Scanning microfluorometric measurement of TRITC-phalloidin labelled F-actin. Dependence of F-actin content on density of normal and transformed cells

A method is described for the determination of cellular F-actin content using fluorometry of TRITC-phalloidin at very high dilution. In this case no saturation of all binding sites available is reached, however the staining is highly specific and the specificity is not affected by the preparative procedure as may be the case at high concentrations of TRITC-phalloidin. The method is based on calculation of fluorescence intensity at equilibrium conditions from measurements at two different numbers of exchange of the staining solution by using Lineweaver-Burk plotting. The relative content of F-actin has been determined for three established cell lines, an amphibian cell line XTH-2 of endothelial origin, 3T3 cells and SV 40 transformed 3T3 cells. In the two non transformed lines F-actin decreases with increasing cell density starting with the onset of confluency of the culture. SV 40 transformed 3T3 cells generally contain less F-actin and do not show any significant point of change. The decrease in F-actin with increasing cell density is accompanied by a disappearance of stress fibres. SV 40 3T3 cells generally are devoid of stress fibres. The observations are discussed considering a possible involvement of F-actin in growth control.     

Scanning microfluorometric measurement of immunofluorescently labelled microtubules in cultured cells

Summary A method for evaluation of microtubule content in cultured cells has been developed. The method is based on scanning microfluorometric measurement of immunofluorescently labelled microtubules. The method has been applied to the comparison of microtubule content in epithelial XTH-2 cells grown in culture at various cell densities. The results have shown that the microtubule content in the cells is not dependent on their proliferative state rather than it depends on cellular contacts.     

Scanning microfluorometric measurement of cell constituents

Summary The scanning of fluorescence of a cell culture along a path several milimeters long, gives a series of signals, which allow calculation of the fluorescence emitted per cell. The emission at 450±10 nm, excited at 360 nm, provides a measure of NADH (and NADPH) per cell. Combination of this method with modifications in energy metabolism, allows determination in the same sample of total NAD content, of NAD redox state, content of NAD in the mitochondria and content of NAD plus NADP in the cytoplasm. The method can be extended to measure other cellular constituents by labelling with fluorescent markers, e.g. antibodies.     

Scanning microfluorometric measurement of immunofluorescently labelled microtubules in cultured cells. Dependence of microtubule content on cell density

A method for evaluation of microtubule content in cultured cells has been developed. The method is based on scanning microfluorometric measurement of immunofluorescently labelled microtubules. The method has been applied to the comparison of microtubule content in epithelial XTH-2 cells grown in culture at various cell densities. The results have shown that the microtubule content in the cells is not dependent on their proliferative state rather than it depends on cellular contacts.     

Fluorescence anisotropy of labelled F-actin: Influence of Ca2+ on the flexibility of F-actin

We measured the fluorescence static anisotropy and the time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy decay of F-actin labelled with N-iodoacetyl-N'-(5-sulfo-1-naphthyl)ethylenediamine at 20°C in solutions containing 100 mM KCl and free Ca²⁺ at various concentrations. The average fluorescence anisotropy and the fluorescence rotational correlation time of actin decreased in the presence of micromolar concentrations of free Ca²⁺. The change of the rotational correlation time of labelled actin could not be explained by a variation of the actin critical concentration. We concluded therefore that F-actin undergoes a conformational change induced by Ca²⁺ binding. The binding constant was 6 × 10⁶ M^?1.     

Scanning microfluorometric measurements of acriflavine-Feulgen-SITS-stained fibroblasts during G0-G1 transition

For the characterization of nonproliferating cells, scanning microfluorometric measurements of mouse fibroblasts (L-929) during G0-G1 transition were carried out. Samples were taken at different time intervals after serum stimulation. Cells were stained for DNA using the acriflavine-Feulgen method and for protein with 4-acetamido-4'-isothiocyanato-stilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (SITS). Considering that acid hydrolysis removes basic proteins, SITS fluorescence represents acidic proteins, which within the nucleus are to a large degree located in the nucleoli. From each preparation, nuclei were scanned at a 0.5 micrometer step size, measuring DNA and protein fluorescence successively. Fluorescence data of nucleoli were evaluated. The number of nucleoli reached a maximum two hours after stimulation. Both the total nucleolar area and fluorescence were found to increase, up to 8 and 11 hours, respectively, by a factor of four to five. This indicated that these fluorescence parameters can be used to distinguish between resting and cycling cells.     

人鼻咽癌细胞纤维肌动蛋白的共聚焦激光扫描显微镜观察

为探讨高分化和低分化鼻咽癌细胞纤维肌动蛋白（F-actin)的空间结构,采用共聚焦激光扫描显微镜光学切片技术结合异硫酸氢荧光素－鬼笔环肽（FITC－phalloidin)标记F-actin、碘化吡啶（PI）标记核酸的荧光探针双重标记技术,对鼻咽癌细胞F－actin进行光学切片、三维重组及形态学观察。实验结果可见高分化鼻咽癌细胞F－actin呈芒刺状分布于细胞表面,而在细胞突起末端细胞间连接处呈束状,放射状密集分布;代分化鼻咽癌细胞F－actin明显少于高分化鼻咽癌细胞,仅沿细胞膜表面呈弯曲细小绒毛状分布。结果表明F－actin在细胞内的空间分布与鼻咽癌的分化类型有关,肿瘤或恶性转化细胞的F－actin在形态和结构方面有异常改变;共聚焦激光扫描显微镜光学切片结合荧光双重标记技术是研究细菌骨架结构的理想方法。     

人膀胱癌细胞纤维肌动蛋白共聚焦激光扫描显微镜观察

探讨膀胱癌细胞纤维肌动蛋白（F－actin)的空间结构。采用共聚焦激光扫描显微镜光学切片技术结合异硫酸氢荧光素－鬼笔环肽（FITC－phalloidin)标记纤维肌动蛋白和碘化丙啶（PI）和标记核酸的荧光探针双重标记技术对膀胱癌细胞纤维肌动蛋白进行形态学观察,结果可见膀胱癌细胞内纤维肌动蛋白微丝形态完整,成细束或细丝状,平行排列地整个细胞或细胞突起,在胞质边缘处较密集。     

Flow microfluorometric and light-scatter measurement of nuclear and cytoplasmic size in mammalian cells.

A technique for rapid measurement of nuclear and cytoplasmic size relationships in mammalian cell populations has been developed. Based on fluorescence staining of either the nucleus alone or in combination with the cytoplasm using two-color fluorescence methods, this technique permits the simultaneous determination of nuclear and cytoplasmic diameters from fluorescence and light-scatter measurements. Cells stained in liquid suspension pass through a flow chamber at a constant velocity, intersecting a laser beam which excites cell fluorescence and causes light scatter. Depending upon which analysis procedure is used, optical sensors measure nuclear fluorescence and light scatter (whole cell size) or two-color nuclear and cytoplasmic fluorescence from individual cells crossing the laser beam. The time durations of signals generated by the nucleus and cytoplasm are converted electronically into signals proportional to the respective diameters and are displayed as frequency distribution hitograms. Illustrative examples of measurements on uniform microspheres, cultured mammalian cells and human exfoliated gynecologic cells are presented.     

A microfluorometric assay for the measurement of de novo DNA synthesis in individual cells

A microfluorometric assay has been developed for the quantitation of de novo DNA synthesis. The assay reliably detects newly synthesized DNA in individual cells and provides a relative measure of the proportion of new DNA in each cell. When combined with microscopic techniques for cell identification, selected subpopulations can be examined in samples containing a complex mixture of interacting cell types. The assay employs the quenching of Hoechst-33258 fluorescence by bromodeoxyuridine incorporated into newly synthesized DNA. The ability of BUdR to quench H-33258 fluorescence is lost after a brief exposure of ultraviolet fluorescence excitation. Therefore, quenched and unquenched fluorescence intensity measurements from the same cell can be compared. Increases in fluorescence intensity occur only in cells that have synthesized DNA after the addition of BUdR. In addition the change in fluorescence intensity is proportional to the degree of BUdR substitution within the range of the assay and provides a relative measure of DNA synthesis.     

Scanning microfluorometric measurement of cell constituents. Principles of the method and its application to the determination of NAD content and redox state of XTH-2 cells in culture

The scanning of fluorescence of a cell culture along a path several milimeters long, gives a series of signals, which allow calculation of the fluorescence emitted per cell. The emission at 450 +/- 10 nm, excited at 360 nm, provides a measure of NADH (and NADPH) per cell. Combination of this method with modifications in energy metabolism, allows determination in the same sample of total NAD content, of NAD redox state, content of NAD in the mitochondria and content of NAD plus NADP in the cytoplasm. The method can be extended to measure other cellular constituents by labelling with fluorescent markers, e.g. antibodies.     

Real-time measurement of F-actin remodelling during exocytosis using Lifeact-EGFP transgenic animals

F-actin remodelling is essential for a wide variety of cell processes. It is important in exocytosis, where F-actin coats fusing exocytic granules. The purpose of these F-actin coats is unknown. They may be important in stabilizing the fused granules, they may play a contractile role and promote expulsion of granule content and finally may be important in endocytosis. To elucidate these functions of F-actin remodelling requires a reliable method to visualize F-actin dynamics in living cells. The recent development of Lifeact-EGFP transgenic animals offers such an opportunity. Here, we studied the characteristics of exocytosis in pancreatic acinar cells obtained from the Lifeact-EGFP transgenic mice. We show that the time-course of agonist-evoked exocytic events and the kinetics of each single exocytic event are the same for wild type and Lifeact-EGFP transgenic animals. We conclude that Lifeact-EGFP animals are a good model to study of exocytosis and reveal that F-actin coating is dependent on the de novo synthesis of F-actin and that development of actin polymerization occurs simultaneously in all regions of the granule. Our insights using the Lifeact-EGFP mice demonstrate that F-actin coating occurs after granule fusion and is a granule-wide event.     

Anisotropy decay of labelled actin. Evidence of the flexibility of the peptide chain in F-actin molecules.

G actin, labelled presumably on cysteine-373 with the fluorescent chromophore N-iodoacetyl-N'-(5 sulfo-1-napthyl)-ethylenediamine and purified by Sephacryl S-200 gel chromatography, migrated in one band on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and had the same polymerizability as unlabelled purified G actin. Anisotropy decays of labelled actin solutions have been studied at different ionic strengths and protein concentrations. It was found that these anisotropy decays could be fitted by a sum of two exponential functions. Under low ionic strength or below the critical concentrations the longer correlation time (45 ns at 3.5 degrees C) was independent of protein concentration and ionic strength. Above the critical concentration, the longer correlation time increased with ionic strength and protein concentration. In order to take into account that, under these conditions, the solutions contained a mixture of F and G actin at the critical concentration, the anisotropy decays were analysed as a sum of three exponential functions in which the longest correlation time characterized F actin. Since F actin correlation time also depended on actin concentration, an analysis with a sum of four exponential functions was performed, in which two fixed correlation times (100 ns and 900 ns at 3.5 degrees C) were introduced in order to characterize the F actin motions. The lower of these correlation times was attributed to regions where two actin filaments interact side by side, while the shorter one was attributed to filament regions free from intermolecular interactions. The small value of the free F actin correlation time indicates that the protomer peptide chain is very flexible around its C terminus, probably involving the motion of a molecular lobe. This flexibility might be an important factor in the interaction of actin with myosin during the muscular contraction.     

Towards microfluorometric quantitation of polyamines in situ

Summary Two different fluorescence cytochemical methods, the formaldehyde-fluorescamine (FF) method and the orthophthalaldehyde (OPT) method as well as an immunocytochemical method have been developed for the localization of spermidine and spermine. Of these three methods, the FF-method is the most easy to perform. We have studied the relationship between fluorescence intensity induced by the FF-method and cellular polyamine levels measured by HPLC in MCF-7 cells and HeLa cells. The experiments were designed to obtain different cell concentrations of polyamines. Cells grown on microscope slides in Petri-dishes were partly depleted of spermidine by two days inhibition of their ornithine decarboxylase activity using -difluoromethylornithine. One hr before harvest the cells were exposed to different concentrations (0–30 M) of spermidine. Microfluorometric results and chemical determinations of spermidine and spermine were obtained from each separate slide. The cellular total polyamine (spermidine + spermine) concentration on the slides varied between 4 and 15 nmol per mg protein (MCF-7 cells) and 5 and 26 nmol per mg protein (HeLa cells) and the corresponding microfluorometric results between 60 and 115 arbitrary units (MCF-7 cells) and 80 and 160 arbitrary units (HeLa cells). Simple regression analysis showed a good linear relationship between cellular polyamine concentration and FF-fluorescence yield. The correlation coefficient for MCF-7 cells was 0.86 and for HeLa cells 0.82, significance of the correlations was p0.0001. Our results add further credence to the specificity of the FF-method and indicate that the method may be useful for microfluorometric quantitation of polyamines in situ.     

Viscoelasticity of F-actin and F-actin/gelsolin complexes

Actin is the major protein of eukaryote peripheral cytoplasm where its mechanical effects could determine cell shape and motility. The mechanical properties of purified F-actin, whether it is a viscoelastic fluid or an elastic solid, have been a subject of controversy. Mainstream polymer theory predicts that filaments as long as those found in purified F-actin are so interpenetrated as to appear immobile in measurements over a reasonable time with available instrumentation and that the fluidity of F-actin could only be manifest if the filaments were shortened. We show that the static and dynamic elastic moduli below a critical degree of shear strain are much higher than previously reported, consistent with extreme interpenetration, but that higher strain or treatment with very low concentrations of the F-actin severing protein gelsolin greatly diminish the moduli and cause F-actin to exhibit rheologic behavior expected for independent semidilute rods, and defined by the dimensions of the filaments, including shear rate independent viscosity below a critical shear rate. The findings show that shortening of actin filaments sufficiently to permit reasonable measurements brings out their viscoelastic fluid properties. Since gelsolin shortens F-actin, it is likely that the effect of high strain is also to fragment a population of long actin filaments. We confirmed recent findings that the viscosity of F-actin is inversely proportional to the shear rate, consistent with an indeterminate fluid, but found that gelsolin abolishes this unusual shear rate dependence, indicating that it results from filament disruption during the viscosity measurements.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Flow microfluorometric analysis of isolated Chinese hamster chromosomes

Isolated Chinese hamster chromosomes were analysed by flow microfluorometry after staining with ethidium bromide. Peaks corresponding to the expected DNA content of each of the autosomes were observed. Examination of chromosomes partially fractionated by zonal centrifugation on sucrose gradients verified the identity of the chromosomes in the various peaks of the whole karyotype. The significance of these observations to karyotype analysis is discussed.     

Flow microfluorometric analysis of H-2L expression

The cell surface expression of H-2L, a major transplantation antigen, was compared by flow microfluorometry to the expression of products of H-2K and H-2D loci, using monoclonal antibodies. By this methodology, the ontogeny and tissue distribution of Ld antigens were found to be indistinguishable from those of the K and D antigens. In a reciprocal blocking assay, using fluorescein-labeled test reagents, it was shown that monoclonals anti-H-2.65 and anti-H-2.64 did not inhibit the binding of each other. These results suggest that the alloantigenic determinants H-2.64 and H-2.65 are located at distinct sites on Ld molecules. Quantitative comparisons using the fluorescein-labeled monoclonal reagents indicated that Ld molecules are expressed at 2- to 3-fold lower levels on the cell surface compared with K and D molecules. These findings give new credence to a "3-locus" model for the major histocompatibility complex of man and mouse, where H-2L and HLA-C share several homologies that are unique and distinguish them from the other histocompatibility loci.