Nucleolus behaviour during the cell cycle of a primitive dinoflagellate eukaryote, Prorocentrum micans Ehr., seen by light microscopy and electron microscopy

1992 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 475-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARIE-ODILE SOYER-GOBILLARD ◽  
MARIE-LINE GERAUD
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Light Microscopy ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Microscopy Observation ◽  
Prorocentrum Micans ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Nucleolar Material ◽  
Freeze Fixation ◽  
Higher Eukaryotes

Light-microscopy observation of the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum micans after silver-staining of the argyrophilic proteins of the nucleolar organizing region (Ag-NOR staining) showed the presence of nucleolar material throughout the vegetative cell cycle, and in particular during all the mitotic stages. This contrasts with the case in most higher eukaryotes, in which nucleoli disappear at the end of prophase and are reconstituted in daughter cells during telophase. Electron-microscope (EM) observations after conventional or fast-freeze fixation revealed that during interphase several functional nucleoli with three compartments (NORs, the fibrillogranular and the preribosomal granular compartments) are present in a nucleus in which the envelope is persistent and the chromosomes are always compact. During early prophase, when chromosomes are beginning to split, the nucleoli remain functional, whereas in late prophase they contain only a NOR and the granular component, and the chromosomes are surrounded by many protein masses. In early telophase, the nucleolar material coating the chromosomes migrates along with the chromosomes. Nucleologenesis occurs through the formation of prenucleolar bodies around lateral or telomeric nucleofilaments extruding from the chromosomes. Several chromosomes can contribute to the formation of one nucleolus. The behaviour of these ‘persistent nucleoli’ in a closed-nucleus model such as that of the dinoflagellates is discussed with regard to the higher eukaryotes.

scholarly journals Human Cyclin a Is Required for Mitosis until Mid Prophase

1999 ◽  
Vol 147 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuaki Furuno ◽  
Nicole den Elzen ◽  
Jonathon Pines
Keyword(s):  
Cyclin A ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
S Phase ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Cyclin Dependent Kinase ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
G2 Phase ◽  
Rate Limiting

We have used microinjection and time-lapse video microscopy to study the role of cyclin A in mitosis. We have injected purified, active cyclin A/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) into synchronized cells at specific points in the cell cycle and assayed its effect on cell division. We find that cyclin A/CDK2 will drive G2 phase cells into mitosis within 30 min of microinjection, up to 4 h before control cells enter mitosis. Often this premature mitosis is abnormal; the chromosomes do not completely condense and daughter cells fuse. Remarkably, microinjecting cyclin A/CDK2 into S phase cells has no effect on progress through the following G2 phase or mitosis. In complementary experiments we have microinjected the amino terminus of p21Cip1/Waf1/Sdi1 (p21N) into cells to inhibit cyclin A/CDK2 activity. We find that p21N will prevent S phase or G2 phase cells from entering mitosis, and will cause early prophase cells to return to interphase. These results suggest that cyclin A/CDK2 is a rate-limiting component required for entry into mitosis, and for progress through mitosis until late prophase. They also suggest that cyclin A/CDK2 may be the target of the recently described prophase checkpoint.

scholarly journals Entry into Mitosis in Vertebrate Somatic Cells Is Guarded by a Chromosome Damage Checkpoint That Reverses the Cell Cycle When Triggered during Early but Not Late Prophase

1998 ◽  
Vol 142 (4) ◽  
pp. 1013-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conly L. Rieder ◽  
Richard W. Cole
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Somatic Cells ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Checkpoint Control ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Cytoplasmic Microtubule ◽  
Nuclear Envelope Breakdown ◽  
Prophase Nucleus ◽  
Nuclear Events ◽  
A Cell

When vertebrate somatic cells are selectively irradiated in the nucleus during late prophase (<30 min before nuclear envelope breakdown) they progress normally through mitosis even if they contain broken chromosomes. However, if early prophase nuclei are similarly irradiated, chromosome condensation is reversed and the cells return to interphase. Thus, the G2 checkpoint that prevents entry into mitosis in response to nuclear damage ceases to function in late prophase. If one nucleus in a cell containing two early prophase nuclei is selectively irradiated, both return to interphase, and prophase cells that have been induced to returned to interphase retain a normal cytoplasmic microtubule complex. Thus, damage to an early prophase nucleus is converted into a signal that not only reverses the nuclear events of prophase, but this signal also enters the cytoplasm where it inhibits e.g., centrosome maturation and the formation of asters. Immunofluorescent analyses reveal that the irradiation-induced reversion of prophase is correlated with the dephosphorylation of histone H1, histone H3, and the MPM2 epitopes. Together, these data reveal that a checkpoint control exists in early but not late prophase in vertebrate cells that, when triggered, reverses the cell cycle by apparently downregulating existing cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK1) activity.

scholarly journals Binding of E-MAP-115 to microtubules is regulated by cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation.

1995 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
pp. 1015-1024 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Masson ◽  
T E Kreis
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Hela Cells ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Biochemical Characterization ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Cell Polarization ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Mitotic Cells

Expression levels of E-MAP-115, a microtubule-associated protein that stabilizes microtubules, increase with epithelial cell polarization and differentiation (Masson and Kreis, 1993). Although polarizing cells contain significant amounts of this protein, they can still divide and thus all stabilized microtubules must disassemble at the onset of mitosis to allow formation of the dynamic mitotic spindle. We show here that binding of E-MAP-115 to microtubules is regulated by phosphorylation during the cell cycle. Immunolabeling of HeLa cells for E-MAP-115 indicates that the protein is absent from microtubules during early prophase and progressively reassociates with microtubules after late prophase. A fraction of E-MAP-115 from HeLa cells released from a block at the G1/S boundary runs with higher apparent molecular weight on SDS-PAGE, with a peak correlating with the maximal number of cells in early stages of mitosis. E-MAP-115 from nocodazole-arrested mitotic cells, which can be obtained in larger amounts, displays identical modifications and was used for further biochemical characterization. The level of incorporation of 32P into mitotic E-MAP-115 is about 15-fold higher than into the interphase protein. Specific threonine phosphorylation occurs in mitosis, and the amount of phosphate associated with serine also increases. Hyperphosphorylated E-MAP-115 from mitotic cells cannot bind stably to microtubules in vitro. These results suggest that phosphorylation of E-MAP-115 is a prerequisite for increasing the dynamic properties of the interphase microtubules which leads to the assembly of the mitotic spindle at the onset of mitosis. Microtubule-associated proteins are thus most likely key targets for kinases which control changes in microtubule dynamic properties at the G2- to M-phase transition.

scholarly journals ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS ON THE SUBMICROSCOPIC MORPHOLOGY OF THE MEIOTIC NUCLEUS AND CHROMOSOMES

1956 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 785-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. De Robertis
Keyword(s):  
Meiotic Prophase ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Metaphase Chromosomes ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Continuous Transition ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Nucleolar Material ◽  
Mean Diameter ◽  
The Mean

Thin sections of the testicular follicles of the grasshopper Laplatacris dispar were studied under the electron microscope. In the primary spermatocytes, during meiotic prophase, three main regions can be recognized within the nucleus: (1) the nucleolus and associated nucleolar material; (2) the interchromosomal regions with the dense particles; and (3) the chromosomes. The nucleolus is generally compact and is surrounded by nucleolar bodies that comprise aggregations of dense round particles 100 to 250 A in diameter. A continuous transition can be observed between these particles and those found isolated or in short chains in the interchromosomal spaces. Particles of similar size (mean diameter of 160 A) can be found associated with the nuclear membrane and in the cytoplasm. The chromosomes show different degrees of condensation in different stages of meiotic prophase. The bulk of the chromosome appears to be made of very fine and irregularly coiled filaments of macromolecular dimensions. Their length cannot be determined because of the thinness of the section but some of them can be followed without interruption for about 1000 to 2000 A. The thickness of the chromosome filaments seems to vary with different stages of prophase and in metaphase. In early prophase, filaments vary between 28 ± 7 A and 84 ± 7 A with a mean of 47 A, in late prophase the mean is about 70 A. In metaphase the filaments vary between 60 and 170 A with a mean of about 100 A. Neither the prophase nor the metaphase chromosomes have a membrane or other inhomogeneities. The finding of a macromolecular filamentous component of chromosomes is discussed in relation to the physicochemical literature on nucleoproteins and nucleic acids and as a result it is suggested that the thinnest chromosome filaments (28 ± 7 A) probably represent single deoxyribonucleoprotein molecules.

scholarly journals THE FINE STRUCTURE OF MITOSIS IN RAT THYMIC LYMPHOCYTES

1965 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 601-619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond G. Murray ◽  
Assia S. Murray ◽  
Anthony Pizzo
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Fine Structure ◽  
Nuclear Envelope ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Central Plate ◽  
Spindle Apparatus ◽  
Late Telophase

The fine structure of rat thymic lymphocytes from early prophase to late telophase of mitosis is described, using material fixed at pH 7.3 either in 1 per cent OsO4 or in glutaraldehyde followed by 2 per cent OsO4. The structure of the centriolar complex of interphase thymocytes is analyzed and compared with that of centrioles during division. The appearance of daughter centrioles is the earliest clearly recognizable sign of prophase. Daughter centrioles probably retain a secondary relation to the primary centriole, while the latter appears to be related, both genetically and spatially, to the spindle apparatus. The nuclear envelope persists in recognizable form to help reconstitute the envelopes of the daughter nuclei. Ribosome bodies (dense aggregates of ribosomes) accumulate, beginning at late prophase, and are retained by the daughter cells. Cytokinesis proceeds by formation of a ribosome-free plate at the equator with a central plate of vesicles which may coalesce to form the new plasma membrane of the daughter cells. Stages in the formation of the midbody are illustrated.

scholarly journals Nucleolus disassembly and distribution of segregated nucleolar material in prophase of root-tip meristematic cells in Triticum aestivum L.

2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-410
Author(s):  
Jianyue Wang ◽  
Feixiong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Chromatin Condensation ◽  
Triticum Aestivum L ◽  
Wheat Root ◽  
Root Tip ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
En Bloc ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Root Cells ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Nucleolar Material

This paper presents details of the process of nucleolar disassembly, studied by conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in wheat root cells. In early prophase, chromatin condensation and irregular nucleolar morphology are observed, with many small particles appearing around the nucleolus. In middle prophase, the nucleolus radiates outwards; in late prophase, the fine structure of the nucleolus disappears and nucleolar material diffuses away. Using ?en bloc? silver-staining to distinguish between nucleoli and chromatin, we observed that the dispersed nucleolar material aggregates around the chromatin, forming a sheath-like perichromosomal structure that coats the chromosomes in late prophase.

scholarly journals A comparison of the distribution of actin and tubulin in the mammalian mitotic spindle as seen by indirect immunofluorescence.

1977 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 552-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
W Z Cande ◽  
E Lazarides ◽  
J R McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Immunofluorescence ◽  
Mitotic Spindle ◽  
Metaphase Plate ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Chromosome Movement ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Small Ball ◽  
Nuclear Envelope Breakdown ◽  
Daughter Cells

Rabbit antibodies against actin and tubulin were used in an indirect immunofluorescence study of the structure of the mitotic spindle of PtK1 cells after lysis under conditions that preserve anaphase chromosome movement. During early prophase there is no antiactin staining associated with the mitotic centers, but by late prophase, as the spindle is beginning to form, a small ball of actin antigenicity is found beside the nucleus; After nuclear envelope breakdown, the actiactin stains the region around each mitotic center, and becomes organized into fibers that run between the chromosomes and the poles. Colchicine blocks this organization, but does not disrupt the staining at the poles. At metaphase the antiactin reveals a halo of ill-defined radius around each spindle pole and fibers that run from the poles to the metaphase plate. Antitubulin shows astral rays, fibers running from chromosomes to poles, and some fibers that run across the metaphase plate. At anaphase, there is a shortening of the antiactin-stained fibers, leaving a zone which is essentially free of actin-staining fluorescence between the separating chromosomes. Antitubulin stains the region between chromosomes and poles, but also reveals substantial fibers running through the zone between separating chromosomes. Cells fixed during cytokinesis show actin in the region of the cleavage furrow, while antitubulin reveals the fibrous spindle remnant that runs between daughter cells. These results suggest that actin is a component of the mammalian mitotic spindle, that the distribution of actin differs from that of tubulin and that the distributions of these two fibrous proteins change in different ways during anaphase.

Unorthodox male meiosis in Trichosia pubescens (Sciaridae). Chromosome elimination involves polar organelle degeneration and monocentric spindles in first and second division

1994 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Fuge
Keyword(s):  
Meiotic Division ◽  
Metaphase Plate ◽  
Chromosome Elimination ◽  
Spindle Pole ◽  
Male Meiosis ◽  
Early Prophase ◽  
Late Prophase ◽  
Section Electron ◽  
The One ◽  
Polar Organelle

Male meiosis in Trichosia pubescens (Sciaridae) was investigated by means of serial section electron microscopy and immunofluorescence light microscopy. From earlier studies of another sciarid fly, Sciara coprophila (Phillips (1967) J. Cell. Biol. 33, 73–92), it is known that the spindle poles in sciarid spermatogonia are characterized by pairs of ‘giant centrioles’, ring-shaped organelles composed of large numbers of singlet microtubules. In the present study spermatocytes in early prophase of Trichosia were found to possess single giant centrioles at opposite sides of the nucleus. The obvious reduction in centriole number from the spermatogonial to the spermatocyte stage is suggested to be the result of a suppression of daughter centriole formation. In late prophase, a large aster is developed around the centriole at one pole. At the opposite pole no comparable aster is formed. Instead, a number of irregular centriolar components appear in this region, a process that is understood to be a degeneration of the polar organelle. The components of the degenerate pole migrate into a cytoplasmic protrusion (‘bud’), which later is also utilized for the elimination of paternal chromosomes. The existence of only one functional polar centre is the reason for the formation of a monopolar monocentric spindle in first meiotic division, which in turn is one of the prerequisites for the elimination of paternal chromosomes. While the set of maternal and L chromosomes orientates and probably moves towards the pole, paternal chromosomes seem to be unable to contact the pole, possibly due to an inactivation of their kinetochores. Retrograde (‘away from the pole’) chromosome motion not involving kinetochores is assumed. Eventually, paternal chromosomes move into the pole-distal bud and are eliminated by casting off, together with the components of the degenerate polar organelle. Chromosome elimination can be delayed until the second meiotic division. The spindle of the second meiotic division is bipolar and monocentric. One spindle pole is marked by the polar centre of first division. The opposite spindle apex is devoid of a polar centre. It is assumed that spindle bipolarity in the second division is induced by the amphi-orientated chromosomes themselves. The maternal and L chromosome set (except the non-disjunctional X chromosome, which is found near the polar centre) congress in a metaphase plate, divide and segregate. Of the two daughter nuclei resulting from the second meiotic division, the one containing the X chromatids is retained as the nucleus of the future spermatozoon. The other nucleus becomes again eliminated within a second cytoplasmic bud.

Bcl-2 protein localizes to the chromosomes of mitotic nuclei and is correlated with the cell cycle in cultured epithelial cell lines

1994 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-371
Author(s):  
Q.L. Lu ◽  
A.M. Hanby ◽  
M.A. Nasser Hajibagheri ◽  
S.E. Gschmeissner ◽  
P.J. Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Epithelial Cell ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Cytoplasmic Localization ◽  
Human Epithelial Cell ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Epithelial Cell Lines ◽  
Cell Immortalization

bcl-2 gene expression confers a survival advantage by preventing cells from entering apoptosis. In contrast to the previously described cytoplasmic localization of Bcl-2 in epithelial cells in vivo, in this study we have demonstrated, in a series of human epithelial cell lines, that Bcl-2 also localizes to mitotic nuclei. Both immunocytochemical and immunoelectron microscopical examinations localize this protein to nuclei and in particular to chromosomes. Nuclear Bcl-2 expression in these cell lines is correlated with the cell cycle. There is relatively strong expression during mitosis, most intense during prophase and metaphase, declining in telophase and then the protein becomes undetectable soon after separation of the two daughter cells. The expression and distribution of Bcl-2 is influenced by treatment with excessive thymidine. These results indicate that Bcl-2 may protect the cells from apoptosis occurring during mitosis and suggest a possible role for the protein in cell immortalization.

scholarly journals Generation of asymmetry during development. Segregation of type-specific proteins in Caulobacter.

1979 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Agabian ◽  
M Evinger ◽  
G Parker
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Cell Division ◽  
Messenger Rna ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Specific Protein ◽  
Soluble Proteins ◽  
Specific Cell ◽  
Daughter Cells ◽  
Specific Proteins ◽  
Entire Cell

An essential event in developmental processes is the introduction of asymmetry into an otherwise undifferentiated cell population. Cell division in Caulobacter is asymmetric; the progeny cells are structurally different and follow different sequences of development, thus providing a useful model system for the study of differentiation. Because the progeny cells are different from one another, there must be a segregation of morphogenetic and informational components at some time in the cell cycle. We have examined the pattern of specific protein segregation between Caulobacter stalked and swarmer daughter cells, with the rationale that such a progeny analysis would identify both structurally and developmentally important proteins. To complement the study, we have also examined the pattern of protein synthesis during synchronous growth and in various cellular fractions. We show here, for the first time, that the association of proteins with a specific cell type may result not only from their periodicity of synthesis, but also from their pattern of distribution at the time of cell division. Several membrane-associated and soluble proteins are segregated asymmetrically between progeny stalked and swarmer cells. The data further show that a subclass of soluble proteins becomes associated with the membrane of the progeny stalked cells. Therefore, although the principal differentiated cell types possess different synthetic capabilities and characteristic proteins, the asymmetry between progeny stalked and swarmer cells is generated primarily by the preferential association of specific soluble proteins with the membrane of only one daughter cell. The majority of the proteins which exhibit this segregation behavior are synthesized during the entire cell cycle and exhibit relatively long, functional messenger RNA half-lives.

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