Expression and subcellular localization of the Myc superfamily proteins: c-Myc, Max, Mad1 and Mxi1 in the epiphyseal plate cartilage chondrocytes of growing rats.

The changes in the expressions of the protooncogene protein c-Myc, its dimerization partner Max and the competitive inhibitors Mad1 and Mxi1 during the terminal differentiation of chondrocytes in vivo were investigated by immunocytochemistry. The four immunoreactivity patterns in the epiphyseal plate cartilage of growing rats, as they appeared under the light microscope, showed differences in protein expression level and intracellular distribution, with the chondrocyte developmental stage. c-Myc immunoreactivity was intense and mainly in the nuclei of proliferative chondrocytes. It decreased in the nuclei of mature chondrocytes and appeared in the cytoplasm. c-Myc immunoreactivity increased in the fully-differentiated hypertrophic chondrocytes. Immunoreactivity of the c-Myc dimerization partner Max was mainly in the nucleus of proliferative chondrocytes and decreased as the chondrocytes matured. Mad1 immunoreactivity was also concentrated in the nucleus of proliferative chondrocytes, but was mainly in the cytoplasm of mature chondrocytes and almost lost from the hypertrophic chondrocytes. Lastly, there was Mxi1 immunoreactivity in the nucleus and cytoplasm of proliferative, mature and early hypertrophic chondrocytes and the cytoplasm staining was more sustained than in the nucleus. There was little labeling in late hypertrophic chondrocytes. The electron microscope pictures corroborated these findings and showed the subcellular distributions of the immunolabelings. The gold particles reflecting Mad1 frequently formed patches and those for Mxi1 appeared to accumulate within the mitochondria of all chondrocytes. The variations in immuno-patterns and intracellular distributions suggest that each protooncogene protein has specific roles in the functional changes in the chondrocytes at each step of their terminal differentiation.