Nuclear structure: determination of the fate of the nuclear envelope in Drosophila during mitosis using monoclonal antibodies.

Libraries of monoclonal antibody against nuclear proteins of Drosophila melanogaster have been established recently to investigate nuclear structure and function. Some of the antibodies have been characterized as being directed against the nuclear envelope. Further studies detailed in this paper describe the fate of the nuclear envelope during mitosis. Indirect immunofluorescence staining of whole developing Drosophila embryos has been used as a system in which nuclear events can be studied both synchronously and in a longitudinal gradient of mitotic structures. The results show a pattern of breakdown and reconstruction of the nuclear envelope in which the antigen is always present in particulate structures. In addition, the processes of antigen rearrangement are shown to be spatially determined throughout mitosis.