Use of indirect immunofluorescence to show changes in liver actin microfilament staining in inbred mice strains exposed to the mycotoxin sporidesmin

Abstract

The distribution of microfilaments in cryostat sections of liver from BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice was compared using the F-actin binding probe rhodaminyl phalloidin and indirect immunofluorescence using a human serum containing antiactin autoantibodies. The immunological reactivity of this serum was established by its capacity to immunoprecipitate purified skeletal muscle actin and by its ability to immunoprecipitate a protein which migrated electrophoretically with actin from 35S-labeled liver cells. Oral administration of the liver toxin sporidesmin did not substantially alter the binding of rhodaminyl phalloidin to microfilaments but the reactivity of the anti-actin serum with the liver cytoskeleton was diminished 3 h after, and enhanced within 24 h of toxin ingestion. Amounts of actin measured by DNAse inhibition were not altered. The results are assessed in terms of their significance for understanding the way in which sporidesmin causes liver damage.