Microinjection of monoclonal antibodies to vimentin, desmin, and GFA in cells which contain more than one IF type.

Microinjection of antibodies to vimentin into fibroblast cell lines causes intermediate filaments (IFs) to build perinuclear caps. We have extended these findings by microinjection of monoclonal antibodies specific for different IF types to non-epithelial cell lines of human origin, which co-express two different IF proteins. Thus GFA and vimentin IgGs have been microinjected in separate experiments into a glioma cell line, desmin and vimentin IgGs into RD cells, and vimentin IgGs into a cell line which co-expresses neurofilaments and vimentin. In all instances, microinjection of a single antibody causes the formation of perinuclear caps in which the two different IF proteins co-localize, suggesting that vimentin and the second IF type present in each cell line localize to the same 10-nm filaments. Immunoelectron microscopy using desmin and vimentin antibodies made in different species and appropriate second antibodies labelled with 5 and 20 nm gold particles confirm this result for RD cells. When Fab' fragments of the vimentin IgGs are microinjected into different cell types, formation of perinuclear caps is observed in immunofluorescence microscopy. In RD cells immunoelectron microscopy shows that the Fab' fragments induce caps which appear less dense than the caps seen after microinjection of IgGs.