Nuclear domain 10 (ND10) associated proteins are also present in nuclear bodies and redistribute to hundreds of nuclear sites after stress.

The promyelocytic leukemia protein fused to the retinoic acid receptor alpha in t(15;17) acute promyelocytic leukemia, the primary biliary cirrhosis autoantigen, Sp100, as well as the incompletely characterized protein NDP55, are co-localized in specific immunohistochemically defined nuclear domains (ND10), which are potential equivalents of ultrastructurally defined nuclear bodies. We investigated whether the distribution of these proteins depends on environmental conditions and whether ND10 correlate with nuclear bodies. Certain nuclear bodies and ND10 react in a similar way and share antigens. Interferon exposure doubled the number of ND10 and increased the frequency of nuclear bodies, whereas herpes simplex virus infection or heat shock modify both. Redistribution of ND10-associated proteins to hundreds of small sites throughout the chromatin was inducible by stress in the form of heat shock and exposure to Cd++ ions. The change of distribution was rapid and independent of protein synthesis, and thus not part of the classical heat shock response. The very rapid redistribution of these proteins after heat shock, together with the development of ND10 upon interferon activation, raises the possibility that ND10 represent storage sites of certain matrix proteins readily accessible throughout the chromatin in response to stress or other effectors that induce global nuclear changes.