scholarly journals Cortical development associated with conjugation of Paramecium

Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 1099-1112
Author(s):  
M. R. Romero ◽  
A. Torres

The cortical cytoskeleton of Paramecium is characterized by a complex, polarized and asymmetrical organization. In order to analyse the cortical development of Paramecium tetraurelia during the sexual process of conjugation, different antibodies have been used to follow the development of five cortical components: basal bodies, ciliary rootlets, outer lattice, epiplasm and cytospindle. This study demonstrates that the cortex of Paramecium undergoes an elaborate development process following conjugation. Some of the cortical structures that are not renewed at any other moment of the cell cycle, are resorbed after conjugation and replaced by other newly formed ones. The reorganization of the cortical components occurs according to different morphogenetic waves that spread over the cell surface. The oral system and the preoral suture line act as morphogenetic epicentres.

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (10) ◽  
pp. 2296-2308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Jones ◽  
James D. Berger

Nine temperature-sensitive gene mutations affecting cellular morphogenesis were analysed and shown to be single recessive genes. Their phenotypes fall into three classes: small mutants (sm) which interfere with cell surface and basal body proliferation to produce short cells; defective fission zone mutants (dfz) which do not form a complete fission zone during cell division; and defective constriction mutants (dc) which form a normal fission zone, but do not constrict properly. In sm2 cells there is a reduction in the number of basal bodies and in the amount of cell surface produced preceding fission. This results in the production of truncated daughter cells in which most of the normal structures of either the anterior or posterior part of the cell are highly reduced or missing. Production of basal bodies in gullet primordia is also abnormal. The dfz mutants act early in the fission process to block the formation of the fission zone which precedes the formation of the fission furrow. The dc mutations act later in the fission process and lead to failure of daughter cell separation. One mutant, dc3, also shows slightly reduced proliferation of cell surface. This defect occurs prior to fission.


2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 1321-1333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Lozano-Núñez ◽  
Kyojiro N. Ikeda ◽  
Thomas Sauer ◽  
Christopher L. de Graffenried

Polo-like kinases are important regulators of cell division, playing diverse roles in mitosis and cytoskeletal inheritance. In the parasite Trypanosoma brucei, the single PLK homologue TbPLK is necessary for the assembly of a series of essential organelles that position and adhere the flagellum to the cell surface. Previous work relied on RNA interference or inhibitors of undefined specificity to inhibit TbPLK, both of which have significant experimental limitations. Here we use an analogue-sensitive approach to selectively and acutely inhibit TbPLK. T. brucei cells expressing only analogue-sensitive TbPLK (TbPLKas) grow normally, but upon treatment with inhibitor develop defects in flagellar attachment and cytokinesis. TbPLK cannot migrate effectively when inhibited and remains trapped in the posterior of the cell throughout the cell cycle. Using synchronized cells, we show that active TbPLK is a direct requirement for the assembly and extension of the flagellum attachment zone, which adheres the flagellum to the cell surface, and for the rotation of the duplicated basal bodies, which positions the new flagellum so that it can extend without impinging on the old flagellum. This approach should be applicable to the many kinases found in the T. brucei genome that lack an ascribed function.


1982 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 368-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Plattner ◽  
C Westphal ◽  
R Tiggemann

Stationary-phase cells of Paramecium tetraurelia have most of their many secretory vesicles ("trichocysts") attached to the cell surface. Log-phase cells contain numerous unoccupied potential docking sites for trichocysts and many free trichocysts in the cytoplasm. To study the possible involvement of cytoskeletal elements, notably of microtubules, in the process of positioning of trichocysts at the cell surface, we took advantage of these stages. Cells were stained with tannic acid and subsequently analyzed by electron microscopy. Semithin sections allowed the determination of structural connections over a range of up to 10 micrometer. Microtubules emanating from ciliary basal bodies are seen in contact with free trichocysts, which appear to be transported, with their tip first, to the cell surface. (This can account for the saltatory movement reported by others). It is noteworthy that the "rails" represented by the microtubules do not directly determine the final attachment site of a trichocyst. Unoccupied attachment sites are characterized by a "plug" of electron-dense material just below the plasma membrane; the "plug" seems to act as a recognition or anchoring site; this material is squeezed out all around the trichocyst attachment zone, once a trichocyst is inserted (Westphal and Plattner, in press. [53]). Slightly below this "plug" we observed fasciae of microfilaments (identified by immunocytochemistry using peroxidase labeled F(ab) fragments against P. tetraurelia actin). Their arrangement is not altered when a trichocyst is docked. These fasciae seem to form a loophole for the insertion of a trichocyst. Trichocyst remain attached to the microtubules originating from the ciliary basal bodies--at least for some time--even after they are firmly installed in the preformed attachment sites. Evidently, the regular arrangement of exocytotic organelles is controlled on three levels: one operating over a long distance from the exocytosis site proper (microtubules), one over a short distance (microfilament bundles), and one directly on the exocytosis site ("plug").


Development ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-257
Author(s):  
Nöel De Terra

My previous work has shown that disconnecting the oral apparatus of Stentor into two parts induces mass assembly of basal bodies on the ventral cell surface and thus initiates oral development. This operation severs the extensive microtubule tracts joining the oral membranelles at their bases. To determine whether basal body assembly and oral development are also induced by permanently disconnecting the longitudinal microtubule fibre tracts (mt fibre tracts) of the cell body cortex, I interposed a ring of inverted (heteropolar) cortex between the anterior and posterior halves of interphase stentors. When successful, this operation made it impossible for these fibre tracts to rejoin at the heteropolar boundaries and always induced basal body assembly and oral development in the graft complex. By contrast, tripartite homopolar graft complexes rarely initiated oral development; when they did, it was apparently in response to the presence of disproportionately small oral structures, which is the normal stimulus for oral development in Stentor. The mt fibre tracts of tripartite homopolar grafts also eventually became continuous. These results support the hypothesis that permanent, extensive discontinuities anywhere within the cortical cytoskeleton can trigger basal body assembly and oral development. Since the onset of these processes is known to initiate cell division in Stentor, the results also suggest that development of discontinuities within the cortical cytoskeleton during interphase growth may be the endogenous stimulus initiating cell division in Stentor.


1991 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 5251-5258
Author(s):  
B Zanolari ◽  
H Riezman

The alpha-factor pheromone binds to specific cell surface receptors on Saccharomyces cerevisiae a cells. The pheromone is then internalized, and cell surface receptors are down-regulated. At the same time, a signal is transmitted that causes changes in gene expression and cell cycle arrest. We show that the ability of cells to internalize alpha-factor is constant throughout the cell cycle, a cells are also able to respond to pheromone throughout the cycle even though there is cell cycle modulation of the expression of two pheromone-inducible genes, FUS1 and STE2. Both of these genes are expressed less efficiently near or just after the START point of the cell cycle in response to alpha-factor. For STE2, the basal level of expression is modulated in the same manner.


Blood ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 512-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
JE Wagner ◽  
D Collins ◽  
S Fuller ◽  
LR Schain ◽  
AE Berson ◽  
...  

Human CD34+ cells were subfractionated into three size classes using counterflow centrifugal elutriation followed by immunoadsorption to polystyrene cell separation devices. The three CD34+ cell fractions (Fr), Fr 25/29, Fr 33/37, and Fr RO, had mean sizes of 8.5, 9.3 and 13.5 microns, respectively. The majority of cells in the large Fr RO CD34+ cell population expressed the committed stage antigens CD33, CD19, CD38, or HLA-DR and contained the majority of granulocyte- macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM), burst-forming units-erythroid (BFU-E), and CFU-mixed lineage (GEMM). In contrast, the small Fr 25/29 CD34+ cells were devoid of committed cell surface antigens and lacked colony-forming activity. When seeded to allogeneic stroma, Fr RO CD34+ cells produced few CFU-GM at week 5, whereas cells from the Fr 25/29 CD34+ cell population showed a 30- to 55-fold expansion of myeloid progenitors at this same time point. Furthermore, CD34+ cells from each size fraction supported ontogeny of T cells in human thymus/liver grafts in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice. Upon cell cycle analyses, greater than 97% of the Fr 25/29 CD34+ cells were in G0/G1 phase, whereas greater proportions of the two larger CD34+ cell fractions were in active cell cycle. Binding of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, IL-3, IL-6, stem cell factor (SCF), macrophage inhibitory protein (MIP)-1 alpha, granulocyte colony- stimulating factor (G-CSF), and granulocyte-macrophage (GM)-CSF to these CD34+ cell populations was also analyzed by flow cytometry. As compared with the larger CD34+ cell fractions, cells in the small Fr 25/29 CD34+ cell population possessed the highest numbers of receptors for SCF, MIP1 alpha, and IL-1 alpha. Collectively, these results indicate that the Fr 25/29 CD34+ cell is a very primitive, quiescent progenitor cell population possessing a high number of receptors for SCF and MIP1 alpha and capable of yielding both myeloid and lymphoid lineages when placed in appropriate in vitro or in vivo culture conditions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Katharina Schlusche ◽  
Sabine Ulrike Vay ◽  
Niklas Kleinenkuhnen ◽  
Steffi Sandke ◽  
Rafael Campos-Martin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe development of the cerebral cortex relies on the controlled division of neural stem and progenitor cells. The requirement for precise spatiotemporal control of proliferation and cell fate places a high demand on the cell division machinery, and defective cell division can cause microcephaly and other brain malformations. Cell-extrinsic and intrinsic factors govern the capacity of cortical progenitors to produce large numbers of neurons and glia within a short developmental time window. In particular, ion channels shape the intrinsic biophysical properties of precursor cells and neurons and control their membrane potential throughout the cell cycle. We found that hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation (HCN)-channel subunits are expressed in mouse, rat, and human neural progenitors. Loss of HCN-channel function in rat neural stem cells impaired their proliferation by affecting the cell-cycle progression, causing G1 accumulation and dysregulation of genes associated with human microcephaly. Transgene-mediated, dominant-negative loss of HCN-channel function in the embryonic mouse telencephalon resulted in pronounced microcephaly. Together, our findings suggest a novel role for HCN-channel subunits as a part of a general mechanism influencing cortical development in mammals.Significance StatementImpaired cell cycle regulation of neural stem and progenitor cells can affect cortical development and cause microcephaly. During cell cycle progression, the cellular membrane potential changes through the activity of ion channels and tends to be more depolarized in proliferating cells. HCN channels, which mediate a depolarizing current in neurons and cardiac cells, are linked to neurodevelopmental diseases, also contribute to the control of cell-cycle progression and proliferation of neuronal precursor cells. In this study, HCN-channel deficiency during embryonic and fetal brain development resulted in marked microcephaly of mice designed to be deficient in HCN-channel function in dorsal forebrain progenitors. The findings suggest that HCN-channel subunits are part of a general mechanism influencing cortical development in mammals.


1997 ◽  
Vol 110 (12) ◽  
pp. 1373-1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.R. Walker ◽  
C.B. Shuster ◽  
D.R. Burgess

Research over the past few years has demonstrated the central role of protein phosphorylation in regulating mitosis and the cell cycle. However, little is known about how the mechanisms regulating the entry into mitosis contribute to the positional and temporal regulation of the actomyosin-based contractile ring formed during cytokinesis. Recent studies implicate p34cdc2 as a negative regulator of myosin II activity, suggesting a link between the mitotic cycle and cytokinesis. In an effort to study the relationship between protein phosphorylation and cytokinesis, we examined the in vivo and in vitro phosphorylation of actin-associated cortical cytoskeletal (CSK) proteins in an isolated model of the sea urchin egg cortex. Examination of cortices derived from eggs or zygotes labeled with 32P-orthophosphate reveals a number of cortex-associated phosphorylated proteins, including polypeptides of 20, 43 and 66 kDa. These three major phosphoproteins are also detected when isolated cortices are incubated with [32P]ATP in vitro, suggesting that the kinases that phosphorylate these substrates are also specifically associated with the cortex. The kinase activities in vivo and in vitro are stimulated by fertilization and display cell cycle-dependent activities. Gel autophosphorylation assays, kinase assays and immunoblot analysis reveal the presence of p34cdc2 as well as members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase family, whose activities in the CSK peak at cell division. Nocodazole, which inhibits microtubule formation and thus blocks cytokinesis, significantly delays the time of peak cortical protein phosphorylation as well as the peak in whole-cell histone H1 kinase activity. These results suggest that a key element regulating cortical contraction during cytokinesis is the timing of protein kinase activities associated with the cortical cytoskeleton that is in turn regulated by the mitotic apparatus.


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