Intracellular localization of terminal transferase during the cell cycle.

Changes in the localization of terminal transferase during the cell cycle in random cultures of human pre-T leukemia line RPMI-8402 were examined by light and electron microscopy on immunoperoxidase-stained preparations. Paraformaldehyde-fixed and saponin-permeabilized human cells were used with a monoclonal anti-human terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) primary reagent to demonstrate changes in enzyme distribution occurring between interphase and mitosis. Nuclear localization is found uniformly during interphase. At metaphase, however, the majority of TdT staining appears randomly distributed in the cytoplasm and traces of TdT staining remain associated with mitotic chromatin. At later phases, when the daughter cells are forming, the enzyme again appears to be restricted to the new nuclear structure.