The Apparent Flexural Rigidity of the Flagellar Axoneme Depends on Resistance to Inter-Doublet Sliding

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Xu ◽  
Kate S. Wilson ◽  
Ruth J. Okamoto ◽  
Jin-Yu Shao ◽  
Susan K. Dutcher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flexural Rigidity ◽  
Motor Protein ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Central Pair ◽  
Subcellular Organelles ◽  
And Function ◽  
Flagellar Axoneme ◽  
Mechanical Feedback

Cilia are thin subcellular organelles that bend actively to propel fluid. The ciliary cytoskeleton (the axoneme) consists of nine outer microtubule doublets surrounding a central pair of singlet microtubules. Large bending deformations of the axoneme involve relative sliding of the outer doublets, driven by the motor protein dynein. Ciliary structure and function have been studied extensively, but details of the mechanics and coordination of the axoneme remain unclear. In particular, dynein activity must be switched on and off at specific times and locations to produce an oscillatory, propulsive beat. Leading hypotheses assert that mechanical feedback plays a role in the control of dynein activity, but these ideas remain speculative.

The axonemal microtubules of the Chlamydomonas flagellum differ in tubulin isoform content

1998 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.A. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Structure And Function ◽  
Post Translational Modification ◽  
Immunofluorescence Analysis ◽  
Central Pair ◽  
Alpha Tubulin ◽  
Microtubule Polymerization ◽  
Tubulin Isoforms ◽  
Flagellar Assembly ◽  
Tyrosinated Tubulin ◽  
And Function

Little is known of the molecular basis for the diversity of microtubule structure and function found within the eukaryotic flagellum. Antibodies that discriminate between tyrosinated alpha tubulin and post-translationally detyrosinated alpha tubulin were used to localize these complementary tubulin isoforms in flagella of the single-celled green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Immunofluorescence analysis of intact axonemes detected both isoforms along most of the lengths of flagella; however, each had a short distal zone rich in tyrosinated tubulin. Localizations on splayed axonemes revealed that the microtubules of the central-pair apparatus were rich in tyrosinated tubulin, while outer doublets contained a mixture of both isoforms. Immunoelectron analysis of individual outer doublets revealed that while tyrosinated tubulin was present in both A and B tubules, detyrosinated tubulin was largely confined to the wall of the B hemi-tubules. The absence of detyrosinated tubulin from the A tubules of the outer doublets and the microtubules of the central pair, both of which extend past the B hemi-tubules of the outer doublets in the flagellar tip, explained the appearance of a tyrosinated tubulin-rich distal zone on intact axonemes. Localizations performed on cells regenerating flagella revealed that flagellar assembly used tyrosinated tubulin; detyrosination of the B tubule occurred during later stages of regeneration, well after microtubule polymerization. The developmental timing of detyrosination, which occurs over a period during which the regrowing flagella begin to beat more effectively, suggests that post-translational modification of the B tubule surface may enhance dynein/B tubule interactions that power flagellar beating.

Structure of rRNA in the ribosome

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 462-463
Author(s):  
M. Boublik ◽  
J. S. Wall
Keyword(s):  
Ribosomal Proteins ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Protein Biosynthesis ◽  
Ribosomal Subunit ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Ribonucleic Acids ◽  
Subcellular Organelles ◽  
Fundamental Relationship ◽  
And Function ◽  
Internal Architecture

Ribosomes are complex subcellular organelles playing a central role in protein biosynthesis. They are composed of more than fifty different proteins and three or four ribonucleic acids (rRNA) unevenly distributed (with no symmetry) between the large and small ribosomal subunit. It has been well established that ribosomal proteins and rRNAs are both involved in formation of the internal architecture of the ribosome as well as its function in protein synthesis. Understanding the fundamental relationship between structure and function requires establishment of the 3-D structure of the ribosome and its components at a molecular level.

Structure and function of neural networks in the retina

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 26-27
Author(s):  
Peter Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Synaptic Connections ◽  
Visual Axis ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Cat Retina ◽  
Ultrathin Sections ◽  
And Function ◽  
Insight Into

The synaptic connections in cat retina that link photoreceptors to ganglion cells have been analyzed quantitatively. Our approach has been to prepare serial, ultrathin sections and photograph en montage at low magnification (˜2000X) in the electron microscope. Six series, 100-300 sections long, have been prepared over the last decade. They derive from different cats but always from the same region of retina, about one degree from the center of the visual axis. The material has been analyzed by reconstructing adjacent neurons in each array and then identifying systematically the synaptic connections between arrays. Most reconstructions were done manually by tracing the outlines of processes in successive sections onto acetate sheets aligned on a cartoonist's jig. The tracings were then digitized, stacked by computer, and printed with the hidden lines removed. The results have provided rather than the usual one-dimensional account of pathways, a three-dimensional account of circuits. From this has emerged insight into the functional architecture.

Osseointegration interface of calcified bone and endosseous implants

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 1096-1097
Author(s):  
K.E. Krizan ◽  
J.E. Laffoon ◽  
M.J. Buckley
Keyword(s):  
Structure And Function ◽  
Titanium Implants ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Endosseous Implants ◽  
Ultrastructural Studies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cacodylate Buffer ◽  
One Year ◽  
And Function

With increase use of tissue-integrated prostheses in recent years it is a goal to understand what is happening at the interface between haversion bone and bulk metal. This study uses electron microscopy (EM) techniques to establish parameters for osseointegration (structure and function between bone and nonload-carrying implants) in an animal model. In the past the interface has been evaluated extensively with light microscopy methods. Today researchers are using the EM for ultrastructural studies of the bone tissue and implant responses to an in vivo environment. Under general anesthesia nine adult mongrel dogs received three Brånemark (Nobelpharma) 3.75 × 7 mm titanium implants surgical placed in their left zygomatic arch. After a one year healing period the animals were injected with a routine bone marker (oxytetracycline), euthanized and perfused via aortic cannulation with 3% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer pH 7.2. Implants were retrieved en bloc, harvest radiographs made (Fig. 1), and routinely embedded in plastic. Tissue and implants were cut into 300 micron thick wafers, longitudinally to the implant with an Isomet saw and diamond wafering blade [Beuhler] until the center of the implant was reached.

Use of human autoantibodies and immunoelectron microscopy to study structure and function of the nucleolus and nuclear bodies

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 506-507
Author(s):  
Robert L. Ochs
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Nuclear Bodies ◽  
Nuclear Interior ◽  
Coiled Bodies ◽  
Interchromatin Granules ◽  
And Function ◽  
Conventional Electron Microscopy ◽  
Perichromatin Granules ◽  
Perichromatin Fibrils

By conventional electron microscopy, the formed elements of the nuclear interior include the nucleolus, chromatin, interchromatin granules, perichromatin granules, perichromatin fibrils, and various types of nuclear bodies (Figs. 1a-c). Of these structures, all have been reasonably well characterized structurally and functionally except for nuclear bodies. The most common types of nuclear bodies are simple nuclear bodies and coiled bodies (Figs. 1a,c). Since nuclear bodies are small in size (0.2-1.0 μm in diameter) and infrequent in number, they are often overlooked or simply not observed in any random thin section. The rat liver hepatocyte in Fig. 1b is a case in point. Historically, nuclear bodies are more prominent in hyperactive cells, they often occur in proximity to nucleoli (Fig. 1c), and sometimes they are observed to “bud off” from the nucleolar surface.

Depletion and Reconstitution of Active E. Coli Ribosomes

1975 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 640-641
Author(s):  
M. Boublik ◽  
W. Hellmann ◽  
F. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Protein Biosynthesis ◽  
Large Subunit ◽  
High Resolution Electron Microscopy ◽  
Small Subunit ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Biological Macromolecules ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
And Function

Correlations between structure and function of biological macromolecules have been studied intensively for many years, mostly by indirect methods. High resolution electron microscopy is a unique tool which can provide such information directly by comparing the conformation of biopolymers in their biologically active and inactive state. We have correlated the structure and function of ribosomes, ribonucleoprotein particles which are the site of protein biosynthesis. 70S E. coli ribosomes, used in this experiment, are composed of two subunits - large (50S) and small (30S). The large subunit consists of 34 proteins and two different ribonucleic acid molecules. The small subunit contains 21 proteins and one RNA molecule. All proteins (with the exception of L7 and L12) are present in one copy per ribosome.This study deals with the changes in the fine structure of E. coli ribosomes depleted of proteins L7 and L12. These proteins are unique in many aspects.

The Laryngeal Epithelium in Reflux

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Erickson-Levendoski ◽  
Mahalakshmi Sivasankar
Keyword(s):  
Laryngopharyngeal Reflux ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Structure And Function ◽  
Laryngeal Disease ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Impact

The epithelium plays a critical role in the maintenance of laryngeal health. This is evident in that laryngeal disease may result when the integrity of the epithelium is compromised by insults such as laryngopharyngeal reflux. In this article, we will review the structure and function of the laryngeal epithelium and summarize the impact of laryngopharyngeal reflux on the epithelium. Research investigating the ramifications of reflux on the epithelium has improved our understanding of laryngeal disease associated with laryngopharyngeal reflux. It further highlights the need for continued research on the laryngeal epithelium in health and disease.

Structure and function in the spermatozoon of Bacillus rossiusThe spermatozoon of arthropoda. XIX

1973 ◽  
Vol 44 (1-21012) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
B BACCETTI ◽  
A BURRINI ◽  
R DALLAI ◽  
V PALLINI ◽  
P PERITI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structure And Function ◽  
And Function
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