Filament-associated TSGA10 protein is expressed in professional antigen presenting cells and interacts with vimentin

Testis-specific gene antigen 10 (TSGA10) encodes an 82-kDa protein expressed during development, and in testis and brain tissues. We report its expression in human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) and macrophages in vitro and in murine spleen CD11c+ cells ex vivo. An interaction between DC/macrophage-derived TSGA10 and vimentin, as well as a few other major cytoskeletal proteins (e.g., actin-γ1), was identified by pull-down and mass spectroscopy assays. The interaction between TSGA10 and vimentin was further confirmed by immunoprecipitation and immunolocalisation in transfected RAW267 and HEK293 cell lines. TSGA10 formed filamentous structures in transfected COS-1 cells and was observed in cellular projections. We propose that TSGA10 could influence the function of antigen presenting cells (APC) via its interaction with cytoskeletal proteins such as vimentin.