scholarly journals THE CONTRACTILE BASIS OF AMOEBOID MOVEMENT

1973 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 378-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Taylor ◽  
J. S. Condeelis ◽  
P. L. Moore ◽  
R. D. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Ion ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Amoeboid Movement ◽  
Magnesium Ions ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Relaxation Solution ◽  
Birefringent Fibrils ◽  
Contraction And Relaxation

Cytoplasm has been isolated from single amoeba (Chaos carolinensis) in physiological solutions similar to rigor, contraction, and relaxation solutions designed to control the contractile state of vertebrate striated muscle. Contractions of the isolated cytoplasm are elicited by free calcium ion concentrations above ca. 7.0 x 10-7 M. Amoeba cytoplasmic contractility has been cycled repeatedly through stabilized (rigor), contracted, and relaxed states by manipulating the exogenous free calcium and ATP concentrations. The transition from stabilized state to relaxed state was characterized by a loss of viscoelasticity which was monitored as changes in the capacity of the cytoplasm to exhibit strain birefringence when stretched. When the stabilized cytoplasm was stretched, birefringent fibrils were observed. Thin sections of those fibrils showed thick (150–250 Å) and thin (70 Å) filaments aligned parallel to the long axis of fibrils visible with the light microscope. Negatively stained cytoplasm treated with relaxation solution showed dissociated thick and thin filaments morphologically identical with myosin aggregates and purified actin, respectively, from vertebrate striated muscle. In the presence of threshold buffered free calcium, ATP, and magnesium ions, controlled localized contractions caused membrane-less pseudopodia to extend into the solution from the cytoplasmic mass. These experiments shed new light on the contractile basis of cytoplasmic streaming and pseudopod extension, the chemical control of contractility in the amoeba cytoplasm, the site of application of the motive force for amoeboid movement, and the nature of the rheological transformations associated with the circulation of cytoplasm in intact amoeba.

scholarly journals Calcium ion-dependent myosin from decapod-crustacean muscles

1977 ◽  
Vol 163 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Lehman
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Ion ◽  
Adenosine Triphosphatase ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Decapod Crustacean ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Fast Muscles

Ca2+ regulation of arthropod actomyosin adenosine triphosphatase is associated with both the thin filaments, as in vertebrates, and with the myosin, as in molluscs. The actomyosin of decapod-crustacean fast muscles was previously considered to be an exception, displaying only a Ca2+-regulatory system linked to the thin filaments and not a myosin-linked regulatory system. In the present study, myosin regulation is demonstrated in a variety of decapod muscles when they are tested under more physiological ionic conditions. Myosin regulation is shown by using mixtures of pure rabbit actin with myofibrils, with actomyosin and with purified myosin, and in each case the adenosine triphosphatase is Ca2+ dependent. Myosin regulation may also occur in vertebrate striated muscle, but seemingly is lost during purification of the myosin.

scholarly journals Polarization of Tryptophan Fluorescence from Single Striated Muscle Fibers

1972 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. dos Remedios ◽  
R. G. C. Millikan ◽  
M. F. Morales
Keyword(s):  
Sarcomere Length ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Tryptophan Fluorescence ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
A Value ◽  
Striated Muscle Fibers ◽  
Types Of Muscle Fibers ◽  
Cross Bridges ◽  
Contraction And Relaxation

Instrumentation has been developed to detect rapidly the polarization of tryptophan fluorescence from single muscle fibers in rigor, relaxation, and contraction. The polarization parameter (P⊥) obtained by exiciting the muscle tryptophans with light polarized perpendicular to the long axis of the muscle fiber had a magnitude P⊥ (relaxation) > P⊥ (contraction) > P⊥ (rigor) for the three types of muscle fibers examined (glycerinated rabbit psoas, glycerinated dorsal longitudinal flight muscle of Lethocerus americanus, and live semitendinosus of Rana pipiens). P⊥ from single psoas fibers in rigor was found to increase as the sarcomere length increased but in relaxed fibers P⊥ was independent of sarcomere length. After rigor, pyrophosphate produced little or no change in P⊥, but following an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-containing solution, pyrophosphate produced a value of P⊥ that fell between the contraction and relaxation values. Sinusoidal or square wave oscillations of the muscle of amplitude 0.5–2.0% of the sarcomere length and frequency 1, 2, or 5 Hz were applied in rigor when the myosin cross-bridges are considered to be firmly attached to the thin filaments. No significant changes in P⊥ were observed in either rigor or relaxation. The preceding results together with our present knowledge of tryptophan distribution in the contractile proteins has led us to the conclusion that the parameter P⊥ is a probe of the contractile state of myosin which is probably sensitive to the orientation of the myosin S1 subfragment.

scholarly journals Structural changes that occur in scallop myosin filaments upon activation.

1985 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 830-837 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Vibert ◽  
R Craig
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Binding ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Thick Filament ◽  
Light Chains ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Thin Filaments ◽  
Regulatory Light Chains ◽  
Myosin Filaments ◽  
Free Calcium Concentration

Myosin filaments isolated from scallop striated muscle have been activated by calcium-containing solutions, and their structure has been examined by electron microscopy after negative staining. The orderly helical arrangement of myosin projections characteristic of the relaxed state is largely lost upon activation. The oblique striping that arises from alignment of elongated projections along the long-pitched helical tracks is greatly weakened, although a 145 A axial periodicity is sometimes partially retained. The edges of the filaments become rough, and the myosin heads move outwards as their helical arrangement becomes disordered. Crossbridges at various angles appear to link thick and thin filaments after activation. The transition from order to disorder is reversible and occurs over a narrow range of free calcium concentration near pCa 5.7. Removal of nucleotide, as well as dissociation of regulatory light chains, also disrupts the ordered helical arrangement of projections. We suggest that the relaxed arrangement of the projections is probably maintained by intermolecular interactions between myosin molecules, which depend on the regulatory light chains. Calcium binding changes the interactions between light chains and the rest of the head, activating the myosin molecule. Intermolecular contacts between molecules may thus be altered and may propagate activation cooperatively throughout the thick filament.

Intracellular free calcium responses during chemotaxis of Dictyostelium cells

1996 ◽  
Vol 109 (11) ◽  
pp. 2673-2678 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Yumura ◽  
K. Furuya ◽  
I. Takeuchi
Keyword(s):  
Folic Acid ◽  
Bovine Serum Albumin ◽  
Calcium Ions ◽  
Calcium Ion ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Magnesium Ions ◽  
Competent Cells ◽  
A Cell ◽  
Dose Dependent

A calcium ion indicator, fura-2 bovine serum albumin, was introduced into Dictyostelium discoideum cells by electroporation. The concentration of intracellular calcium ions ([Ca2+]i) increased transiently in vegetative cells upon stimulation with submicromolar concentrations of folic acid, a chemoattractant for this organism at the vegetative stage. Similar [Ca2+]i responses were also observed in aggregation-competent cells upon stimulation with subnanomolar concentrations of cAMP, a chemoattractant at the aggregation stage. The [Ca2+]i response caused by cAMP was 2.1 times higher than that caused by folic acid. The magnitude of these responses depended on the concentration of Ca2+ in the external buffer. The presence of magnesium ions inhibited the [Ca2+]i responses in a dose-dependent manner. [Ca2+]i was higher in the rear region than in the anterior region of cells freely migrating on the surface, although such a gradient was not always maintained. When aggregation competent cells were locally stimulated by the application of a microcapillary containing cAMP, the cells extended pseudopods toward the microcapillary. In these cases, an increase in [Ca2+]i was transiently observed in the region opposite to the tip of the capillary. At the slug stage, [Ca2+]i was higher in prestalk cells than in prespore cells of slugs. The possibility that the [Ca2+]i is spatially regulated within a cell was discussed.

Lead aspartate: a new en bloc stain for electron microscopy

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-35
Author(s):  
J.R. Walton
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Calcium Ion ◽  
Enzyme Reaction ◽  
Lead Citrate ◽  
Reaction Products ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Lead Salts ◽  
Thin Sectioning ◽  
High Alkalinity

In electron microscopy, lead is the metal most widely used for enhancing specimen contrast. Lead citrate requires a pH of 12 to stain thin sections of epoxy-embedded material rapidly and intensively. However, this high alkalinity tends to leach out enzyme reaction products, making lead citrate unsuitable for many cytochemical studies. Substitution of the chelator aspartate for citrate allows staining to be carried out at pH 6 or 7 without apparent effect on cytochemical products. Moreover, due to the low, controlled level of free lead ions, contamination-free staining can be carried out en bloc, prior to dehydration and embedding. En bloc use of lead aspartate permits the grid-staining step to be bypassed, allowing samples to be examined immediately after thin-sectioning.Procedures. To prevent precipitation of lead salts, double- or glass-distilled H20 used in the stain and rinses should be boiled to drive off carbon dioxide and glassware should be carefully rinsed to remove any persisting traces of calcium ion.

Bile canalicular contraction in the isolated hepatocyte doublet is related to an increase in cytosolic free calcium ion concentration

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 178-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumio Watanabe ◽  
Masahiro Tomono ◽  
Makoto Takeuchi ◽  
Tsuneo Kitamura ◽  
Miyoko Hirose ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Ion ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Cytosolic Free Calcium ◽  
Bile Canalicular Contraction ◽  
Calcium Ion Concentration

scholarly journals The gravistimulation-induced very slow Ca2+ increase in Arabidopsis seedlings requires MCA1, a Ca2+-permeable mechanosensitive channel

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masataka Nakano ◽  
Takuya Furuichi ◽  
Masahiro Sokabe ◽  
Hidetoshi Iida ◽  
Hitoshi Tatsumi
Keyword(s):  
Calcium Ion ◽  
Channel Blocker ◽  
Upright Position ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Early Event ◽  
Free Calcium ◽  
Permeable Channel ◽  
Mechanosensitive Ion Channel ◽  
And Function ◽  
Calcium Ion Concentration

AbstractGravity is a critical environmental factor affecting the morphology and function of plants on Earth. Gravistimulation triggered by changes in the gravity vector induces an increase in the cytoplasmic free calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]c) as an early process of gravity sensing; however, its role and molecular mechanism are still unclear. When seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana expressing apoaequorin were rotated from the upright position to the upside-down position, a biphasic [Ca2+]c-increase composed of a fast-transient [Ca2+]c-increase followed by a slow [Ca2+]c-increase was observed. We find here a novel type [Ca2+]c-increase, designated a very slow [Ca2+]c-increase that is observed when the seedlings were rotated back to the upright position from the upside-down position. The very slow [Ca2+]c-increase was strongly attenuated in knockout seedlings defective in MCA1, a mechanosensitive Ca2+-permeable channel (MSCC), and was partially restored in MCA1-complemented seedlings. The mechanosensitive ion channel blocker, gadolinium, blocked the very slow [Ca2+]c-increase. This is the first report suggesting the possible involvement of MCA1 in an early event related to gravity sensing in Arabidopsis seedlings.

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