bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Isolation of a sea urchin egg kinesin-related protein using peptide antibodies
Authors: Cole Douglas G. , Cande W. Zacheus , Baskin Ronald J. , Skoufias Dimitrios A. , Hogan Christopher J. , Scholey Jonathan M. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
To understand the roles of kinesin and its relatives in cell division, it is necessary to identify and characterize multiple members of the kinesin superfamily from mitotic cells. To this end we have raised antisera to peptides corresponding to highly conserved regions of the motor domains of several known members of the kinesin superfamily. These peptide antibodies react specifically with the motor domains of kinesin and ncd protein, as expected, and they also react with several polypeptides (including kinesin heavy chain) that cosediment with microtubules (MTs) precipitated from AMPPNP-treated sea urchin egg cytosol. Subsequent fractionation of ATP eluates of these MTs yields a protein of relative molecular mass 330 ×10a that behaves as a complex of three polypeptides that are distinct from conventional kinesin subunits or fragments thereof. This complex contains 85 kDa and 95 kDa polypeptides, which react with our peptide antibodies, and a 115 kDa polypeptide, which does not. This triplet of polypeptides, which we refer to as KRP(85/95), binds to purified sea urchin egg tubulin in an AMPPNP-enhanced, ATP-sensitive manner and induces the formation of microtubule bundles. We therefore propose that the triplet corresponds to a novel sea urchin egg kinesin-related protein.
Salt-stable interaction of the amino-terminal head region of vimentin with the α-helical rod domain of cytoplasmic intermediate filament proteins and its relevance to protofilament structure and filament formation and stability
Authors: Traub P. , Scherbarth A. , Wiegers W. , Shoeman R. L. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Previous studies have shown that the non-a-helical, amino-terminal head region of vimentin is essential for the formation and stability of vimentin intermediate filaments (IFs). In order to specify its target site on companion protein subunits, it was cut off from vimentin at amino acid position 96 with lysine-specific endoproteinase and allowed to react with intact vimentin and other IF proteins. In solution of high salt concentration (500 mM KCl), the isolated polypeptide (vim NT) showed a high affinity for all cytoplasmic IF proteins tested, but not for nuclear lamins. Employing limited digestion of the IF proteins with different proteinases, the binding site was shown to reside in their a-helical rod domains. Other polypeptides possessing a-helical regions with the potential to form coiled-coil structures like tropomyosin and myosin subfragment 2 did not react with vim NT. The binding to IF proteins was strongly inhibited by phosphorylation of vim NT and totally abolished in the presence of 200 mM arginine hydrochloride, whereas the same concentration of lysine hydrochloride was ineffective. Limited chymotryptic digestion of vim NT produced polypeptides that were unable to react with the a-helical region of vimentin at high salt concentration. Consistent with these observations, vim NT strongly inhibited filament formation in vitro from protofilamentous vimentin. A 14-mer oligo peptide comprising the amino acids 3 to 16 of the amino terminus also inhibited filament formation, though to a lesser extent. Conversely, vim NT and, with a lower efficiency, the 14-mer oligopeptide also severely affected the structure of preformed vimentin filaments by unraveling them. Phosphorylated vim NT was considerably less active in this respect. Further digestion of the rod domain of vimentin with chymotrypsin yielded 17.4 and 21 kDa polypeptides, which were tentatively characterized as originating from the carboxy- and amino-terminal half of the rod domain, respectively. Both formed salt-stable complexes with vim NT, the smaller polypeptide with a higher efficiency than the larger one. These results suggest that the staggered, antiparallel arrangement of the two coiled-coils in the protofilaments of IF proteins is, at least in part, determined by the twofold, symmetrical association of the amino-terminal head regions of one coiled-coil rope structure with the carboxy-terminal halves of the a-helical rod domains of the other coiled-coil and that similar interactions occur during filament assembly and in the intact filament.
α-Actinin and vinculin in human neutrophils: reorganization during adhesion and relation to the actin network
Authors: Yürüker Banu , Niggli Verena 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
We have studied the reorganization of vinculin and α-actinin during the process of adhesion in human neutrophils using immunofluorescence microscopy and interference reflection microscopy (IRM). Neutrophils in contact with uncoated glass formed black IRM areas in the cell periphery, indicative of very close contact with the substratum. Eight to twelve minutes after addition of cells to glass, vinculin was found to become concentrated in small patches at the cell periphery, partially colocalizing with the black IRM areas and with small F-actin-containing adherent protrusions. In contrast, vinculin was not significantly enriched in the less adherent Factin-rich large pseudopods. α-Actinin became enriched during cell adhesion in retraction fibers and, in 40-50% of the inspected cells, also in large less adherent pseudopods where it colocalized with F-actin. The latter finding suggests a continuous dynamic reorganization of pseudopods, with incorporation of α-Actinin at a certain stage.
Disruption of the actin network with cytochalasin D revealed a differential interaction of α-Actinin and vinculin with the actin network. α-Actinin was strongly influenced by cytochalasin D, comparable to F-actin, and both proteins formed colocalizing peripheral caps in 10−5 M of the drug. Vinculin organization in contrast was not affected by up to 10−6 M cytochalasin. At 10−5 M of the drug, however, the patches disappeared completely, vinculin now assuming a diffuse cytoplasmic location. Our results suggest a specialized function of vinculin in adhesion sites of human neutrophils, whereas α-Actinin may structure the actin network in retraction fibers and in less adherent pseudopods.
Localised application of an activating signal to a cell: experimental use of fibronectin bound to beads and the implications for mechanisms of adhesion
Authors: Curtis A. S. G. , Mcgrath Mike , Gasmi Lakdar 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Small beads derivatised with fibronectin or with bovine serum albumin are allowed to attach to BHK cells in suspension at low ratios of beads to cells. In this way populations of cells bearing predominantly one bead per cell can be prepared. We show that the attachment of one bead per cell affects the adhesion and spreading of that cell on substrata, raising adhesion and increasing spreading if the signal molecule is fibronectin, decreasing these quantities if the bead bears BSA. The experiments are conducted in the absence of other sources of exogenous fibronectin and in some cases in the additional absence of endogenous sources. The effects are especially marked if the substratum is adsorbed haemoglobin on which control cells show little attachment or spreading. We further show by interference reflection microscopy and by scanning electron microscopy that the beads are found on the non-adhering side (uppermost or outer) of the cell when fibronectin-bearing beads are used, presumably because fibronectin will not attach to haemoglobin. The increased adhesion and spreading found in such cases must be attributed to an activation produced by the bead, which spreads to other parts of the cell and which activates a fibronectin-independent mode of adhesion.
Redistribution and differential extraction of soluble proteins in permeabilized cultured cells Implications for immunofluorescence microscopy
Authors: Melan Melissa A. , Sluder Greenfield 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Immunofluorescence microscopy is widely used to characterize the cellular distribution of both soluble and structural proteins. Control experiments generally address only the specificity of the antibodies used. The permeabilization/fixation conditions used to prepare cells for antibody application are assumed to preserve faithfully the in vivo distibutions of the protein(s) being examined. We systematically tested the extent to which soluble proteins are redistributed into inappropriate locations and are differentially extracted from native locations during the permeabilization and fixation of the cells before antibody application. We separately introduce six soluble FITC-coiyugated proteins of different net charges and sizes into living cultured cells. The labeled proteins do not adhere to the external surfaces of living cells and are evenly distributed throughout the cytoplasm with the larger proteins being excluded from the nucleus. The cells are then prepared as if for immunofluorescence using several conditions that encompass many of the methods commonly used for this purpose. Cells permeabilized with 0.1-0.2% Triton X100 before fixation with 3.7% paraformaldehyde show a striking localization of all but one of the test proteins to the nucleus and/or nucleoli of 60-80% of labeled cells. Punctate cytoplasmic labeling and cytoskeletal-like arrays of labeled protein are also observed. Extraction with 1% detergent prior to fixation removes most but not always all of the exogenous proteins from the cell remnants. Permeabilization of cells with 0.1% detergent after paraformaldehyde fixation leaves a reticular, uneven cytoplasmic distribution of the labeled proteins, and some of the larger proteins are redistributed to the nuclei. Direct fixation/permeabilization with −20°C methanol largely preserves the in vivo distributions of fluorescent proteins with some preferential localization of these proteins to nuclei, nucleoli and the perinuclear region. These results show that misleading apparent localizations of soluble proteins can result from their redistribution and/or differential extraction during the preparation of cells for primary antibody application.
Different patterns of rDNA organization at interphase in nuclei of wheat and rye
Authors: Leitch A. R. , Öller W. Mosg , Shi M. , Heslop-Harrison J. S. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
The physical location of the rDNA repeating units (25 S, 18 S and 5.8 S rRNA genes and the intergenic spacer sequences) was investigated in rye (Secale cereale L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) root tip meristematic cells by in situ hybridization using light and electron microscopy. The rDNA sequences are organized differently in the two related and intercrossable species. In rye (2n=14, one pair of chromosomes with nucleolar organizing regions, NORs), two condensed blocks of rDNA-containing chromatin occurred in each interphase nucleus. The blocks were associated with the periphery of nucleoli and a single-labelled, decondensed rDNA fibre extended into the nucleolus from the block. We term this expression pattern terminal decondensation. In wheat (2n=6× =42, five pairs of chromosomes with NORs), inactive condensed labelled chromatin was found unassociated with nucleoli. Active NORs had some condensed rDNA associated with the nucleolar periphery, but, in contrast to rye, condensed rDNA was also found within the nucleolus. The condensed labelled rDNA in wheat nucleoli was visible as fluorescent foci in the light microscope and labelled condensed chromatin in the electron microscope. Its absence in rye shows that condensed rDNA need not be present in active plant nucleoli. Diffuse labelled sites of rDNA, likely to represent actively transcribed rDNA, were found in both rye and wheat. Active rDNA loci in wheat have many expressed segments separated by unexpressed, condensed, rDNA - fragmented decondensation - while each locus in rye has a single, unexpressed perinucleolar condensed block of rRNA genes. Thus the positions of actively transcribed genes within the tandem arrays of rDNA at each locus are fundamentally different in the two cereals. The NOR chromosome appeared to extend through the nucleolus, and active rDNA sequences did not loop out from chromatin into the nucleolus as is frequently described in nucleolar models.
A novel structure associated with a lampbrush chromosome in the chicken, Gallus domesticus
Authors: Solovei Irina , Gaginskaya Elena , Allen Terry , Macgregor Herbert 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
At a site near the end of the short arms of lampbrush bivalent 2 in the chicken (Gallus domesticus) there is always a marker structure that appears in the phasecontrast light microscope as a solid object with diffuse edges measuring about 4 μm across. When examined by transmission electron microscopy in thin section, this object appears as a loose bundle of fibres. In some preparations individual fibres appear 15–16 nm thick, smooth in outline and solid in cross-section. In other preparations they are 32-38 nm thick, rougher in outline and ring-like in cross-section. High-resolution scanning electron micrographs of the chromosome 2 marker show it to be a loose bundle of spaghetti-like fibres that is quite unlike anything previously seen on a lampbrush chromosome of any organism. As with the sectioned material, fibres in some preparations were smooth and 15-16 nm in diameter, whereas those in others were more knobbly and about 35 nm thick. The fibres appear to branch and in some cases it is clear that the daughter strands of a branch have the same dimensions as the parent strand. Free ends are rare. Total length of fibre material present at one marker locus is estimated to be between 500 and 2000 μm. Similar structures are not present on the lampbrush chromosomes of quail, wood pigeon or chaffinch.
The nature of this fibrous marker, referred to in this paper as the “spaghetti marker”, is discussed in relation to lampbrush chromosome function and to events that take place during the lampbrush phase of oogenesis in chicken. Evidence is discussed in relation to the possibility that the chromosome 2 marker represents a novel form of nuclear RNP or the specific association of some structural protein with one chromosome locus.
Co-expression of insulin and somatostatin genes in pancreatic endocrine cells selected for their high level of insulin gene transcription
Authors: Saulnier-Michel Catherine , Fromont-Racine Micheline , Pictet Raymond 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
RW cells are pancreatic endocrine RIN cells that have been stably transfected with a chimeric gene that places the expression of the dominant selection gpt gene under the control of the insulin gene regulatory sequences. These RW cells were examined for hormone content using immunocytochemistry. This analysis shows that: first, there are cells that are negative for insulin although they were cultured under selective pressure. Second, there is a higher proportion of somatostatin-producing cells than in the parental RIN cells; these somatostatin cells form two populations: one of cells containing only somatostatin and, surprisingly, one made of cells containing both insulin and somatostatin. Thus: (1) expression of the transfected and endogenous insulin regulatory sequences is not regulated in a coordinate fashion; (2) the presence of both hormones in the same cell suggests that the regulation of the expression of insulin and somatostatin genes and the differentiation pathway of the two respective cell types may be closely related.
Evidence for a non-tubulin spindle matrix and for spindle components immunologically related to tektin filaments
Authors: Steffen Walter , Linck Richard W. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Tektins were originally described as a set of three filamentous proteins (tektin A, B and C) associated with the walls of axonemal microtubules of sea urchin sperm. Using affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies raised against tektins of two sea urchin species, Lytechinus pictus and Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, we looked for tektin-like components in microtubule systems other than axonemes. By immunofluorescence microscopy we observed labeling of meiotic spindles in eggs of the surf clam Spisula solidissima and in several mammalian cell lines. In Spisula eggs the tektin-like antigens were still associated with the spindles after about 95% of the tubulin had been removed via a calcium/cold treatment. In pig kidney epithelial cells the tektin-like antigen appeared to be associated with bundles of calcium-stable spindle microtubules. By SDS-PAGE immunoblot the affinity-purified anti-tektins recognized several polypeptides in tubulin-depleted spindle remnants of Spisula eggs: A ˜52 kDa, 1 M KCl-resistant component was identified by the antibody raised against tektin C from S. purpuratus, a ˜48 kDa component was recognized by the antibody specific for tektin A from L. pictus, and three polypeptide bands (˜64 kDa, ˜100 kDa and &gt;200 kDa) were detected by the antibody specific for tektin C from L. pictus. Only the latter antibody, however, stained Spisula spindles by immunofluorescence microscopy. We further report that the sensitivity of antibody recognition of proteins on immunoblots is dependent on the purity of sodium dodecyl sulfate.
Structure and macromolecular assembly of two isoforms of the major sperm protein (MSP) from the amoeboid sperm of the nematode, Ascaris suum
Authors: King Karen L. , Stewart Murray , Roberts Thomas M. , Seavy Margaret 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Ascaris sperm are amoeboid cells that crawl by extending pseudopods. Although amoeboid motility is generally mediated through an actin-based cytoskeleton, Ascaris sperm lack this system. Instead, their major sperm protein (MSP) forms an extensive filament system that appears to fulfil this function. Because their motility appears to be essentially the same as that of their actin-rich counterparts, Ascaris sperm offer a simple alternative system for investigation of the molecular mechanism of amoeboid movement. To examine the structure and composition of the cytoskeleton, we stabilized the extremely labile native MSP filaments by detergent lysis of sperm in the presence of either glutaraldehyde or polyethylene glycol (PEG). Biochemical analysis showed that the cytoskeleton contained two isoforms of MSP, designated α- and β-, that we purified and sequenced. Both contain 126 amino acids and have an acetylated N-terminal alanine, but differ at four residues so that α- MSP is 142 Da larger and 0.6 pH unit more basic than β-MSP. Neither isoform shares sequence homology with other cytoskeletal proteins. In ethanol, 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD), and other water-miscible alcohols each isoform assembled into filaments 10 nm wide with a characteristic substructure repeating axially at 9 nm. These filaments were indistinguishable from native fibers isolated from detergent-lysed sperm. Pelleting assays indicated a critical concentration for assembly of 0.2 mM for both isoforms in 30% ethanol, but α-MSP formed filaments at lower solvent concentration than β-MSP. When incubated in polyethylene glycol, both isoforms formed thin, needle-shaped crystals that appeared to be constructed from helical fibers, with a 9 nm axial repeat that matched that seen in isolated filaments. These crystals probably contained a parallel array of helical filaments, and may enable both the structure of MSP molecules and their mode of assembly into higher aggregates to be investigated to high resolution.
Initiation of HeLa cell adhesion to collagen is dependent upon collagen receptor upregulation, segregation to the basal plasma membrane, clustering and binding to the cytoskeleton
Authors: Lu Michael L. , McCarron Richard J. , Jacobson Bruce S. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
It was recently reported that HeLa cells have three Arg-Gly-Asp-dependent collagen receptors that do not appear to be in the integrin family of extracellular matrix receptors and bind to either type I or IV collagen or to type I gelatin. It was our goal to determine how these receptors function in HeLa cell-substratum adhesion. We report here that the sequence of events by which the receptors mediate adhesion to collagen or gelatin is: (1) induction of cell attachment by specific collagen receptor-substratum interactions with culture dishes covalently coated with either type I collagen or gelatin - attachment is inhibited by soluble gelatin; (2) stabilization of attachment by exocytotic upregulation of the receptors to the basal plasma membrane, which was demonstrated by analyzing, during cell adhesion, the redistribution of the collagen receptors among the apical plasma membrane exposed to the culture medium, the basal plasma membrane contacting the culture dish, and an intracellular pool of plasma membrane vesicles; (3) the initiation of cell spreading by receptor clustering and cytoskeletal association. Cell spreading is a threshold effect with regard to the surface concentration of gelatin, indicating that collagen receptor clustering is a precondition to the onset of spreading. Observations consistent with this interpretation of the threshold effect are that cells attach but spread more slowly on a substratum that retards receptor clustering, and that collagen receptors, when viewed by immunofluorescence microscopy, form a punctate pattern of fluorescence in the basal plasma membrane during cell spreading. It is also shown that more collagen receptors co-isolate with nondenaturing detergent-stable cytoskeletal preparations after the collagen receptors have been either clustered by antibodies or gelatin in solution, or by a collagen matrix. This indicates that clustering drives the receptors to bind to the cytoskeleton and is a necessary step in the transition from cell attachment to cell spreading.
HeLa cells extend and internalize pseudopodia during active invasion by Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes
Authors: Schenkman Sergio , Mortara Renato A. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
We show here that HeLa cell microfilaments can be stained by phalloidin at the sites of invasion of Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes, one of the infective stages of this protozoan parasite. Concurrently, a projection of the HeLa cell plasmalemma encircles invading parasites. This plasmalemma projection is further internalized and entire membrane protrusions containing parasites are found within cytoplasmic vacuoles of the host cell. Neither the microfilament staining around invading parasites nor the plasmalemma extension is inhibited by cytochalasin D, a drug that is unable to prevent trypomastigote entry into HeLa cells. The internalization of the membrane expansion, however, is blocked by the drug. These novel observations indicate that although the driving force for T. cruzi penetration comes from the parasite, the cortical target cytoskeleton of the target cell is concomitantly modified. The molecular characterization of this phenomenon may provide a new insight into the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the active penetration of T. cruzi into mammalian cells.