Immunohistochemical demonstration of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) in nuclei of various rat tissues

Natural distribution of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose), a novel macromolecule in eukaryotes, was investigated using an indirect immunofluorescence technique. The antibody, produced in a rabbit toward poly(ADP-ribose), was most reactive with polymers having the chain length of about 25 ADP-ribose units and weakly reactive with short oligomers; it was totally inert with monomers. Immunostaining with this antibody revealed the existence of the polymer in various rat tissues. The immunostaining seems to be specific for poly(ADP-ribose), as judged by its disappearance by preabsorption of the antiserum with purified poly(ADP-ribose) or pretreatment of tissue sections with poly(ADP-ribose)-degrading enzymes. Intensification of the fluorescence by preincubation with nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), a substrate for poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis, also supported this view. The immunofluorescence of poly(ADP-ribose) was found exclusively in the nucleus of almost all tissues tested, including liver (adult, newborn, regenerating, and hepatoma), brain, heart, intestine, pancreas, kidney, spleen, testis, thyroid gland, and skeletal muscle. Exceptions were blood cells; little fluorescence was detectable in nuclei of peripheral leukocytes. Only after preincubation with NAD, did lymphocytes and monocytes exhibit fluorescence, however, granulocytes never did exhibit fluorescence. The cells appeared to represent the first instance where poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis activity among eukaryotic cells was missing.