Rapid purification and the immunological specificity of mammalian microtubular paracrystals possessing an ATPase activity.

A new procedure for the rapid purification of vinblastine-induced microtubular paracrystals is described. The paracrystals constitute about 2 per cent of the total protein in L cells. They contain a labile ATPase with a Michaelis constant of 1.0 x 10(-4). In the immunofluorescence test, sera prepared against paracrystals reacted positively with intracellular paracrystals and the mitotic apparatus. Antisera against paracrystals from a malignant murine cell also labeled the mitotic apparatus of HeLa and chicken embryonic cells, revealing the presence of a common or related antigen in the mitotic apparatus of these higher vertebrates.