Histological distribution of the 35-KD protein substrate of the epidermal growth factor receptor/kinase in thymus.

Rat thymus has been identified as a tissue comparatively enriched in a 35-KD substrate of the epidermal growth factor receptor/kinase (lipocortin-1) (J Biol Chem 261:13784, 1986). A polyclonal antiserum prepared against the 35-KD protein was used to determine histological distribution of the protein in thymus. Frozen sections of rat thymus were examined after indirect labeling of the 35-KD protein with a rhodamine conjugate of secondary antibody. The antigen was localized primarily in the reticular network of the thymic epithelium, with no detectable labeling of resident thymocytes. Immunoblotting (Western blots) of cytosol extracts also demonstrated that thymocytes did not contain detectable amounts of the antigen. Cultured thymic epithelial cells (TEC), however, contained an abundance of two immunologically related protein bands with molecular weights similar but not identical to the antigen from the parental cell line (human A-431 carcinoma). Paraffin sections of rat and human thymus were subjected to an immunoperoxidase staining procedure, and it was observed that Hassall's corpuscles (keratinized epithelial cells) and other cortical and medullary TECs were intensely stained. The demonstration that the antigen is primarily associated with TEC in thymus, in conjunction with its distribution in other tissues, will aid in deducing its physiological role.