Localization of Tamm-Horsfall-glycoprotein-like immunoreactivity in cultured baby-hamster kidney cells, shown by immunofluorescence and by light- and electron-microscopic immunoperoxidase techniques.

Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein was isolated from hamster urine, and antiserum against it was produced in rabbits. IgG was isolated from the antiserum. Immunocytochemical methods were used to localize Tamm-Horsfall-like immunoreactivity in three substrains of baby-hamster kidney (BHK) cells. Indirect immunofluorescence techniques showed that, in two substrains (BHK-21/C13/2P and BHK-21/C13/3P), a proportion of the cells fluoresced brilliantly, whereas those of the third substrain (BHK-21/ICRF) were totally negative. Related findings were obtained by the immunoperoxidase optical-microscopic technique. From the results of immunoperoxidase techniques using the electron microscope, it was concluded that the substance was present in association with the plasma membranes of the reacting cells. Our data suggest that the line of baby-hamster kidney cells, BHK-21/C13, may contain cells of renal-tubular epithelial origin, and that the proportion of these may be variable from one subculture to another.