Abnormal spindle protein, Asp, and the integrity of mitotic centrosomal microtubule organizing centers.
(9/5514)
The product of the abnormal spindle (asp) gene was found to be an asymmetrically localized component of the centrosome during mitosis, required to focus the poles of the mitotic spindle in vivo. Removing Asp protein function from Drosophila melanogaster embryo extracts, either by mutation or immunodepletion, resulted in loss of their ability to restore microtubule-organizing center activity to salt-stripped centrosome preparations. This was corrected by addition of purified Asp protein. Thus, Asp appears to hold together the microtubule-nucleating gamma-tubulin ring complexes that organize the mitotic centrosome. (+info)
Reduced in vitro repair in endothelial cells harvested from the intercostal ostia of porcine thoracic aorta.
(10/5514)
The ability of large-vessel endothelium to repair itself rapidly after injury is important in the maintenance of its barrier function and in limiting the development and progression of atherosclerosis. Because dysfunctional repair may be involved in the pathogenesis of some atherosclerotic plaques, including those at the ostia of aortic branches, linear mechanical denuding wounds were made in confluent monolayers of endothelial cells harvested by scraping from the flow divider, the upstream wall of the intercostal branch and unbranched regions in the thoracic aorta. The extent of wound closure was significantly lower in cells derived from either side of the intercostal branches, compared with cells from unbranched areas. The wound edge of cells harvested from the flow divider and its opposite wall closed by 22+/-0.084 microm and 22+/-1.3 microm, respectively, versus control, unbranched endothelial cells (30+/-2.2 microm) at 24 hours and by 48 hours, 48+/-3.4 microm and 47+/-3.6 microm compared with control (61+/-3.4 microm). Extent of wound closure in cells harvested by scraping from unbranched regions was comparable with collagenase-harvested endothelial cells at 24 and 48 hours. Distribution of F-actin microfilaments, tubulin and centrosomes have been shown to be disrupted at the wound edge in poorly migrating cells. In our study, however, no differences were observed in cytoskeletal distribution between cells from branched, unbranched and control areas. Thus, aortic endothelial cells from the intercostal branch region show a reduced ability to repair wounds compared with cells harvested from unbranched aorta. The mechanism for this difference is currently unknown. (+info)
Influence of centriole behavior on the first spindle formation in zygotes of the brown alga Fucus distichus (Fucales, Phaeophyceae).
(11/5514)
The influence of centrioles, derived from the sperm flagellar basal bodies, and the centrosomal material (MTOCs) on spindle formation in the brown alga Fucus distichus (oogamous) was studied by immunofluorescence microscopy using anti-centrin and anti-beta-tubulin antibodies. In contrast to a bipolar spindle, which is formed after normal fertilization, a multipolar spindle was formed in polyspermic zygote. The number of mitotic poles in polyspermic zygotes was double the number of sperm involved in fertilization. As an anti-centrin staining spot (centrioles) was located at these poles, the multipolar spindles in polyspermic zygotes were produced by the supplementary centrioles. When anucleate egg fragments were fertilized, chromosome condensation and mitosis did not occur in the sperm nucleus. Two anti-centrin staining spots could be detected, microtubules (MTs) radiated from nearby, but the mitotic spindle was never produced. When a single sperm fertilized multinucleate eggs (polygyny), abnormal spindles were also observed. In addition to two mitotic poles containing anti-centrin staining spots, extra mitotic poles without anti-centrin staining spots were also formed, and as a result multipolar spindles were formed. When karyogamy was blocked with colchicine, it became clear that the egg nucleus proceeded independently into mitosis accompanying chromosome condensation. A monoastral spindle could be frequently observed, and in rare cases a barrel-shaped spindle was formed. However, when a sperm nucleus was located near an egg nucleus, the two anti-centrin staining spots shifted to the egg nucleus from the sperm nucleus. In this case, a normal spindle was formed, the egg chromosomes arranged at the equator, and the associated MTs elongated from one pole of the egg spindle toward the sperm chromosomes which were scattered. From these results, it became clear that paternal centrioles derived from the sperm have a crucial role in spindle formation in the brown algae, such as they do during animal fertilization. However, paternal centrioles were not adequate for the functional centrosome during spindle formation. We speculated that centrosomal materials from the egg cytoplasm aggregate around the sperm centrioles and are needed for centrosomal activation. (+info)
The Opitz syndrome gene product, MID1, associates with microtubules.
(12/5514)
Opitz syndrome (OS) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by defects of the ventral midline, including hypertelorism, cleft lip and palate, heart defects, and mental retardation. We recently identified the gene responsible for X-linked OS. The ubiquitously expressed gene product, MID1, is a member of the RING finger family. These proteins are characterized by an N-terminal tripartite protein-protein interaction domain and a conserved C terminus of unknown function. Unlike other RING finger proteins for which diverse cellular functions have been proposed, the function of MID1 is as yet undefined. By using the green fluorescent protein as a tag, we show here that MID1 is a microtubule-associated protein that influences microtubule dynamics in MID1-overexpressing cells. We confirm this observation by demonstrating a colocalization of MID1 and tubulin in subcellular fractions and the association of endogenous MID1 with microtubules after in vitro assembly. Furthermore, overexpressed MID1 proteins harboring mutations described in OS patients lack the capability to associate with microtubules, forming cytoplasmic clumps instead. These data give an idea of the possible molecular pathomechanism underlying the OS phenotype. (+info)
Evolutionary relationships of Metazoa within the eukaryotes based on molecular data from Porifera.
(13/5514)
Recent molecular data provide strong support for the view that all metazoan phyla, including Porifera, are of monophyletic origin. The relationship of Metazoa, including the Porifera, to Plantae, Fungi and unicellular eukaryotes has only rarely been studied by using cDNAs coding for proteins. Sequence data from rDNA suggested a relationship of Porifera to unicellular eukaryotes (choanoflagellates). However, ultrastructural studies of choanocytes did not support these findings. In the present study, we compared amino acid sequences that are found in a variety of metazoans (including sponges) with those of Plantae, Fungi and unicellular eukaryotes, to obtain an answer to this question. We used the four sequences from 70 kDa heat-shock proteins, the serine-threonine kinase domain found in protein kinases, beta-tubulin and calmodulin. The latter two sequences were deduced from cDNAs, isolated from the sponge Geodia cydonium for the phylogenetic analyses presented. These revealed that the sponge molecules were grouped into the same branch as the Metazoa, which is statistically (significantly) separated from those branches that comprise the sequences from Fungi, Plantae and unicellular eukaryotes. From our molecular data it seems evident that the unicellular eukaryotes existed at an earlier stage of evolution, and the Plantae and especially the Fungi and the Metazoa only appeared later. (+info)
The growth-related, translationally controlled protein P23 has properties of a tubulin binding protein and associates transiently with microtubules during the cell cycle.
(14/5514)
The translationally controlled protein P23 was discovered by the early induction of its rate of synthesis after mitogenic stimulation of mouse fibroblasts. P23 is expressed in almost all mammalian tissues and it is highly conserved between animals, plants and yeast. Based on its amino acid sequence, P23 cannot be attributed to any known protein family, and its cellular function remains to be elucidated. Here, we present evidence that P23 has properties of a tubulin binding protein that associates with microtubules in a cell cycle-dependent manner. (1) P23 is a cytoplasmic protein that occurs in complexes of 100-150 kDa, and part of P23 can be immunoprecipitated from HeLa cell extracts with anti-tubulin antibodies. (2) In immunolocalisation experiments we find P23 associated with microtubules during G1, S, G2 and early M phase of the cell cycle. At metaphase, P23 is also bound to the mitotic spindle, and it is detached from the spindle during metaphase-anaphase transition. (3) A GST-P23 fusion protein interacts with alpha- and beta-tubulin, and recombinant P23 binds to taxol-stabilised microtubules in vitro. The tubulin binding domain of P23 was identified by mutational analysis; it shows similarity to part of the tubulin binding domain of the microtubule-associated protein MAP-1B. (4) Overexpression of P23 results in cell growth retardation and in alterations of cell morphology. Moreover, elevation of P23 levels leads to microtubule rearrangements and to an increase in microtubule mass and stability. (+info)
Locomotory behaviour of epitheliocytes and fibroblasts on metallic grids.
(15/5514)
Behaviour of epitheliocytes and fibroblasts on special discontinuous substrata (metallic grids with square openings of 45x45 microm2) was examined in order to compare the ability of these cells to spread in two mutually perpendicular directions and to stretch over the void spaces. Two cell types with typical fibroblastic morphology, the AGO 1523 line of human foreskin fibroblasts and secondary cultures of mouse embryo fibroblasts, and three cell types with typical epithelial morphology, primary mouse hepatocytes, the IAR-2 line of rat liver cells and the MDCK line of canine kidney epithelial cells (clone 20) were used. We also examined the epitheliocytes (MDCK cells, clone 20) transformed to fibroblast-like morphology by treatment with hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF). Time-lapse video microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy were used to examine cell reorganizations at various stages of spreading. It was found that early stages of spreading of fibroblasts and epitheliocytes were similar: the cell spread along two bars, perpendicular to each other (bar and crossbar), with the formation of a small triangular lamellar cytoplasm stretched over the opening. Later central parts of the bodies of the fibroblasts retracted from the bars so that the cells remained attached only by their polar lamellae. Successive expansions and partial retractions of these lamellae led to elongation of the cell body crossing several openings of the grid. Epitheliocytes, in contrast to fibroblasts, at the late stages of spreading did not retract their bodies and did not contract polar lamellae. As a result, their central lamellae stretched progressively over the openings. As a result of the treatment of MDCK epitheliocytes with HGF/SF the behaviour of the cells on the grids became similar to that of fibroblasts. It is suggested that these distinct spreading patterns of epitheliocytes and fibroblasts are due to the type-specific differences in the actin-myosin cortex. Experiments with microtubule-specific drugs, colcemid and taxol, indicate that the organization of this cortex is under microtubular control. (+info)
Microtubule dynamics from mating through the first zygotic division in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
(16/5514)
We have used time-lapse digital imaging microscopy to examine cytoplasmic astral microtubules (Mts) and spindle dynamics during the mating pathway in budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Mating begins when two cells of opposite mating type come into proximity. The cells arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and grow a projection towards one another forming a shmoo projection. Imaging of microtubule dynamics with green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions to dynein or tubulin revealed that the nucleus and spindle pole body (SPB) became oriented and tethered to the shmoo tip by a Mt-dependent search and capture mechanism. Dynamically unstable astral Mts were captured at the shmoo tip forming a bundle of three or four astral Mts. This bundle changed length as the tethered nucleus and SPB oscillated toward and away from the shmoo tip at growth and shortening velocities typical of free plus end astral Mts (approximately 0.5 micrometer/min). Fluorescent fiduciary marks in Mt bundles showed that Mt growth and shortening occurred primarily at the shmoo tip, not the SPB. This indicates that Mt plus end assembly/disassembly was coupled to pushing and pulling of the nucleus. Upon cell fusion, a fluorescent bar of Mts was formed between the two shmoo tip bundles, which slowly shortened (0.23 +/- 0.07 micrometer/min) as the two nuclei and their SPBs came together and fused (karyogamy). Bud emergence occurred adjacent to the fused SPB approximately 30 min after SPB fusion. During the first mitosis, the SPBs separated as the spindle elongated at a constant velocity (0.75 micrometer/min) into the zygotic bud. There was no indication of a temporal delay at the 2-micrometer stage of spindle morphogenesis or a lag in Mt nucleation by replicated SPBs as occurs in vegetative mitosis implying a lack of normal checkpoints. Thus, the shmoo tip appears to be a new model system for studying Mt plus end dynamic attachments and much like higher eukaryotes, the first mitosis after haploid cell fusion in budding yeast may forgo cell cycle checkpoints present in vegetative mitosis. (+info)