Biomedical subjects

A Straight

Publications and source records attributed to A Straight.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1997

Interphase chromosomes undergo constrained diffusional motion in living cells.

BACKGROUND: Structural studies of fixed cells have revealed that interphase chromosomes are highly organized into specific arrangements in the nucleus, and have led to a picture of the nucleus as a static structure with immobile chromosomes held in fixed positions, an impression apparently confirmed by recent photobleaching studies. Functional studies of chromosome behavior, however, suggest that many essential processes, such as recombination, require interphase chromosomes to move around within the nucleus. RESULTS: To reconcile these contradictory views, we exploited methods for tagging specific chromosome sites in living cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with green fluorescent protein and in Drosophila melanogaster with fluorescently labeled topoisomerase ll. Combining these techniques with submicrometer single-particle tracking, we directly measured the motion of interphase chromatin, at high resolution and in three dimensions. We found that chromatin does indeed undergo significant diffusive motion within the nucleus, but this motion is constrained such that a given chromatin segment is free to move within only a limited subregion of the nucleus. Chromatin diffusion was found to be insensitive to metabolic inhibitors, suggesting that it results from classical Brownian motion rather than from active motility. Nocodazole greatly reduced chromatin confinement, suggesting a role for the cytoskeleton in the maintenance of nuclear architecture. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that chromatin is free to undergo substantial Brownian motion, but that a given chromatin segment is confined to a subregion of the nucleus. This constrained diffusion is consistent with a highly defined nuclear architecture, but also allows enough motion for processes requiring chromosome motility to take place. These results lead to a model for the regulation of chromosome interactions by nuclear architecture.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Chromosome and low copy plasmid segregation in E. coli: visual evidence for distinct mechanisms.

We have investigated DNA segregation in E. coli by inserting multiple lac operator sequences into the chromosome near the origin of replication (oriC), in the hisC gene, a terminus marker, and into plasmids P1 and F. Expression of a GFP-LacI fusion protein allowed visualization of lac operator localization. oriC was shown to be specifically localized at or near the cell poles, and when duplicated, one copy moved to the site of new pole formation near the site of cell division. In contrast, P1 and F localized to the cell center and on duplication appeared to move rapidly to the quarter positions in the cell. Our analysis suggests that different active processes are involved in movement and localization of the chromosome and of the two plasmids during segregation.

Cell Cycle↗

PubMed1997

Bipolar localization of the replication origin regions of chromosomes in vegetative and sporulating cells of B. subtilis.

To investigate chromosome segregation in B. subtilis, we introduced tandem copies of the lactose operon operator into the chromosome near the replication origin or terminus. We then visualized the position of the operator cassettes with green fluorescent protein fused to the Lac1 repressor. In sporulating bacteria, which undergo asymmetric cell division, origins localized near each pole of the cell whereas termini were restricted to the middle. In growing cells, which undergo binary fission, origins were observed at various positions but preferentially toward the poles early in the cell cycle. In contrast, termini showed little preference for the poles. These results indicate the existence of a mitotic-like apparatus that is responsible for moving the origin regions of newly formed chromosomes toward opposite ends of the cell.

Bacillus subtilis↗

PubMed1997

Mitochondrial transmission during mating in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is determined by mitochondrial fusion and fission and the intramitochondrial segregation of mitochondrial DNA.

To gain insight into the process of mitochondrial transmission in yeast, we directly labeled mitochondrial proteins and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and observed their fate after the fusion of two cells. To this end, mitochondrial proteins in haploid cells of opposite mating type were labeled with different fluorescent dyes and observed by fluorescence microscopy after mating of the cells. Parental mitochondrial protein markers rapidly redistributed and colocalized throughout zygotes, indicating that during mating, parental mitochondria fuse and their protein contents intermix, consistent with results previously obtained with a single parentally derived protein marker. Analysis of the three-dimensional structure and dynamics of mitochondria in living cells with wide-field fluorescence microscopy indicated that mitochondria form a single dynamic network, whose continuity is maintained by a balanced frequency of fission and fusion events. Thus, the complete mixing of mitochondrial proteins can be explained by the formation of one continuous mitochondrial compartment after mating. In marked contrast to the mixing of parental mitochondrial proteins after fusion, mtDNA (labeled with the thymidine analogue 5-bromodeoxyuridine) remained distinctly localized to one half of the zygotic cell. This observation provides a direct explanation for the genetically observed nonrandom patterns of mtDNA transmission. We propose that anchoring of mtDNA within the organelle is linked to an active segregation mechanism that ensures accurate inheritance of mtDNA along with the organelle.

Cell Division↗

PubMed1996

Protein phosphatase 2A regulates MPF activity and sister chromatid cohesion in budding yeast.

BACKGROUND: Mitosis is regulated by MPF (maturation promoting factor), the active form of Cdc2/28-cyclin B complexes. Increasing levels of cyclin B abundance and the loss of inhibitory phosphates from Cdc2/28 drives cells into mitosis, whereas cyclin B destruction inactivates MPF and drives cells out of mitosis. Cells with defective spindles are arrested in mitosis by the spindle-assembly checkpoint, which prevents the destruction of mitotic cyclins and the inactivation of MPF. We have investigated the relationship between the spindle-assembly checkpoint, cyclin destruction, inhibitory phosphorylation of Cdc2/28, and exit from mitosis. RESULTS: The previously characterized budding yeast mad mutants lack the spindle-assembly checkpoint. Spindle depolymerization does not arrest them in mitosis because they cannot stabilize cyclin B. In contrast, a newly isolated mutant in the budding yeast CDC55 gene, which encodes a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulatory subunit, shows a different checkpoint defect. In the presence of a defective spindle, these cells separate their sister chromatids and leave mitosis without inducing cyclin B destruction. Despite the persistence of B-type cyclins, cdc55 mutant cells inactivate MPF. Two experiments show that this inactivation is due to inhibitory phosphorylation on Cdc28: phosphotyrosine accumulates on Cdc28 in cdc55 delta cells whose spindles have been depolymerized, and a cdc28 mutant that lacks inhibitory phosphorylation sites on Cdc28 allows spindle defects to arrest cdc55 mutants in mitosis with active MPF and unseparated sister chromatids. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that perturbations of protein phosphatase activity allow MPF to be inactivated by inhibitory phosphorylation instead of by cyclin destruction. Under these conditions, sister chromatid separation appears to be regulated by MPF activity rather than by protein degradation. We discuss the role of PP2A and Cdc28 phosphorylation in cell-cycle control, and the possibility that the novel mitotic exit pathway plays a role in adaptation to prolonged activation of the spindle-assembly checkpoint.

CDC28 Protein Kinase, S cerevisiae↗

PubMed1996

In vivo localization of DNA sequences and visualization of large-scale chromatin organization using lac operator/repressor recognition.

We report a new method for in situ localization of DNA sequences that allows excellent preservation of nuclear and chromosomal ultrastructure and direct, in vivo observations. 256 direct repeats of the lac operator were added to vector constructs used for transfection and served as a tag for labeling by lac repressor. This system was first characterized by visualization of chromosome homogeneously staining regions (HSRs) produced by gene amplification using a dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) expression vector with methotrexate selection. Using electron microscopy, most HSRs showed approximately 100-nm fibers, as described previously for the bulk, large-scale chromatin organization in these cells, and by light microscopy, distinct, large-scale chromatin fibers could be traced in vivo up to 5 microns in length. Subsequent experiments demonstrated the potential for more general applications of this labeling technology. Single and multiple copies of the integrated vector could be detected in living CHO cells before gene amplification, and detection of a single 256 lac operator repeat and its stability during mitosis was demonstrated by its targeted insertion into budding yeast cells by homologous recombination. In both CHO cells and yeast, use of the green fluorescent protein-lac repressor protein allowed extended, in vivo observations of the operator-tagged chromosomal DNA. Future applications of this technology should facilitate structural, functional, and genetic analysis of chromatin organization, chromosome dynamics, and nuclear architecture.

Anaphase↗