scholarly journals The Membrane Skeleton of Pseudomicrothorax

1991 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT K. PECK ◽  
FRANÇOISE DUBORGEL ◽  
IRM HUTTENLAUCH ◽  
GERARD DE HALLER

The epiplasm membrane skeleton of the ciliated protozoan Pseudomicrothorax dubius has been isolated and its three-dimensional structure and constituent proteins have been examined. The epiplasm functions as a cytoskeleton to define cell shape and the position of some cortical organelles. Scanning electron microscopy of the isolated epiplasm reveals a rococo cytoarchitecture in which basal bodies and trichocyst attachment sites are arranged in precise geometric arrays. SDS-PAGE reveals 40 bands, one of which is quantitatively the major band of the epiplasm and is composed of at least 3 different proteins and numerous isoelectric variants, as revealed by two-dimensional electrophoresis and peptide mapping. Polyclonal antisera were produced against native (antiserum 15) and SDS-denatured (antiserum 18) epiplasm. On immunoblots, antiserum 15 labels the hydrophilic proteins that are extracted from the epiplasm by treatment with dilute acid solution and that are predominantly glycoproteins, four of which are labeled with Concanavalin A on Western blots. On Lowicryl thin sections, antiserum 15 labels the epiplasm uniformly, except for the terminal plates, indicating that the glycoproteins are integral components of the epiplasm and are not membrane contaminants in the epiplasm fraction. Concanavalin A labeling of Lowicryl sections supports the latter result. On immunoblots, antiserum 18 labels the acid-insoluble epiplasm bands, the major structural elements of the epiplasm. One of the epiplasm bands at 52x1O3Mr is labeled by an anti-β tubulin monoclonal antibody. Evidence is presented that this β tubulin is not due to microtubule contamination of the epiplasm fraction.

Author(s):  
Robert Glaeser ◽  
Thomas Bauer ◽  
David Grano

In transmission electron microscopy, the 3-dimensional structure of an object is usually obtained in one of two ways. For objects which can be included in one specimen, as for example with elements included in freeze- dried whole mounts and examined with a high voltage microscope, stereo pairs can be obtained which exhibit the 3-D structure of the element. For objects which can not be included in one specimen, the 3-D shape is obtained by reconstruction from serial sections. However, without stereo imagery, only detail which remains constant within the thickness of the section can be used in the reconstruction; consequently, the choice is between a low resolution reconstruction using a few thick sections and a better resolution reconstruction using many thin sections, generally a tedious chore. This paper describes an approach to 3-D reconstruction which uses stereo images of serial thick sections to reconstruct an object including detail which changes within the depth of an individual thick section.


Author(s):  
Jerome J. Paulin

Within the past decade it has become apparent that HVEM offers the biologist a means to explore the three-dimensional structure of cells and/or organelles. Stereo-imaging of thick sections (e.g. 0.25-10 μm) not only reveals anatomical features of cellular components, but also reduces errors of interpretation associated with overlap of structures seen in thick sections. Concomitant with stereo-imaging techniques conventional serial Sectioning methods developed with thin sections have been adopted to serial thick sections (≥ 0.25 μm). Three-dimensional reconstructions of the chondriome of several species of trypanosomatid flagellates have been made from tracings of mitochondrial profiles on cellulose acetate sheets. The sheets are flooded with acetone, gluing them together, and the model sawed from the composite and redrawn.The extensive mitochondrial reticulum can be seen in consecutive thick sections of (0.25 μm thick) Crithidia fasciculata (Figs. 1-2). Profiles of the mitochondrion are distinguishable from the anterior apex of the cell (small arrow, Fig. 1) to the posterior pole (small arrow, Fig. 2).


1989 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 1761-1774 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Q Cheng ◽  
J F Deatherage

The three-dimensional structure of the central region of the Z disk of honeybee flight muscle has been determined to a resolution of 70 A by three-dimensional reconstruction from electron micrographs of tilted thin sections. The reconstructions show a complex assembly in which actin filaments terminate and are cross-linked together; a number of structural domains of this network are resolved in quantitative three-dimensional detail. The central region of the Z disk contains two sets of overlapping actin filaments of opposite polarity, which originate in the sarcomeres adjacent to the Z disk, and connections between these filaments. The filaments are deflected by the attachment of cross-links; spacing between filaments change by greater than 100 A during their passage through the Z disk. Each actin filament is linked by connecting structures to four filaments of opposite polarity and two filaments are of the same polarity. Four types of connecting density domain are observed in association with pairs of filaments of opposite polarity: C1, C2, C3, and C5. Two of these, C3 and C5, are associated with the ends of actin filaments. Another connection, C4, is associated with three filaments of the same polarity; C4 is threefold symmetric.


2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1887-1903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristy L. Richards ◽  
Kirk R. Anders ◽  
Eva Nogales ◽  
Katja Schwartz ◽  
Kenneth H. Downing ◽  
...  

A comprehensive set of clustered charged-to-alanine mutations was generated that systematically alter TUB1, the major α-tubulin gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A variety of phenotypes were observed, including supersensitivity and resistance to the microtubule-destabilizing drug benomyl, lethality, and cold- and temperature-sensitive lethality. Many of the most benomyl-sensitivetub1 alleles were synthetically lethal in combination with tub3Δ, supporting the idea that benomyl supersensitivity is a rough measure of microtubule instability and/or insufficiency in the amount of α-tubulin. The systematictub1 mutations were placed, along with the comparable set of tub2 mutations previously described, onto a model of the yeast α–β-tubulin dimer based on the three-dimensional structure of bovine tubulin. The modeling revealed a potential site for binding of benomyl in the core of β-tubulin. Residues whose mutation causes cold sensitivity were concentrated at the lateral and longitudinal interfaces between adjacent subunits. Residues that affect binding of the microtubule-binding protein Bim1p form a large patch across the exterior-facing surface of α-tubulin in the model. Finally, the positions of the mutations suggest that proximity to the α–β interface may account for the finding of synthetic lethality of five viable tub1 alleles with the benomyl-resistant but otherwise entirely viable tub2-201allele.


1989 ◽  
Vol 259 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Mantle ◽  
G Stewart

1. A specific antibody was developed against the disulphide-bound 118 kDa glycoprotein of human intestinal mucin and used to establish an e.l.i.s.a. Fourteen purified mucins [eight normal (N) and six cystic fibrosis (CF)] had the same affinity for the antibody in the e.l.i.s.a., but their relative immunoreactivities varied widely (approx. 100,000-fold). In general, CF mucins were more antigenic than N mucins. 2. Variations (approx. 10-fold) were detected in the 118 kDa glycoprotein content of both N and CF mucins (assessed from Coomassie Blue-stained polyacrylamide gels), but these did not appear to be responsible for the differences in mucin immunoreactivity. 3. Variations (approx. 6-fold) were also observed in the size of the 118 kDa peak produced by N and CF mucins on Western blots. These were mostly due to differences in the 118 kDa glycoprotein content of mucins, although a small proportion resulted from changes in the number of antigenic determinants within individual 118 kDa glycoproteins. 4. After concanavalin A affinity chromatography of four reduced mucins (two N and two CF), purified 118 kDa glycoprotein was recovered in the bound fractions from the column, specifically eluted by methyl alpha-mannoside. 5. The amounts of 118 kDa glycoprotein isolated from the four mucins varied as predicted from the size of their 118 kDa bands on Coomassie Blue-stained gels. 6. Three 118 kDa glycoproteins (one N and two CF) showed almost identical reactivity in the e.l.i.s.a.; the fourth had fewer antigenic determinants. 7. Since differences in 118 kDa glycoprotein content and in the number of antigenic determinants within the 118 kDa glycoprotein did not account for variations in the reactivity of native mucins in the e.l.i.s.a., it appeared that accessibility of the 118 kDa glycoprotein to antibody binding may be critical in determining mucin immunoreactivity. This suggests that the three-dimensional conformation of CF mucins may differ from that of N mucins, leading to increased antigenicity.


1989 ◽  
Vol 108 (5) ◽  
pp. 1775-1782 ◽  
Author(s):  
J F Deatherage ◽  
N Q Cheng ◽  
B Bullard

Information from oblique thin sections and from three-dimensional reconstructions of tilted, transverse thin sections (Cheng, N., and J. F. Deatherage. 1989. J. Cell Biol. 108:1761-1774) has been combined to determine the three-dimensional structure of the honeybee flight muscle Z disk at 70-A resolution. The overall symmetry and structure of the Z disk and its relationship to the rest of the myofibril have been determined by tracing filaments and connecting elements on electron images of oblique sections which have been enhanced by a local crystallographic averaging technique. In the three-dimensional structure, the connecting density between actin filaments can be described as five compact, crystallographically nonequivalent domains. Features C1 and C2 are located on the transverse twofold rotation axes in the central plane of the Z disk. They are associated with the sides of actin filaments of opposite polarity. Features C3, C4, and C5 are present in two symmetry-related sets which are located on opposite sides of the central plane. C3 and C5 are each associated with two filaments of opposite polarity, interacting with the side of one filament and the end of the other filament. C3 and C5 may be involved in stabilizing actin filament ends inside the Z disk. The location of the threefold symmetric connection C4, relative to the thick filament of the adjacent sarcomere, is determined and its possible relationship to the C filament is considered.


1972 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 2580-2584 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Edelman ◽  
B. A. Cunningham ◽  
G. N. Reeke ◽  
J. W. Becker ◽  
M. J. Waxdal ◽  
...  

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