scholarly journals Actin, microvilli, and the fertilization cone of sea urchin eggs.

1980 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 771-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
L G Tilney ◽  
L A Jaffe
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Germinal Vesicle ◽  
Rapid Phase ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Step Process ◽  
Sea Urchin Eggs ◽  
Early Stages

Sea urchin eggs and oocytes at the germinal vesicle stage were fixed at various times after insemination, and thin sections were examined. Actin filaments can first be found in the cortical cytoplasm 1 min after insemination, and by 2 min enormous numbers of filaments are present. At these early stages, the filaments are only occasionally organized into bundles, but one end of many filaments contacts the plasma membrane. By 3 min, and even more dramatically by 5 min after insemination, the filaments become progressively more often found in bundles that lie parallel to the long axis of the microvilli and the fertilization cones. By 7 min, the bundles of filaments in the cone are maximally pronounced, with virtually all the filaments lying parallel to one another. Decoration of the filaments with subfragment 1 of myosin shows that, in both the microvilli and the cones, the filaments are unidirectionally polarized with the arrowheads pointing towards the cell center. The efflux of H+ from the eggs was measured as a function of time after insemination. The rapid phase of H+ efflux occurs at the same time as actin polymerization. From these results it appears that the formation of bundles of actin filaments in microvilli and in cones is a two-step process, involving actin polymerization to form filaments, randomly oriented but in most cases having one end in contact with the plasma membrane, followed by the zippering together of the filaments by macromolecular bridges.

scholarly journals Actin in triton-treated cortical preparations of unfertilized and fertilized sea urchin eggs.

1979 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 212-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Spudich ◽  
J A Spudich
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Optical Diffraction ◽  
Muscle Actin ◽  
Sea Urchin Eggs ◽  
Inner Surface ◽  
Low Ionic Strength ◽  
Helical Parameters

Triton-treated cortical fragments of unfertilized and fertilized sea urchin eggs prepared in the presence of greater than or equal to 5 mM EGTA contain 15-30% of the total egg actin. However, actin filaments are not readily apparent by electron microscopy on the cortical fragments of unfertilized eggs but are numerous on those of fertilized eggs. The majority of the actin associated with cortical fragments of unfertilized eggs is solubilized by dialysis against a low ionic strength buffer at pH 7.5. This soluble actin preparation (less than 50% pure actin) does not form proper filaments in 0.1 M KCl and 3 mM MgCl2, whereas actin purified from this preparation does, as judged by electron microscopy. Optical diffraction analysis reveals that these purified actin filaments have helical parameters very similar to those of muscle actin. Furthermore, the properties of the purified actin with regard to activation of myosin ATPase are similar to those of actin from other cell types. The possibility that actin is maintained in a nonfilamentous form on the inner surface of the unfertilized egg plasma membrane and is induced to assemble upon fertilization is discussed.

Translational diffusion in the plasma membrane of sea urchin eggs

1981 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiner Peters ◽  
Hans-Peter Richter
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Translational Diffusion ◽  
Sea Urchin Eggs

Cortical Granule Exocytosis and Fertilization Coat Elevation is Reduced in Aging Sea Urchin Eggs

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (S2) ◽  
pp. 966-967
Author(s):  
Amitabha Chakrabarti ◽  
Heide Schatten
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Secretory Granules ◽  
Cortical Granule ◽  
Cortical Granules ◽  
Lytechinus Pictus ◽  
Sea Urchin Eggs ◽  
Cortical Granule Exocytosis ◽  
Granule Secretion

Cortical granules are specialized Golgi-derived membrane-bound secretory granules that are located beneath the plasma membrane in unfertilized sea urchin eggs. Upon fertilization cortical granules discharge in a reaction induced by calcium and release their contents between the plasma membrane and a thin vitelline layer that lines the plasma membrane. Microvilli at the plasma membrane elongate incorporting cortical granule membranes during elongation. The vitelline layer elevates and becomes the egg's fertilization coat that hardens and serves as physical block to polyspermy. While we do not understand the precise mechanisms that participate in cortical granule discharge it is believed that actin plays a role in this process. Because actin and calcium metabolism is affected in aging cells we investigated if cortical granule secretion is affected in aging sea urchin eggs.Lytechinus pictus eggs were obtained by intracoelomic injection of 0.5M KCI to release the eggs into sea water at 23°C.

scholarly journals Electron microscope study of reassociation of spectrin and actin with the human erythrocyte membrane

1981 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Tsukita ◽  
S Tsukita ◽  
H Ishikawa ◽  
S Sato ◽  
M Nakao
Keyword(s):  
Erythrocyte Membrane ◽  
Human Erythrocyte ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Erythrocyte Membranes ◽  
Human Erythrocyte Membrane ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Fixation Treatment ◽  
Human Erythrocyte Membranes ◽  
Inside Out

Reassociation of spectrin and actin with human erythrocyte membranes was studied by stereoscopic electron microscopy of thin sections combined with tannic acid- glutaraldehyde fixation. Treatment of the erythrocyte membrane with 0.1 mM EDTA (pH 8.0) extracted more than 90 percent of the spectrin and actin and concomitantly removed filamentous meshworks underlying the membranes, followed by fragmentation into small inside-out vesicles. When such spectrin-depleted vesicles were incubated with the EDTA extract (crude spectrin), a filamentous meshwork, similar to those of the original membranes, was reformed on the cytoplasmic surface of the vesicles. The filamentous components, with a uniform thickness of 9 nm, took a tortuous course and joined one another often in an end-to-end fashion to form a irregular but continuous meshwork parallel to the membrane. Purified spectrin was also reassociated with the vesicles in a population density of filamentous components almost comparable to that of the crude spectrin-reassociated vesicles. However, the meshwork formation was much smaller in extent, showing many independent filamentous components closely applied to the vesicle surface. When muscle G-actin was added to the crude spectrin- or purified spectrin- reassociated vesicles under conditions which favor actin polymerization, actin filaments were seen to attach to the vesicles through the filamentous components. Two modes of association of actin filaments with the membrane were seen: end-to-membrane and side-to- membrane associations. In the end-to-membrane association, each actin filament was bound with several filamentous components exhibiting a spiderlike configuration, which was considered to be the unit of the filamentous meshwork of the original erythrocyte membrane.

scholarly journals Effects of Dithiothreitol on Fertilization and Early Development in Sea Urchin

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 3573
Author(s):  
Nunzia Limatola ◽  
Jong Tai Chun ◽  
Sawsen Cherraben ◽  
Jean-Louis Schmitt ◽  
Jean-Marie Lehn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Cortical Granule ◽  
Cortical Actin ◽  
Phenotypic Changes ◽  
Sea Urchin Egg ◽  
Cortical Granule Exocytosis

The vitelline layer (VL) of a sea urchin egg is an intricate meshwork of glycoproteins that intimately ensheathes the plasma membrane. During fertilization, the VL plays important roles. Firstly, the receptors for sperm reside on the VL. Secondly, following cortical granule exocytosis, the VL is elevated and transformed into the fertilization envelope (FE), owing to the assembly and crosslinking of the extruded materials. As these two crucial stages involve the VL, its alteration was expected to affect the fertilization process. In the present study, we addressed this question by mildly treating the eggs with a reducing agent, dithiothreitol (DTT). A brief pretreatment with DTT resulted in partial disruption of the VL, as judged by electron microscopy and by a novel fluorescent polyamine probe that selectively labelled the VL. The DTT-pretreated eggs did not elevate the FE but were mostly monospermic at fertilization. These eggs also manifested certain anomalies at fertilization: (i) compromised Ca2+ signaling, (ii) blocked translocation of cortical actin filaments, and (iii) impaired cleavage. Some of these phenotypic changes were reversed by restoring the DTT-exposed eggs in normal seawater prior to fertilization. Our findings suggest that the FE is not the decisive factor preventing polyspermy and that the integrity of the VL is nonetheless crucial to the egg’s fertilization response.

Isolated Plasma Membranes of Sea Urchin Eggs

1971 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 534-535
Author(s):  
S. Inoue ◽  
E. C. Preddie ◽  
P. Guerrier
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Sea Urchin ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Membrane System ◽  
Vitelline Membrane ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Sea Urchin Eggs ◽  
Sea Urchin Egg ◽  
Discontinuous Sucrose Gradient ◽  
Fertilization Membrane

From electron microscope studies of thin sections the sea urchin egg is known to be surrounded by the peripheral membrane system which is made up of the outer coat (vitelline membrane), which elevates from an egg surface after fertilization and becomes a part of the fertilization membrane, and the plasma membrane. In these experiments an effort has been made to isolate plasma membranes of sea urchin eggs and these isolated membranes were observed in the electron microscope.The vitelline membrane of the eggs from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus was at first digested away by the treatment with 0.02% trypsin in 0.01 M Tris-HCl buffer (pH 8.0) for 5 minutes at 28°C. The plasma membranes were then isolated according to the method of Song et al. which was used for the isolation of rat liver plasma membranes. The vitelline membrane-free eggs were gently homogenized in 10-3 M NaHC03 (pH 7.5) and freed membranes were collected by centrifugation over a discontinuous sucrose gradient preparation.

scholarly journals Actin filament content and organization in unstimulated platelets.

1984 ◽  
Vol 98 (6) ◽  
pp. 1985-1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
J E Fox ◽  
J K Boyles ◽  
C C Reynolds ◽  
D R Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Actin Filament ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Gel Filtration ◽  
Structural Reorganization ◽  
Filamentous Form ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Cell Extracts ◽  
Triton X ◽  
Filament Content

The extent of actin polymerization in unstimulated, discoid platelets was measured by DNase I inhibition assay in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at 37 degrees C by gel filtration, or in Triton X-100 lysates of platelets washed at ambient temperatures by centrifugation in the presence of prostacyclin. About 40% of the actin in the discoid platelets obtained by either method existed as filaments. These filaments could be visualized by electron microscopy of thin sections. Similar results were obtained when the actin filament content of discoid platelets was measured by sedimentation of filaments from Triton X-100 lysates at high g forces (145,000 g for 45 min). However, few of these filaments sedimented at the lower g forces often used to isolate networks of actin filaments from cell extracts. These results indicate that actin filaments in discoid cells are not highly crosslinked. Platelets isolated by centrifugation in the absence of prostacyclin were not discoid, but were instead irregular with one or more pseudopodia. These platelets also contained approximately 40-50% of their actin in a filamentous form; many of these filaments sedimented at low g forces, however, indicating that they were organized into networks. The discoid shape of these centrifuged platelets could be restored by incubating them for 1-3 h at 37 degrees C, which resulted in the reversal of filament organization. High g forces were then required for the sedimentation of the actin. Approximately 80-90% of the actin in platelets washed at 4 degrees C was filamentous; this high actin filament content could be attributed to actin polymerization during the preparation of the platelets at low temperatures. These studies show that platelet activation involves mechanisms for the structural reorganization of existing filaments, in addition to those previously described for mediating actin polymerization.

scholarly journals F actin bundles in Drosophila bristles. I. Two filament cross-links are involved in bundling.

1995 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
L G Tilney ◽  
M S Tilney ◽  
G M Guild
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Gene Product ◽  
Actin Filaments ◽  
Double Mutant ◽  
Longitudinal Section ◽  
Actin Bundles ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
Filament Bundles ◽  
Cross Links ◽  
Associated Bundles

Transverse sections though Drosophila bristles reveal 7-11 nearly round, plasma membrane-associated bundles of actin filaments. These filaments are hexagonally packed and in a longitudinal section they show a 12-nm periodicity in both the 1.1 and 1.0 views. From earlier studies this periodicity is attributable to cross-links and indicates that the filaments are maximally cross-linked, singed mutants also have 7-11 bundles, but the bundles are smaller, flattened, and the filaments within the bundles are randomly packed (not hexagonal); no periodicity can be detected in longitudinal sections. Another mutant, forked (f36a), also has 7-11 bundles but even though the bundles are very small, the filaments within them are hexagonally packed and display a 12-nm periodicity in longitudinal section. The singed-forked double mutant lacks filament bundles. Thus there are at least two species of cross-links between adjacent actin filaments. Hints of why two species of cross-links are necessary can be gleaned by studying bristle formation. Bristles sprout with only microtubules within them. A little later in development actin filaments appear. At early stages the filaments in the bundles are randomly packed. Later the filaments in the bundles become hexagonally packed and maximally cross-linked. We consider that the forked proteins may be necessary early in development to tie the filaments together in a bundle so that they can be subsequently zippered together by fascin (the singed gene product).

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