A strategy to study development and pattern formation: use of antibodies against products of cloned genes. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • This chapter discusses gt11 system that is useful for studying products of cloned Dictyostelium genes. This system is used to make antibodies against four different Dictyostelium cell type-specific proteins. One antibody is against Dictyostelium ras and shows that ras protein is present in vegetative cells and developing cells. After 15 hours of development, levels of ras begin to decrease and also examines the distribution of ras in prespore and prestalk cells and in cell fractions at various times in development. Another antibody is against a prespore-specific protein and a third is against a prestalk protein. These two antibodies each stain a single band on Western blots. The fourth antibody is at present uncharacterized. It is revealed that the antibodies stain different parts of slugs. These antibodies also examine the distribution of prestalk and prespore cells in aggregates at different stages of development. Other studies are using these antibodies for immunofluorescent assays of cell differentiation. These antibodies become the central assay for many cell biological, molecular, and physiological studies. 1987, Academic Press Inc.

published proceedings

  • Methods Cell Biol

author list (cited authors)

  • Gomer, R. H.

citation count

  • 15

complete list of authors

  • Gomer, RH

publication date

  • January 1987