Tropomyosin antibody: the specific localization of tropomyosin in nonmuscle cells.

An antibody against purified chicken skeletal muscle tropomyosin is used in indirect 
immunofluorescence to visualize the localization of tropomyosin in a variety of 
nonmuscle cells. The antibody produces a fluorescent pattern which is very 
similar to that obtained with an actin-specific antibody. This pattern is 
composed of fluorescent fibers which are shown to be coincident with 
the fibers seen with phase-contrast optics. High resolution epifluorescent microscopy reveals 
that fibers stained with the actin antibody show a continuous fluorescence, 
while fibers reacted with the tropomyosin antibody show a periodic fluorescence. 
Measurements indicate that the lengths of the fluorescent segments are variable 
with an average of 1.2 mum while the spacing between segments 
is approximately 0.4 mum. 