Localization of anti-CENP antibodies and alphoid sequences in acentric heterochromatin in a breast cancer cell line.

Karyotype alterations are a hallmark of cancer cells. Of particular interest to our laboratory are the inactive centromeres and blocks of heterochromatin devoid of the accompanying centromere. When purified or monospecies anticentromere proteins (CENP) antibodies or the whole serum from scleroderma (crest) patients are applied to human chromosomes, the centromere region exhibits the label. When we treated MDA 435 cells with the anti-CENP-A, anti-CENP-B, or the whole serum, the label was apparent on heterochromatin pericentric to the active and inactive centromeres. Moreover, blocks of heterochromatin not associated with any centromere also exhibited the label. Anti-CENP-C, however, is more strictly confined to the centromere in discrete dots and is not detected on any region except the sites of active centromeres. Distribution of alpha sequences also shows a pattern compatible with its distribution in the heterochromatin. Apparently, the use of anti-CENP-A and anti-CENP-B antibodies or alphoid DNA may not detect either the centromere (primary constriction) or the kinetochore; CENP-C may be an exception.