scholarly journals Probing Kinetochore Structure and Function Using Xenopus laevis Frog Egg Extracts

Author(s):  
Michael J. Emanuele ◽  
P. Todd Stukenberg
2005 ◽  
Vol 169 (6) ◽  
pp. 859-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Maresca ◽  
Benjamin S. Freedman ◽  
Rebecca Heald

During cell division, condensation and resolution of chromosome arms and the assembly of a functional kinetochore at the centromere of each sister chromatid are essential steps for accurate segregation of the genome by the mitotic spindle, yet the contribution of individual chromatin proteins to these processes is poorly understood. We have investigated the role of embryonic linker histone H1 during mitosis in Xenopus laevis egg extracts. Immunodepletion of histone H1 caused the assembly of aberrant elongated chromosomes that extended off the metaphase plate and outside the perimeter of the spindle. Although functional kinetochores assembled, aligned, and exhibited poleward movement, long and tangled chromosome arms could not be segregated in anaphase. Histone H1 depletion did not significantly affect the recruitment of known structural or functional chromosomal components such as condensins or chromokinesins, suggesting that the loss of H1 affects chromosome architecture directly. Thus, our results indicate that linker histone H1 plays an important role in the structure and function of vertebrate chromosomes in mitosis.


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Κωνσταντίνος Νάκος

Η πρωτεΐνη HURP (Hepatoma Up-Regulated protein) έχει αναγνωριστεί ως παράγονταςσυναρμολόγησης της ατράκτου (SAF) που ρυθμίζεται από τη RanGTP. Αρχικά βρέθηκε σε μιτωτικάεκχυλίσματα αυγών Xenopus laevis, σε σύμπλοκο με τις TPX2, XMAP215, Eg5 και Aurora A. Η HURPπροσδένεται στους μικροσωληνίσκους, εντοπίζεται κυρίως στους μικροσωληνίσκους των κινητοχώρωνκαι είναι απαραίτητη για την σωστή συναρμολόγηση της μιτωτικής ατράκτου. Παρόλο αυτά, πρωτεΐνεςπου αλληλεπιδρούν με τη HURP σε ανθρώπινα κύτταρα παραμένουν άγνωστες.Σε αυτή τη μελέτη περιγράφουμε την αναγνώριση μίας νέας πρωτεΐνης που αλληλεπιδρά με τη HURP,τη CHD4 (Chromodomain Helicase DNA binding protein 4) μία ATPάση της αναδιαμόρφωσης τηςχρωματίνης και καταλυτική υπομονάδα του συμπλόκου αποκετυλασών που ευθύνεται για τηναναδιαμόρφωση του νουκλεοσώματος (Nucleosome remodeling and histone Deacetylase - NuRD).Πρόσφατα η πρωτεΐνη CHD4 αναγνωρίστηκε ως πρωτεΐνη που προσδένεται στους μικροσωληνίσκουςκαι ρυθμίζεται από την RanGTP.Οι μελέτες μας σε ανθρώπινα κύτταρα έδειξαν ότι η CHD4 κατά τη μίτωση απελευθερώνεται από ταμιτωτικά χρωμοσώματα και εντοπίζεται στην άτρακτο, υποδεικνύοντας ένα καινούριο ρόλο της CHD4στη συναρμολόγηση της ατράκτου. Για να κατανοήσουμε τη λειτουργία της CHD4 πραγματοποιήσαμεμελέτες απαλοιφής της CHD4 με την τεχνική της αποσιώπισης γονιδίου με siRNA. Μείωση της CHD4προκαλεί βλάβες στη συναρμολόγηση της μιτωτικής ατράκτου και στη στοίχιση των χρωμοσωμάτωνστις αρχές της μίτωσης, οδηγώντας σε ανώμαλο διαχωρισμό των χρωμοσωμάτων. Επιπλέον, ηαπώλεια της CHD4 επηρρεάζει τη σταθερότητα των K-fibers μειώνοντας σημαντικά την ποσότητα των μικροσωληνίσκων των κινητοχώρων. Μετά την απαλοιφή της CHD4, ο εντοπισμός της HURP βρέθηκενα αλλάζει, χάνοντας την προτίμησή της για τους μικροσωληνίσκους, των κινητοχώρων,υποδεικνύοντας την πιθανή ρύθμιση του εντοπισμού της HURP από την CHD4. Τέλος από in vitro καιin vivo πειράματα, βρήκαμε ότι η CHD4 αλληλεπιδρά με τη μιτωτική κινάση Aurora A και την πρωτεΐνηTPX2 που συνδέεται με μικροσωληνίσκους, δημιουργώντας ένα καινούριο σύμπλοκο σημαντικό για τηλειτουργία της μιτωτικής ατράκτου στα κύτταρα θηλαστικών.


Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 2197
Author(s):  
Zachary M. Geisterfer ◽  
Gabriel Guilloux ◽  
Jesse C. Gatlin ◽  
Romain Gibeaux

Self-organization of and by the cytoskeleton is central to the biology of the cell. Since their introduction in the early 1980s, cytoplasmic extracts derived from the eggs of the African clawed-frog, Xenopus laevis, have flourished as a major experimental system to study the various facets of cytoskeleton-dependent self-organization. Over the years, the many investigations that have used these extracts uniquely benefited from their simplified cell cycle, large experimental volumes, biochemical tractability and cell-free nature. Here, we review the contributions of egg extracts to our understanding of the cytoplasmic aspects of self-organization by the microtubule and the actomyosin cytoskeletons as well as the importance of cytoskeletal filaments in organizing nuclear structure and function.


2011 ◽  
Vol 174 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-308
Author(s):  
Edison S.M. Carvalho ◽  
Juan Fuentes ◽  
Deborah M. Power

1981 ◽  
Vol 216 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H.-W. Korf ◽  
R. Liesner ◽  
H. Meissl ◽  
A. Kirk

Author(s):  
Peter Sterling

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.


Author(s):  
K.E. Krizan ◽  
J.E. Laffoon ◽  
M.J. Buckley

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.


Author(s):  
Robert L. Ochs

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.


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