Detection of the 170-kDa bullous pemphigoid antigen by immunoprecipitation

There has been controversy concerning the nature of the bullous pemphigoid (BP) antigen: immunoprecipitation identified BP antigen as a single, unique 230-kDa protein, whereas immunoblot analysis showed multiple antigen molecules, mainly 230- and 170-kDa proteins. In this study, to further characterize the 170-kDa protein, we have examined whether the 170-kDa protein is detected by immunoprecipitation. Extracts of human squamous cell carcinoma cells revealed the 170-kDa protein with immunoblot analysis. Although the conventional immunoprecipitation detected only the 230-kDa protein, some BP sera that detected the 170-kDa protein with immunoblotting also precipitated the 170-kDa protein with our modified immunoprecipitation, in which the cells were extracted with 1% sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) buffer and reacted with the sera under reduced SDS concentration. The 170-kDa protein-specific BP sera clearly showed hemidesmosomal plaque staining with immunofluorescence of cultured cells. These results indicate that the 170-kDa protein is indeed one of the BP antigens and that the 230- and 170-kDa BP antigens are integrated in different ways in hemidesmosomes.