scholarly journals Nucleoplasmic organization of small nuclear ribonucleoproteins in cultured human cells.

1993 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
A G Matera ◽  
D C Ward

The organization of eight small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (the U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6 RNAs previously studied by others and three additional snRNAs, U11, U12, and 7SK) has been investigated in cultured human cells by fluorescence in situ hybridization with antisense DNA and 2'-O-Me RNA oligonucleotides. Using highly sensitive digital imaging microscopy we demonstrate that all of these snRNAs are widespread throughout the nucleoplasm, but they are excluded from the nucleoli. In addition, the U2, U4, U5, U6, and U12 snRNAs are concentrated in discrete nuclear foci, known as coiled bodies, but U1 and 7SK are not. In addition to coiled bodies, a classic speckled pattern was observed in the nucleoplasm of monolayer-grown HeLa cells, whereas suspension-grown HeLa cells revealed a more diffuse nucleoplasmic labeling. Immunofluorescence staining using various snRNP-specific antisera shows complete agreement with that of their antisense snRNA oligonucleotide counterparts. Although U2 RNA is concentrated in coiled bodies, quantitation of the fluorescence signals from the U2 antisense probe reveals that the bulk of the U2 snRNP is located in the nucleoplasm. Furthermore, simultaneous visualization of the U2 snRNAs and the tandemly repeated U2 genes demonstrates that coiled bodies are not the sites of U2 transcription.

1996 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 1137-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Rebelo ◽  
F Almeida ◽  
C Ramos ◽  
K Bohmann ◽  
A I Lamond ◽  
...  

The coiled body is a specific intranuclear structure of unknown function that is enriched in splicing small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs). Because adenoviruses make use of the host cell-splicing machinery and subvert the normal subnuclear organization, we initially decided to investigate the effect of adenovirus infection on the coiled body. The results indicate that adenovirus infection induces the disassembly of coiled bodies and that this effect is probably secondary to the block of host protein synthesis induced by the virus. Furthermore, coiled bodies are shown to be very labile structures, with a half-life of approximately 2 h after treatment of HeLa cells with protein synthesis inhibitors. After blocking of protein synthesis, p80 coilin was detected in numerous microfoci that do not concentrate snRNP. These structures may represent precursor forms of the coiled body, which goes through a rapid cycle of assembly/disassembly in the nucleus and requires ongoing protein synthesis to reassemble.


1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 468-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Richard McIntosh ◽  
Story C. Landis

WI-38 and HeLa cells in mitosis have been selected from fixed monolayer cultures and serially sectioned for electron microscopy. Sections perpendicular to the spindle axis permit counting of the number of microtubules at each position on the spindle axis and hence the preparation of tubule distribution profiles. Errors intrinsic to this method are discussed. The changes in the tubule distributions from one mitotic stage to another provide evidence concerning the behavior of the spindle tubules during mitosis. The ratio of the number of tubules passing the chromosomes on the metaphase plate to the maximum number in each half spindle is about 1/2. This ratio changes little in early anaphase, and then decreases in late anaphase at about the same time that a zone of increased tubule number develops at the middle of the interzone. The region where the stem bodies form contains about 3/2 the number of tubules seen elsewhere in the interzone. This ratio is almost constant as the mid-body forms in telophase and then increases to 2/1 in early interphase before the final stages of cytokinesis occur.


2019 ◽  
Vol 167 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azusa Ota ◽  
Takaya Ishihara ◽  
Naotada Ishihara

Abstract Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that frequently divide and fuse with each other. The dynamin-related GTPase protein Drp1 has a key role in mitochondrial fission. To analyse the physiological roles of Drp1 in cultured human cells, we analysed Drp1-deficient HeLa cells established by genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9. Under fluorescent microscopy, not only mitochondria were elongated but their DNA (mtDNA) nucleoids were extremely enlarged in bulb-like mitochondrial structures (‘mito-bulbs’) in the Drp1-deficient HeLa cells. We further found that respiratory activity, as measured by oxygen consumption rates, was severely repressed in Drp1-deficient HeLa cells and that this was reversible by the co-repression of mitochondrial fusion factors. Although mtDNA copy number was not affected, several respiratory subunits were repressed in Drp1-deficient HeLa cells. These results suggest that mitochondrial fission is required for the maintenance of active respiratory activity and the morphology of mtDNA nucleoids in human cells.


Author(s):  
E. S. Boatman ◽  
G. E. Kenny

Information concerning the morphology and replication of organism of the family Mycoplasmataceae remains, despite over 70 years of study, highly controversial. Due to their small size observations by light microscopy have not been rewarding. Furthermore, not only are these organisms extremely pleomorphic but their morphology also changes according to growth phase. This study deals with the morphological aspects of M. pneumoniae strain 3546 in relation to growth, interaction with HeLa cells and possible mechanisms of replication.The organisms were grown aerobically at 37°C in a soy peptone yeast dialysate medium supplemented with 12% gamma-globulin free horse serum. The medium was buffered at pH 7.3 with TES [N-tris (hyroxymethyl) methyl-2-aminoethane sulfonic acid] at 10mM concentration. The inoculum, an actively growing culture, was filtered through a 0.5 μm polycarbonate “nuclepore” filter to prevent transfer of all but the smallest aggregates. Growth was assessed at specific periods by colony counts and 800 ml samples of organisms were fixed in situ with 2.5% glutaraldehyde for 3 hrs. at 4°C. Washed cells for sectioning were post-fixed in 0.8% OSO4 in veronal-acetate buffer pH 6.1 for 1 hr. at 21°C. HeLa cells were infected with a filtered inoculum of M. pneumoniae and incubated for 9 days in Leighton tubes with coverslips. The cells were then removed and processed for electron microscopy.


2002 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei-Ichi Hirai ◽  
Jie-Hong Pan ◽  
Ying-Bo Shui ◽  
Eriko Simamura ◽  
Hiroki Shimada ◽  
...  

The possible protection of cultured human cells from acute dioxin injury by antioxidants was investigated. The most potent dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), caused vacuolization of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus in cultured human conjunctival epithelial cells and cervical cancer cells. Subsequent nuclear damage included a deep irregular indentation resulting in cell death. A dosage of 30–40 ng/mL TCDD induced maximal intracellular production of H2O2 at 30 minutes and led to severe cell death (0–31% survival) at two hours. A dose of 1.7 mM alpha-tocopherol or 1 mM L-dehydroascorbic acid significantly protected human cells against acute TCDD injuries (78–97% survivals), but vitamin C did not provide this protection. These results indicate that accidental exposure to fatal doses of TCDD causes cytoplasmic free radical production within the smooth endoplasmic reticular systems, resulting in severe cytotoxicity, and that vitamin E and dehydroascorbic acid can protect against TCDD-induced cell damage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gridina ◽  
Evgeniy Mozheiko ◽  
Emil Valeev ◽  
Ludmila P. Nazarenko ◽  
Maria E. Lopatkina ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Hi-C technique is widely employed to study the 3-dimensional chromatin architecture and to assemble genomes. The conventional in situ Hi-C protocol employs restriction enzymes to digest chromatin, which results in nonuniform genomic coverage. Using sequence-agnostic restriction enzymes, such as DNAse I, could help to overcome this limitation. Results In this study, we compare different DNAse Hi-C protocols and identify the critical steps that significantly affect the efficiency of the protocol. In particular, we show that the SDS quenching strategy strongly affects subsequent chromatin digestion. The presence of biotinylated oligonucleotide adapters may lead to ligase reaction by-products, which can be avoided by rational design of the adapter sequences. Moreover, the use of nucleotide-exchange enzymes for biotin fill-in enables simultaneous labelling and repair of DNA ends, similar to the conventional Hi-C protocol. These improvements simplify the protocol, making it less expensive and time-consuming. Conclusions We propose a new robust protocol for the preparation of DNAse Hi-C libraries from cultured human cells and blood samples supplemented with experimental controls and computational tools for the evaluation of library quality.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document