Centromere pattern in different mouse seminiferous tubule cells.

Centromere arrangement in different mouse seminiferous tubule cells was analyzed using an anticentromere antiserum from a patient with the CREST syndrome of scleroderma. A peptide of 18 kd was recognized by this serum on immunoblotting of mouse nuclear proteins from seminiferous tubule cells. In the cells studied by immunofluorescence, different patterns of centromere arrangement were observed. A speckled arrangement of centromeres was found in spermatogonia, double spots corresponding to meiotic bivalents were found in pachytene cells, and clusters of a haploid numer of centromeres were found in early and acrosome phase spermatids. In Sertoli cells, only three centromeric spots were detected, corresponding to the nucleolar organizer chromosome pairs. A relationship between the functional stage of the cell and the arrangement of and conformational changes in the centromeres is considered.