scholarly journals Binding of parbendazole to tubulin and its influence on microtubules in tissue-culture cells as revealed by immunofluorescence microscopy

1981 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-204
Author(s):  
J.C. Havercroft ◽  
R.A. Quinlan ◽  
K. Gull

We have shown that the benzimidazole carbamate, parbendazole, is a potent inhibitor of microtubule assembly in vitro and in vivo. Radiolabelled parbendazole was shown to bind to purified tubulin. Immunofluorescence studies using antitubulin antibody showed that parbendazole effectively depolymerizes cytoplasmic microtubules in animal cells leaving only one or two microtubules associated with one centriole. The usefulness of parbendazole and other benzimidazole carbamates as inhibitors of microtubule functions is discussed.

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 5089-5097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. King ◽  
Christa L. Brown ◽  
Kerstin C. Maier ◽  
Nicholas J. Quintyne ◽  
Trina A. Schroer

Cytoplasmic dynein and dynactin are megadalton-sized multisubunit molecules that function together as a cytoskeletal motor. In the present study, we explore the mechanism of dynein-dynactin binding in vitro and then extend our findings to an in vivo context. Solution binding assays were used to define binding domains in the dynein intermediate chain (IC) and dynactin p150Glued subunit. Transient overexpression of a series of fragments of the dynein IC was used to determine the importance of this subunit for dynein function in mammalian tissue culture cells. Our results suggest that a functional dynein-dynactin interaction is required for proper microtubule organization and for the transport and localization of centrosomal components and endomembrane compartments. The dynein IC fragments have different effects on endomembrane localization, suggesting that different endomembranes may bind dynein via distinct mechanisms.


1989 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 725-731
Author(s):  
M.E. Bramwell ◽  
S.M. Humm

Using immunoblotting techniques, the antigen that binds the monoclonal antibody M27 has been clearly defined in terms of apparent molecular mass and distribution. In reducing conditions it has an apparent mass of 178K (K = 10(3) Mr) and is present in the cytoplasm and membranes of all mammalian tissue culture cells so far examined. It is absent from lines derived from avian, piscine and amphibian sources. It is also absent from foetal liver of both rat and mouse, but subsequently appears after cultivation in vitro. Similarly, it can be detected on rat lymphocytes only after mitogenic stimulation. However, it is found on both hepatoma and lymphoma cells in vitro, and on in vivo tumours from murine sources. It thus appears to be associated with cell proliferation.


1998 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
pp. 1169-1179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyue Peter Chen ◽  
Hongwei Yin ◽  
Tim C. Huffaker

We have previously shown that Stu2p is a microtubule-binding protein and a component of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae spindle pole body (SPB). Here we report the identification of Spc72p, a protein that interacts with Stu2p. Stu2p and Spc72p associate in the two-hybrid system and can be coimmunoprecipitated from yeast extracts. Stu2p and Spc72p also interact with themselves, suggesting the possibility of a multimeric Stu2p-Spc72p complex. Spc72p is an essential component of the SPB and is able to associate with a preexisting SPB, indicating that there is a dynamic exchange between soluble and SPB forms of Spc72p. Unlike Stu2p, Spc72p does not bind microtubules in vitro, and was not observed to localize along microtubules in vivo. A temperature-sensitive spc72 mutation causes defects in SPB morphology. In addition, most spc72 mutant cells lack cytoplasmic microtubules; the few cytoplasmic microtubules that are observed are excessively long, and some of these are unattached to the SPB. spc72 cells are able to duplicate and separate their SPBs to form a bipolar spindle, but spindle elongation and chromosome segregation rarely occur. The chromosome segregation block does not arrest the cell cycle; instead, spc72 cells undergo cytokinesis, producing aploid cells and polyploid cells that contain multiple SPBs.


Author(s):  
W. David Arnold ◽  
Arthur H. M. Burghes

Spinal muscular Atrophy (SMA) is caused by reduced levels of the SMN protein. In humans this is caused by loss of SMN1 and retention of SMN2. The challenge in modelling SMA, in either tissue culture cells or animals, is first to obtain the desired SMN levels equivalent to what is observed in SMA. Various models of SMA in tissue culture cells, invertebrates, and mammals have been created have been developed. The targets of SMN reduction that are most relevant for the pathogenesis of SMA and how the phenotype of SMA can be modified independent of SMN levels are two important questions that remain unanswered. Here the current in vitro and in vivo models of SMA are summarized.


2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (13) ◽  
pp. 2505-2518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutian Peng ◽  
Michelle Moritz ◽  
Xuemei Han ◽  
Thomas H. Giddings ◽  
Andrew Lyon ◽  
...  

Casein kinase 1δ (CK1δ) family members associate with microtubule-organizing centers (MTOCs) from yeast to humans, but their mitotic roles and targets have yet to be identified. We show here that budding yeast CK1δ, Hrr25, is a γ-tubulin small complex (γTuSC) binding factor. Moreover, Hrr25's association with γTuSC depends on its kinase activity and its noncatalytic central domain. Loss of Hrr25 kinase activity resulted in assembly of unusually long cytoplasmic microtubules and defects in spindle positioning, consistent with roles in regulation of γTuSC-mediated microtubule nucleation and the Kar9 spindle-positioning pathway, respectively. Hrr25 directly phosphorylated γTuSC proteins in vivo and in vitro, and this phosphorylation promoted γTuSC integrity and activity. Because CK1δ and γTuSC are highly conserved and present at MTOCs in diverse eukaryotes, similar regulatory mechanisms are expected to apply generally in eukaryotes.


Author(s):  
E. D. Salmon ◽  
J. C. Waters ◽  
C. Waterman-Storer

We have developed a multi-mode digital imaging system which acquires images with a cooled CCD camera (Figure 1). A multiple band pass dichromatic mirror and robotically controlled filter wheels provide wavelength selection for epi-fluorescence. Shutters select illumination either by epi-fluorescence or by transmitted light for phase contrast or DIC. Many of our experiments involve investigations of spindle assembly dynamics and chromosome movements in live cells or unfixed reconstituted preparations in vitro in which photodamage and phototoxicity are major concerns. As a consequence, a major factor in the design was optical efficiency: achieving the highest image quality with the least number of illumination photons. This principle applies to both epi-fluorescence and transmitted light imaging modes. In living cells and extracts, microtubules are visualized using X-rhodamine labeled tubulin. Photoactivation of C2CF-fluorescein labeled tubulin is used to locally mark microtubules in studies of microtubule dynamics and translocation. Chromosomes are labeled with DAPI or Hoechst DNA intercalating dyes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Zheng ◽  
Na Tian ◽  
Fei Liu ◽  
Yidian Zhang ◽  
Jingfen Su ◽  
...  

AbstractIntraneuronal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau is a hallmark pathology shown in over twenty neurodegenerative disorders, collectively termed as tauopathies, including the most common Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Therefore, selectively removing or reducing hyperphosphorylated tau is promising for therapies of AD and other tauopathies. Here, we designed and synthesized a novel DEPhosphorylation TArgeting Chimera (DEPTAC) to specifically facilitate the binding of tau to Bα-subunit-containing protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A-Bα), the most active tau phosphatase in the brain. The DEPTAC exhibited high efficiency in dephosphorylating tau at multiple AD-associated sites and preventing tau accumulation both in vitro and in vivo. Further studies revealed that DEPTAC significantly improved microtubule assembly, neurite plasticity, and hippocampus-dependent learning and memory in transgenic mice with inducible overexpression of truncated and neurotoxic human tau N368. Our data provide a strategy for selective removal of the hyperphosphorylated tau, which sheds new light for the targeted therapy of AD and related-tauopathies.


1984 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Merrell ◽  
R. I. Walker ◽  
S. W. Joseph

The initial interaction and adherence of Vibrio parahemolyticus to epithelial tissue culture cells, human buccal epithelial cells, and the ileal mucosa of mice were studied. Using scanning electron microscopy, adherent bacteria were observed only on degenerating human embryonic intestinal, HeLa, and buccal cells; healthy normal cells were devoid of bacteria. Sheared V. parahaemolyticus, i.e., lacking flagella, did not adhere to either normal or degenerating tissue cells. Neither ultraviolet-inactivated organisms nor cell-free culture supernate affected the epithelial cells. Similar findings were observed on the mucosa of the ileum in mice inoculated with V. parahaemolyticus. It appears that V. parahaemolyticus possesses a cytotoxic factor which alters epithelial cells. This factor appears to be closely associated with viable organisms and may be a functional element in the adherence process of flagellated V. parahaemolyticus to mammalian epithelial cells.


2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 698-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvie Ozon ◽  
Antoine Guichet ◽  
Olivier Gavet ◽  
Siegfried Roth ◽  
André Sobel

Stathmin is a ubiquitous regulatory phosphoprotein, the generic element of a family of neural phosphoproteins in vertebrates that possess the capacity to bind tubulin and interfere with microtubule dynamics. Although stathmin and the other proteins of the family have been associated with numerous cell regulations, their biological roles remain elusive, as in particular inactivation of the stathmin gene in the mouse resulted in no clear deleterious phenotype. We identified stathmin phosphoproteins inDrosophila, encoded by a unique gene sharing the intron/exon structure of the vertebrate stathmin andstathmin family genes. They interfere with microtubule assembly in vitro, and in vivo when expressed in HeLa cells. Drosophila stathmin expression is regulated during embryogenesis: it is high in the migrating germ cells and in the central and peripheral nervous systems, a pattern resembling that of mammalian stathmin. Furthermore, RNA interference inactivation ofDrosophila stathmin expression resulted in germ cell migration arrest at stage 14. It also induced important anomalies in nervous system development, such as loss of commissures and longitudinal connectives in the ventral cord, or abnormal chordotonal neuron organization. In conclusion, a single Drosophilagene encodes phosphoproteins homologous to the entire vertebrate stathmin family. We demonstrate for the first time their direct involvement in major biological processes such as development of the reproductive and nervous systems.


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