Consensus peptide antibodies reveal a widespread occurrence of Ca2+/lipid-binding proteins of the annexin family.

Antibodies generated against synthetic peptides that correspond to highly conserved sequence motifs in the annexins reacted with a variety of annexins from different species. These include Xenopus laevis and Drosophila melanogaster, which contain cross-reacting polypeptides of apparent Mr 34,000 and 30,000. As expected for typical annexins, the two Drosophila proteins interact in a Ca2+-dependent manner with phosphatidylserine liposomes.