Centromeric proteins recognized by CREST sera and meiotic chromosome segregation.

Analysis of the peptides recognized by CREST sera was carried out in different mouse tissues and cells, including spermatozoa. In all cases, a polypeptide of Mr = 18,000 was recognized by the sera and occasionally two other proteins of Mr = 80,000 and Mr = 140,000 were observed after immunoblotting of nuclear proteins. In both early and late spermatids, centromeric staining was observed after incubation and immunofluorescence with CREST sera. After detergent treatment, it was even possible to detect centromeric staining in mature spermatozoa. In spermatid cells, the immunofluorescent pattern presented a binomial distribution of the number of fluorescent spots, with a mean value around half of the haploid number of chromosomes. Since this pattern is the result of chromosome segregation after meiosis II, our data suggest that this centromeric peptide is not directly implicated in the chromosome segregation process. On the other hand, the distribution of spots after immunofluorescence suggests a different organization of centromeric components in meiosis I and meiosis II.