Immuno-gold-labelling of CUT-1, CUT-2 and cuticlin epitopes in Caenorhabditis elegans and Heterorhabditis sp. processed by high pressure freezing and freeze-substitution.

CUT-1 and CUT-2 are two distinct protein components of cuticlin, the insoluble residue of the cuticles of nematodes. In previous experiments of gold-immuno-labelling on sections of chemically fixed Caenorhabditis elegans, CUT-1 and CUT-2 epitopes were specifically lost. Cryo-immobilization of C. elegans under high pressure followed by freeze-substitution, however, resulted in a good preservation of these antigenic sites and of the ultrastructure of the worms. The entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis sp. processed by the same cryopreparation protocol has shown a strong reactivity with anti-sera raised against CUT-1, CUT-2 and against the whole cuticlin residue of C. elegans. The localization of these epitopes was conserved across the two species.