Immuno-electron-microscopic localization of a centriole-related antigen in ciliated cells.

An antigen common to purported centriolar and basal body regions of a variety of cell types was previously visualized by immuno-fluorescence microscopy. The present study demonstrates the localization of the antigen relative to the defined basal body structures of ciliated tracheal cells at the electron-microscopic level. After ethyldimethylaminopropyl carbodiimide-glutaraldehyde-saponin (EGS) fixation and permeabilization, immunoferritin labeling is consistently found associated with amorphous electron-opaque material in proximity to basal bodies and their ciliary rootlets, but not with basal body microtubules themselves. This distribution pattern is distinct from that of other proteins found in the apical region of ciliated cells, such as calmodulin. It is proposed that the dense material may be analogous to pericentriolar material of centrosomes.