turned positive when stimulated to grow, suggesting the involvement of pp90 in cell growth. Antigen pp90 was also induced in human lymphocytes and HEL cells by infection with Epstein-Barr virus in human cytomegalovirus, respectively, which are known to induce cell DNA synthesis in early stages of infection. A cross-reacting nucleolar antigen was detected in 2 monkey cells but not in 3 rodent cells tested.