Detection of prothymosin alpha in oocytes and embryos of Bufo arenarum.

Prothymosin alpha (PTA) was detected by immunocytological and biochemical methods in oocytes at different stages of oogenesis, and in early embryos of the amphibian Bufo anenarum. In all cases PTA was detected in the nucleus and was absent from the cytoplasm. This indicates that this protein could act at the level of regulating transcription. Western blots were carried out using polyclonal antibodies with extracts of embryos at different stages of development from early fertilisation up to neural tube. With this method PTA was detected in all the samples under study.