Cell cycle-dependent changes in non-membranous nuclear ghosts from HeLa cells.
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Cell Cycle↗
Biomedical subjects
D E Riley
Publications and source records attributed to D E Riley.
The ultrastructure of non-membranous nuclear ghosts.
Non-membranous HeLa cell nuclear ghosts, representing non-membranous nuclear envelope or 'skeletal' components, have been examined in whole-mount fashion by transmission electron microscopy. Major components of the ghosts include annuli with inner and outer diameters of 43 and 90 nm, respectively, which are consistent in dimensions with nuclear pore complexes. Also present are rod-like images (260 nm in length and 50 nm in width or diameter) representing either previously unobserved nuclear structures, or condensations of repeating functional units not otherwise observable. The annular and rod-like images were also observed when various steps in the ghost isolation procedure, such as the use of detergents, 0.5 M MgCl2 and polylysine attachment of the ghosts to electron-microscope grids, were circumvented. The annular and rod-like images are connected into linear and polygonal arrays by strands (15-30 nm in width) that are sensitive to DNase I and DNase II but resistant to nuclease S1. Thus, although the non-membranous ghosts from HeLa cells are composed primarily of protein, enzymic dissection indicates that their gross integrity is markedly dependent on double-stranded DNA. Nuclear ghosts prepared from a wide range of species including mammals, birds and plants, exhibited essentially the same components and organization.
Cell Nucleus↗
The polypeptide composition and ultrastructure of nuclear ghosts isolated from mammalian cells.
The polypeptide species of non-membranous nuclear ghosts from purified cell nuclei are conserved among a variety of human, hamster and mouse cell types studied, including HeLa, BHK, 3T6 and Hep-2 cell lines. The polypeptide species present in nuclear ghosts from HeLa cells synchronized in various stages of the cell cycle are largely the same with minor variations. The isolated nuclear ghosts are similar, in terms of polypeptide composition, to other residual nuclear structures isolated by independent techniques. The nuclear ghosts appear as flattened sac-like structures when viewed scanning electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy of the nuclear ghosts reveals ring-like structures which may represent the nuclear pores. Also observed are novel rodshaped structures approximately 260 nm in length and 50 nm in diameter. The latter images either arise by a rearrangement during isolation of the nuclear ghost macromolecules or are a heretofore undescribed structure of intact nuclei.
Cell Division↗
Nuclear ghosts: a nonmembranous structural component of mammalian cell nuclei.
Electron micrographs of positively stained preparations of nonmembranous ghosts prepared from HeLa cell nuclei have revealed the presence of an array consisting of rodlike and annular structures interconnected by strands sensitive to deoxyribonuclease. This array is believed to be responsible for the spherical shape of nuclei that are free of membrane. In addition, a configurational change in this array may be associated with the cyclic dissolution and reformation of the nuclear envelope that accompanies mitosis in mammalian cells.
Cell Nucleus↗
The isolation and characterization of nuclear ghosts from cultured HeLa cells.
Macromolecular complexes, which appear as ghosts when viewed by phase contrast microscopy, have been isolated from the nuclei of HeLa cells grown in culture. The preparation of these ghosts involves a detergent wash which removes the unit membranes of the nuclear envelop structure but leaves intact both the nuclear pores and the dense structure conferring nuclear margins (possibly the dense lamella). Detergent-washed nuclei are subsequently treated with 0.5 M MgCl2 and fractionated on continuous sucrose gradients containing 0.5 M MgCl2. The ghosts are recovered as a sharp band at an apparent sucrose density of 47-52% and consist of 72% protein, 10% phospholipid, 14% DNA, And 4% RNA. The release of the majority of intranuclear components is indicated by the large loss of nuclear DNA (95%), RNA (71%), and protein (87%) contrasted to the small loss of phospholipid (27%) druing the conversion of detergent washed nuclei to isolated ghosts. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel patterns of the ghost proteins consist of two major bands with approximate molecular weights of 20,000 and 35,000. The isolation of ghosts with a similar density and protein composition from nondetergent-washed nuclei indicates that the ghost is not an artifact induced by the detergent treatment. The absence of cytoplasmic contamination in the preparations of detergent washed nuclei and nuclear ghosts was demonstrated by chemical, enzymatic, and electron microscope studies. We suggest that the isolated ghosts represent a structural macromolecular complex which underlies and is probably attached to the inner nuclear membrane of intact nuclei. The possible additional presence of intranuclear network proteins has not been excluded.
Amino Acids↗
Trichomonas vaginalis: dominant G2 period and G2 phase arrest in a representative of an early branching eukaryotic lineage.
Eukaryotic mitotic cell cycles have been extensively studied in yeasts and vertebrate cells but little is known about cell cycle mechanisms in early branches of the eukaryotic lineage. Trichomonas vaginalis represents one of the earliest branching eukaryotic lineages available for study. In contrast with most yeasts and vertebrate cells, the T. vaginalis G2 period was prolonged, comprising 50 to 58% of the cell population. Hydroxyurea, aphidicolin, and excess thymidine, all of which arrest yeasts and vertebrate cells at the G1/S phase boundary, had no effect on the T. vaginalis cell cycle, probably due to the known absence of synthetic pathways. The anti-microtubule mitotic inhibitors, colchicine and nocodazole, induced G2 phase synchrony. Metronidazole, a therapeutic reagent, also caused G2 phase arrest. These observations suggest that T. vaginalis is similar to yeasts and vertebrate cells in G2 and M phases, but the parasite's G1/S phase transition is distinctive. The results also suggest potentially therapeutic, anti-trichomonad activity of microtubule inhibitors such as nocodazole. The cultured parasite may prove useful as a model for the mitotic cell cycle in the absence of G1/S phase transitional activities universal in yeasts and vertebrate cells.
Animals↗