Studies on the Mitotic Apparatus of the Sea Urchin by Means of Antigen-Antibody Reactions in Agar

The primary purpose of the experiments reported in this paper was to gain information on the molecular origin of the mitotic apparatus. Antisera were prepared against unfertilized sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) egg antigens and mitotic apparatus antigens. These were permitted to react with various antigen solutions in Ouchterlony agar gel diffusion plates, and the resultant precipitation patterns analysed. The results revealed that the mitotic apparatus contains probably no more than two antigens (precursor-1 component and precursor-2 component) and that these are shared by the unfertilized egg. Absorption and fractionation techniques indicated that in the unfertilized egg the precursor-1 component is present both as a "soluble" protein and as an insoluble form tenaciously associated with intracellular structural elements. A survey of dividing and non-dividing tissues for the precursor-1 component revealed that it was restricted to tissues in which mitotic activity could be detected microscopically. No immunochemical relationship could be detected between the mitotic apparatus and proteins extracted, by various methods, from the lantern muscle.