Protoplasmic streaming, cytochalasin B, and growth of the pollen tube.
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Culture Media↗
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The fine structure and function of the tentacle in Tokophrya infusionum.
The feeding apparatus of Suctoria consists of long, thin, stiff tubes called tentacles. When a swimming prey attaches to the tip of the tentacle a number of events follow in rapid succession. The tentacle broadens, a stream of tiny granules starts to move upward at its periphery to the tip, the prey becomes immobilized and shortly thereafter the cytoplasm of the still living prey begins to flow through the center of the tentacle to the body of the predator. An electron microscope study of the tentacle in Tokophrya infusionum, a protozoan of the subclass Suctoria, has disclosed a number of structural details which help to clarify some of the mechanisms involved in this unusual way of feeding. Each tentacle is composed of two concentric tubes. The lumen of the inner tube is surrounded by 49 tubular fibrils most probably of contractile nature. In the inner tube the cytoplasm of the prey is present during feeding, and in the outer tube are small dense bodies. It was found that the dense bodies originate in the cytoplasm of Tokophrya. They have an elongate, missile-like appearance, pointed at one end, rounded at the other, and are composed of several distinct segments. At the tip of the tentacle they penetrate the plasma membrane, with their pointed ends sticking out. It is assumed that the missile-like bodies play a major role in the feeding process. Their composite structure suggests that they might contain a number of enzymes which most probably are responsible for the various events preceding the actual food intake.
Ciliophora↗
Nuclear RNA accumulations contain released transcripts and exhibit specific distributions with respect to Sm antigen foci.
RNA polymerase II transcripts accumulate within mammalian nuclei at distinct sites and exhibit varying morphology. Certain RNA species are organized in elongated structures, whereas others appear as dot-like concentrations. To analyze the status of the RNA within these accumulations, we investigated the composition of accumulations derived from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genes, human papilloma virus 18 (HPV18) open reading frames E6 and E7, as well as heat shock protein 89a (hsp89alpha) and 89beta (hsp89beta) genes. No differential distribution of exon and intron sequences within concentrations of EBV RNA could be observed. Whereas accumulations of hsp89alpha and hsp89beta always coincided with Sm antigen foci, the RNA of EBV and HPV18 never co-localized with these foci. This excludes Sm antigen foci as the only sites of splicing and suggests gene-specific variation in the nuclear localization of transcripts. Two sets of experiments were performed to assess whether transcripts in the RNA accumulations are in statu nascendi or products released from a discrete gene locus. Because RNA transcripts derived from EBV genes, which are located on both ends of the genome, were all distributed along the entire length of the RNA signals, they cannot be derived from a highly decondensed genomic DNA extending throughout elongated RNA accumulations. Furthermore, removal of labeled RNA sequences and subsequent visualization of DNA confirmed the confinement of the genomic sequences to a small subregion of the area occupied by accumulated RNA. Therefore, this study supports the view of RNA accumulations as a stream of molecules that delineate a path from a dot-like gene locus toward the nuclear envelope for export into the cytoplasm.
Autoantigens↗
Regulatory signals and tissue interactions in the early hematopoietic cell differentiation in Xenopus laevis embryo.
Bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) has been shown as an essential factor in differentiation of the primitive blood cells in Xenopus laevis embryo. Organizer factors, in contrast, function as a negative regulator for the blood cell differentiation. Differentiation of both blood cells and muscle tissue are negatively regulated by the organizer activity. However, blood cells but not muscle tissue can differentiate in the organizer-depleted embryos produced by removal of vegetal cortex cytoplasm at the one-cell stage. Thus the blood cells are totally independent cells from the organizer activity. The down-stream target molecules of the BMP-4 signaling, such as vent-1/2 and msx-1/2 are the positive regulators for muscle tissue differentiation, whereas these factors do not promote blood cell formation. It has not yet been elucidated how the BMP-4 signaling promotes the differentiation of blood cells, but it is likely that transcription factors such as GATA-2, SCL, LMO-2, biklf and GATA-1 are at least involved in the initial blood program. Experiments using combined germ layer explants suggest that interaction between ectoderm and mesoderm at the gastrula stage is important for the blood cell formation in mesoderm. BMP-4 produced in the ectodermal cells is essential for this interaction. For understanding the whole program in the embryonic blood cell differentiation, it is important to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the tissue-tissue interaction, in addition to the analysis of the regulatory cascade that takes place in the mesodermal cells.
Animals↗
Identification of a 52-kDa molecule (p52) coprecipitated with the Ig receptor-related MB-1 protein that is inducibly phosphorylated by the stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate.
Triggering of the Ig receptor (IgR) induces the activation in multiple intracellular signal transduction reactions including protein tyrosine phosphorylation, activation of phospholipase C, increased inositoltriphosphate, increased diacylglycerol, intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, and activation of protein kinase C. The IgR-complex, composed of mu-chain, L chain, Ig-alpha (MB-1), and Ig-beta (B29) proteins, is a functional unit both for expression of IgR and for signal transduction into cells, possibly by physical association with the down-stream functional molecules. An important functional motif ((D or E)-X7-(D or E)-Y-X3-L-X7-Y-X2-(L or I)) in the cytoplasmic domain of MB-1 molecule was shown to bind with several phosphoprotein components including src-type tyrosine kinases and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase. To further study the functional components, we analyzed the phosphoprotein molecules coprecipitated with MB-1 protein. We found that a 52-kDa protein is coprecipitated with MB-1 protein and is inducibly phosphorylated by the stimulation with PMA. A rat mAb, prepared by immunizing the 52-kDa protein purified from SDS-PAGE, could detect the similar 52-kDa phosphoprotein (p52) expressed on the cell surface. In comparison with the 52-kDa protein in the immunoprecipitate of MB-1, the p52 migrated to the same position on 2-D gel electrophoresis (nonequilibrium pH gradient gel electrophoresis/SDS-PAGE). An in vitro kinase reaction analysis demonstrated that the p52 is tightly associated with the tyrosine kinase molecule(s), one of which is an 80-kDa protein containing an apparent autophosphorylation activity. These molecules would provide the informations of the down-stream molecules in the cascade reactions of the IgR-mediated signal transduction.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Fine structure of adrenal cortex in rats harbouring a medullary thyroid carcinoma transfected with a corticotrophin-releasing hormone cDNA expression vector.
We report the light microscopic, transmission and scanning electron microscopic features of the adrenal cortices in rats bearing a medullary thyroid carcinoma cell line transfected with a corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) cDNA expression vector. The animals had elevated CRH, ACTH and corticosterone blood levels, involuted thymuses and markedly enlarged adrenal glands with prominent lipid-depleted cortices and dilated congested capillaries, similar to those of animals treated with ACTH. Using electron microscopy it was found that the enlarged fasciculata and reticularis zones were composed of large, compact cells with abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum, prominent Golgi complexes, increased number of large mitochondria with focal loss of cristae and cavitation of the internal compartments, numerous lysosomes and prominent elongated microvilli. In addition, small cytoplasmic fragments were seen within the capillary lumina; these structures resembled microvilli that were apparently detached from adrenocortical cells and entered the blood stream via discontinuous endothelium of dilated capillaries. By scanning electron microscopy it was found that the cells had bulging surfaces with scattered pits and numerous long microvilli pointing in different directions. This animal model allows analysis of the effects of protracted CRH excess resembling tumoural CRH-dependent Cushing's syndrome in human patients. Our findings call attention to the role of microvilli in adrenocortical secretion. The increased number and size of microvilli has been thought to lead to an increase in the surface area of adrenocortical cells, thereby facilitating hormone discharge. The detachment of microvilli from adrenocortical cells may represent a form of apocrine secretion and may contribute to hypercorticosteronaemia in CRH excess.
Adrenal Cortex↗
Cytologic features of peripheral squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.
Cytologic features of 32 peripheral squamous cell carcinomas of the lung were reviewed. Fine needle aspiration biopsy and curettage showed most of the tumor cells to be arranged in irregular cell fragments consisting of relatively small cells with scanty cytoplasm. They possessed round to oval nuclei with coarsely granular chromatin, and some had large, prominent nucleoli. Keratinization was usually observed in small numbers of scattered cells, and a nuclear streaming arrangement was noted in some areas. When both keratinization and streaming arrangements were absent, correct subtyping was impossible (12 cases). These cytologic features were different from those of 31 hilar squamous cell carcinomas studied as controls; there many carcinoma cells showed keratinization, and small carcinoma cells were infrequent. However, in all cases, sputum cytology was correctly interpreted because squamous differentiation was easily recognized.
Adenocarcinoma↗
Cellular immunolocalization of occludin during embryonic and postnatal development of the mouse testis and epididymis.
Cellular junctions in the testis and epididymis play crucial roles for the development and maturation of spermatozoa. In the testis, tight junctions between Sertoli cells form a functional blood testis barrier between 10 and 16 days of age, whereas the tight junctional blood epididymal barrier between adjacent epithelial cells is formed between days 18 and 21. In the present study, occludin, a constituent integral membrane protein of tight junctions, was localized by immunofluorescent confocal microscopy in embryonic (days 13.5-18.5), postnatal (days 5-23) and adult (day 70) mouse testes and epididymides to correlate its expression with the onset of tight junctions and eventual formation of these barriers. At embryonic days 13.5 and 16.5, low diffuse cytoplasmic levels of occludin were observed in cells of the testicular cords. By embryonic day 18.5, the level of occludin was still low but appeared as a filiform-like network streaming toward the center of the cord. At postnatal days 5 and 7 immunostaining became more intense and appeared to outline the periphery of Sertoli cells of seminiferous tubules. Postnatal day 14 marked the appearance of an intense, focal band-like localization of occludin at the base of the tubules, correlating with the appearance of a functional blood-testis barrier. By day 23 and in adults, expression of occludin was noted at the base of the tubule appearing as intense, wavy, discontinuous bands similar in appearance irrespective of the stage of the seminiferous epithelium cycle. In the developing epididymis, intense cytoplasmic immunostaining was present in epithelial cells of many epididymal tubules at embryonic day 13.5. By embryonic day 16.5, intense occludin immunostaining appeared along the lateral plasma membranes of epithelial cells, whereas at embryonic day 18.5, immunostaining was punctate and apically located, suggesting the presence of tight junctions by this age; similar immunostaining was noted at postnatal days 5 and 7. In the adult epididymis, distinct punctate apical staining was observed between adjacent principal cells of all epididymal regions except the proximal initial segment, where occludin was found only in association with narrow cells. These results indicate that in the epididymis, the appearance of occludin at apical sites between adjacent epithelial cells occurs during embryonic development suggesting that tight junctions form earlier than in the testis. While occludin was expressed in a similar pattern between Sertoli cells at all stages of the cycle in the adult testis, its expression in the adult epididymis was cell- and region-specific. Taken together these data suggest that different factors regulate occludin expression in the testis and epididymis.
Aging↗
[Functional morphology of gastrin-producing cells in different phases of periodic gastric activity in dogs].
Gastrin producing cells of mucosal stomach antrum have been studied in different phases of periodical stomach activity and starvation. It has been established that functional morphology of gastrin producing cells were variable in different phases of stomach activity that coincides with the levels of gastrin in systemic blood stream.
Animals↗
[The phenomenon of the accumulation of biological and nonbiological corpuscular particles in mammalian lungs].
When injecting yeast, staphylococcus, polyacrolein microspheres, 3 microns in diameter, into the blood stream of white common rats, it was found that these tend to accumulate in the lumen of pulmonary capillaries, being disposed there in the cytoplasm of macrophages and neutrophils.
Acrolein↗
Active movement in vitro of bundle of microfilaments isolated from Nitella cell.
Subcortical fibrils composed of bundles of F-actin filaments and endoplasmic filaments are responsible for endoplasmic streaming. It is reported here that these fibrils and filaments move actively in an artificial medium containing Mg-ATP and sucrose at neutral pH, when the medium was added to the cytoplasm squeezed out of the cell. The movement was observed by phase-contrast microscopy or dark-field microscopy and recorded on 16-mm film. Chains of chloroplasts linked by subcortical fibrils showed translational movement in the medium. Even after all chloroplasts and the endoplasm were washed away by perfusion with fresh medium, free fibrils and/or filaments (henceforth, referred to as fibers) not attached to chloroplasts continued travelling in the direction of the fiber orientation. Sometimes the fibers formed rings and rotated. Chloroplast chains and free fibers or rings continued moving for 5-30 min at about half the rate of the endoplasmic streaming in vivo. Calcium ion concentrations < 10(-7) M permitted movement to take place. Electron microscopy revealed that both fibers and rings were bundles of F-actin filaments that showed the same polarity after decoration with heavy meromyosin.
Adenosine Triphosphate↗
Identification of the cohesion molecule, contact sites B, of Dictyostelium discoideum.
Polyspecific antibodies were raised against vegetative cells of Dictyostelium discoideum, strain Ax2. Monovalent (Fab') fragments of antibodies CMC 1, 5, 7 and 12 blocked completely the cohesion of vegetative cells. Antibody CMC 1 was studied in detail. The Fab' of this blocked the cohesion of aggregation-competent cells by 40%. It also caused some loss of cell contact in aggregation streams. In so doing the contacts that remained were mostly at the ends of the cells. Immunofluorescence showed that CMC 1 Fab' bound to both the cytoplasm and the surface of fixed cells. It also bound to the surface of live cells. A control (N Fab') also bound to the cell surface but did not block vegetative cell cohesion. An extract of vegetative cells was obtained using the detergent Triton X-100. D. discoideum proteins were immunoprecipitated from this extract using protein A-Sepharose and CMC 1 immunoglobulin G (IgG). These immobilized proteins absorbed the cohesion-blocking activity of CMC 1 Fab'. About 30 proteins were obtained when the Triton-soluble fraction was immunoprecipitated with IgG of CMC 1, 5, 7 and 12. Five of these were found to be cell surface proteins by the technique of lactoperoxidase-catalysed radio-iodination. These proteins had molecular weights of 178 000, 166 000, 126 000 and 64 000. CMC 12 IgG immunoprecipitated an additional cell surface protein of 46 000 molecular weight. Slices of polyacrylamide gel containing each of the five proteins identified as possible contact sites were fixed, washed and incubated with CMC 1 Fab'. Gel that contained protein of 178 000, 166 000 and 64 000 molecular weight had no effect on the activity of CMC 1 Fab'. However, Fab' that had been incubated with gel containing protein of 126 000 molecular weight no longer blocked cell cohesion.
Dictyostelium↗
Catecholaminergic phenotype of human Leydig cells.
Catecholamines are neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of testicular function and they activate the Leydig cell receptors. To assess whether the two key-enzymes involved in the synthesis of catecholamines are present in human testis we examined the expression of Tirosine Hydroxylase (TH) and Dopamine-beta-Hydroxylase (DBH) antigens by immunoperoxidase and immunofluorescence techniques. Sections from testicular biopsies of adult and infant patients were processed by two antibodies. In all specimens Leydig cells stain positively. Differences in the staining positivity among single Leydig cells and among cell groups as well as among Leydig cells from different patients were noted. In some of the reactions a small number of Leydig cells was negative. Most of the immunoreactivity is evenly distributed within the cytoplasm of the Leydig cells. We suggest that the heterogeneous expression among Leydig cells could be correlated to their different metabolic activity. Our observations show a local intratesticular source of catecholamines which, in concert with nervous and blood-stream sources, could be involved in the spermatogenesis regulation. In particular, during psychogenic or somatic stress situations also the local catecholamine production by autocrine and/or paracrine mechanism could contribute to the high concentration of catecholamines and to suppression of the testicular functions.
Adult↗
[The circulatory bed of the human uterine tube].
By means of combined morphological methods blood vessels have been studied in 54 uterine tubes of child-birth women. The main pathways for carrying and distribution of blood to corresponding parts of the tube are sector arteries. They are situated in the subserous tela along the anterior and posterior semicircles of the organ. The microcirculatory bed (MCB) of the uterine tube is presented by serous, subserous, muscular and mucosal plexuses. The MCB of the serous tunic is characterized by vascular compositions--modules. Angioarchitectonics of the mucosal tunic is determined with differences in vascularization of complex and simple folds. Organospecific for small arteries and veins of the tubes is presence of vascular mechanisms, regulating the blood stream (intimal cushions, muscular-elastic constrictors, valves and others). Blood capillaries of the mucosal tunic possess a number of ultrastructural peculiarities: thickened peripheral part of endotheliocyte cytoplasm, that contains fenestrae; wide continuous basal membrane with pericytes in its duplication; three types of pericytic-endothelial contacts etc.
Adult↗
Endoplasmic veins from plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum: a new strand model defined age, structure, and behavior.
Pure endoplasm from plasmodia of Physarum polycephalum taken up into glass pipettes and subsequently extruded into water forms a long protoplasmic cylinder uniform in diameter, which is designated as an "endoplasmic vein". This new experimentally obtained model has proven advantageous for tensiometric investigation of contraction activity. During the process of aging, this model undergoes processes of 1. actin transformations, 2. cytoplasmic actomyosin fibrillogenesis and 3. development of a new plasmalemma invagination system. Within approximately 20 min the newly formed plasmalemma invaginations delimit an endoplasmic channel and shuttle streaming along the longitudinal axis appears in the artificially generated protoplasmic strands. The geometrical shape of this strand model permits unidirectional tensiometric measurements of contractile and mechanical properties of the endoplasm during the early stages of its transformation to an ectoplasmic tube. Tensiometric and morphologic observations reveal that the process of actomyosin fibrillogenesis in the early stage of development of endoplasmic veins is temporally correlated with an increase in the force output under isometric conditions of tensiometric measurement. Young's modulus, which represents mechanical properties of the model (0.8-1.4 X 10(5) dyne/cm2), is in the range of values observed in normal isolated protoplasmic strands. The advantages of the new model for the investigation of cyclic contraction behaviour are discussed.
Actins↗
Reorganization of the cytoskeleton during Drosophila oogenesis: implications for axis specification and intercellular transport.
Inhibitor studies have implicated microtubules in at least three important developmental processes during Drosophila oogenesis: oocyte determination and growth during stages 1 through 6, positioning of the anterior determinant bicoid mRNA during stages 9 through 12, and ooplasmic streaming during stages 10b through 12. We have used fluorescence cytochemistry together with laser scanning confocal microscopy to identify distinct microtubule structures at each of the above three periods that are likely to be involved in these processes. During stages 1 through 7, maternal components synthesized in nurse cells are transported through cytoplasmic bridges to the oocyte. At this time, microtubules that appear to originate in the oocyte pass through these cytoplasmic bridges into the adjacent nurse cells; these microtubules are likely to serve as a polarized scaffold on which maternal RNAs and proteins are transported. During stages 7 and 8, microtubules in the oocyte cortex reorganize to form an anterior-to-posterior gradient, suggesting a role for microtubules in the localization of morphogenetic determinants. Finally, when ooplasmic streaming begins during stage 10 b, it is accompanied by the assembly of subsurface microtubule arrays that spiral around the oocyte; these arrays disassemble as the oocyte matures and streaming stops. During ooplasmic streaming, many vesicles are closely associated with the subsurface microtubules, suggesting that streaming is driven by vesicle translocation along microtubules. We believe that actin plays a secondary role in each of these morphogenetic events, based on our parallel studies of actin organization during each of the above stages of oogenesis.
Actins↗
Nuclear diacylglycerol kinase-theta is activated in response to nerve growth factor stimulation of PC12 cells.
Previous evidence from independent laboratories has shown that the nucleus contains diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) isoforms, i.e., the enzymes, which yield phosphatidic acid from diacylglycerol, thus terminating protein kinase C-mediated signaling events. A DGK isoform, which resides in the nucleus of PC12 cells, is DGK-theta. Here, we show that nerve growth factor (NGF) treatment of serum-starved PC12 cells results in the stimulation of both a cytoplasmic and a nuclear DGK activity. However, time course analysis shows that cytoplasmic DGK activity peaked earlier than its nuclear counterpart. While nuclear DGK activity was dramatically down-regulated by a monoclonal antibody known for selectively inhibiting DGK-theta, cytoplasmic DGK activity was not. Moreover, nuclear DGK activity was stimulated by phosphatidylserine, an anionic phospholipid that had no effect on cytoplasmic DGK activity. Upon NGF stimulation, the amount and the activity of DGK-theta, which was bound to the insoluble nuclear matrix fraction, substantially increased. Epidermal growth factor up-regulated a nuclear DGK activity insensitive to anti-DGK-theta monoclonal antibody. Overall, our findings identify nuclear DGK-theta as a down-stream target of NGF signaling in PC12 cells.
Animals↗
Spindle epithelial tumor with thymus-like differentiation (SETTLE) of the thyroid.
BACKGROUND: Tumors of the so-called intrathyroidal epithelial thymoma type are a rare group of thyroid neoplasm tumors. Of this type of tumor, spindle epithelial tumor with thymus like differentiation (SETTLE) has been reported only 17 times in English literature. METHODS: An 18-year-old woman was initially seen with a 6-cm left thyroid mass that was resected with a left thyroidectomy. Histopathologic features of the excised left thyroid tumor together with an immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy led us to a diagnosis of SETTLE. RESULTS: Most of the specimen was composed of highly cellular spindle cells that formed intersecting and streaming fascicles. The spindle cells showed both vimentin immunoreactivity and cytokeratin immunoreactivity but no immunoreactivity for thyroglobulin or calcitonin. Electron microscopic examination of the spindle cells demonstrated prominent cytoplasmic tonofilaments, desmosomes, and basal lamina consistent with epithelial cell origin. DNA content analysis by flow cytometry revealed DNA diploidy. CONCLUSIONS: SETTLE of thyroid gland is an extremely rare entity. A review of the literature reveals that SETTLE has distinctive morphologic features and an immunohistochemical profile.
Adolescent↗