Mutually exclusive expression of beta(III)-tubulin and vimentin in adrenal cortex carcinoma SW13 cells.

During embryogenesis, the maturation of neuroblasts into neurones is accompanied by the down-regulation of vimentin and by the expression of neuronal microtubular proteins. Here, we show that human adrenal cortex SW13 cells express beta(III)-tubulin, MAP2b and tau. Analysis of vimentin-positive and -negative subclones of SW13 cells revealed that, under defined cultured conditions, beta(III)-tubulin and MAP2b were present only in vimentin-deficient cells and that beta(III)-tubulin repression occurred at the transcriptional level in vimentin-positive cells. These results suggest that vimentin repression and beta(III)-tubulin expression are co-ordinated by an upstream mechanism relevant to the control of cytoskeletal protein expression during neuronal development.