Novel tyrosine kinase substrates from Rous sarcoma virus-transformed cells are present in the membrane skeleton

We have previously reported the production of monoclonal antibodies directed against phosphotyrosine, which is the modification induced by many oncogene products and growth factor receptors. One of these antiphosphotyrosine antibodies (py20) was used in affinity chromatography to isolate phosphotyrosine (PY)-containing proteins from Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chick embryo fibroblasts (RSV-CEFs). Mice were immunized with these PY-proteins for the production of monoclonal antibodies to individual substrates. Fifteen antibodies were generated in this way to antigens with molecular masses of 215, 76, 60, and 22 kD. Antibodies to individual substrates were used to analyze the subcellular location in normal and RSV-CEFs. Antibodies to the 215- and 76-kD antigen stained focal contacts when used in immunofluorescence microscopy while anti-22-kD protein antibodies resulted in punctate staining concentrated in the margins of cells and in parallel arrays. Both distributions were altered in transformed cells. When cells were extracted with nonionic detergent under conditions that stabilize the cytoskeleton, 50% of the 76-kD protein and greater than 90% of the 22-kD protein fractionated with the cytoskeleton. This study offers a new approach to both the identification of membrane skeletal proteins in fibroblasts and changes that occur upon transformation by an activated tyrosine kinase.