Expression and functional conservation of the human la (ss-b) nuclear autoantigen in murine cell lines

Abstract

We have studied the cellular expression and functional conservation of the human La autoantigen across species by introducing genes encoding human La antigen into cultured murine cell lines. In transfected murine fibroblasts and lymphoid cell lines human La was expressed as a predominantly nuclear antigen, with a typical pattern of nuclear speckling. Radiolabeled human La was of the predicted molecular mass (48 kDa) when expressed in murine cells and was associated intracellularly with murine 60 kDa Ro antigen. Under certain conditions of cell lysis the association between human La and murine Ro was disrupted, whereas human La and human Ro complexes remained intact, suggesting the possibilit..