In vitro reactivation of anaphase B in isolated spindles of the sea urchin egg

Spindles may be isolated from sea urchin eggs so that some mitotic processes can be reactivated in vitro. The isolation media allow spindles to remain stable for days. Transfer of the spindles to reactivation media results in loss of birefringence and breakdown of the matrix within which the microtubules function. If, however, tubulin and either guanosine triphosphate or adenosine triphosphate are present in these media so that tubulin can cycle, the spindles do not break down but grow in size and birefringence and show some of the movements of in vivo spindles. The most prominent is that of anaphase B if the mitotic apparatuses (MAs) have been isolated at a time when anaphase was initiated. When isolated during metaphase, MAs either do not show chromosome movement or, if they do, it is a random movement which causes redistribution of the chromosomes on the spindle surface. In either case, such metaphase spindles grow in size and birefringence. Thus under the proper conditions, cycling microtubules can interact with the spindle matrix to induce chromosome movements which resemble those seen in in vivo cells in the case of anaphase B and show some aspects of anaphase A in at least half the spindles isolated at metaphase, although such movements are not coordinated to show a true anaphase movement.     

A comparative study of the distribution of fluorescently labeled calmodulin and tubulin in the meiotic apparatus of the mouse oocyte

The localizations of tubulin and calmodulin were investigated in the mouse oocyte during the second meiosis by fluorescently labeling and microinjecting these proteins prepared from porcine brain tissue. When injected, both tubulin and calmodulin were quickly incorporated into the preformed meiotic apparatus of the oocyte at metaphase. The localization of labeled tubulin was coincident with that of birefringence. However, the localization of labeled calmodulin was somewhat different: the fluorescence of calmodulin was intense in the polar regions of the spindle. After the chromosomes began to move, followed by parthenogenetic activation upon microinjection of a calcium buffer, these two fluorescent proteins, localized in the meiotic apparatus, moved to the interzonal region of the spindle during anaphase. At late anaphase and throughout telophase, calmodulin was excluded from the mid-bodylike structures in the interzonal region, whereas tubulin did accumulate in these structures.     

Quantitative studies on the polarization optical properties of living cells II. The role of microtubules in birefringence of the spindle of the sea urchin egg

Birefringence of the mitotic apparatus (MA) and its change during mitosis in sea urchin eggs were quantitatively determined using the birefringence detection apparatus reported in the preceding paper (Hiramoto el al., 1981, J. Cell Biol. 89:115-120). The birefringence and the form of the MA are represented by five parameters: peak retardation (delta p), through retardation (delta t), interpolar distance (D1), the distance (D2) between chromosome groups moving toward poles, and the distance (D3) between two retardation peaks. Distributions of birefringence retardation and the coefficient of birefringence in the spindle were quantitatively determined in MAs isolated during metaphase and anaphase. The distribution of microtubules (MTs) contained in the spindle is attributable to the form birefringence caused by regularly arranged MTs. The distribution coincided fairly well with the distribution of MTs in isolated MAs determined by electron microscopy. Under the same assumption, the distribution of MTS in the spindle in living cells during mitosis was determined. The results show that the distribution of MTs and the total amount of polymerized tubulin (MTs) in the spindle change during mitosis, suggesting the assembly and disassembly of MTs as well as the dislocation of MTs during mitosis.     

Mitosis in Tilia americana endosperm

The endosperm cells of the American basswood Tilia americana are favorable experimental material for investigating the birefringence of living plant spindles and anaphase movement of chromosomes. The behavior of the chromosomes in anaphase and the formation of the phragmoplast are unique. The numerous (3 n equals 123), small chromosomes move in precise, parallel rows until midanaphase when they bow away from the poles. Such a pattern of anaphase chromosome distribution has been described once before, but was ascribed to fusion of the chromosomes. The bowing of chromosome rows in Tilia is explainable quantitatively by the constant poleward velocity of the chromosomes during anaphase. Peripheral chromosomes are moving both relative to the spindle axis and laterally closer to the axis, whereas chromosomes lying on the spindle axis possess no lateral component in their motion, and thus at uniform velocity progress more rapidly than peripheral chromosomes relative to the spindle axis. The chromosomes are moved poleward initially by pole-to-pole elongation of the spindle, then moved farther apart by shortening of the kinetochore fibers. In contrast to other plant cells where the phragmoplast forms in telophase, the phragmoplast in Tilia endosperm is formed before midanaphase and the cell during midanaphase, while the chromosomes are still in poleward transit.     

Mass isolation of mitotic apparatus using a glycerol/Mg/Triton X-100 medium

Mass isolation of pure mitotic apparatuses (MAs) from sea urchin eggs was achieved using a glycerol/Mg²⁺/Triton X-100 isolation medium. The Mg ions stabilized the fibrous structures of the spindle and asters, while Triton X-100 favored dispersion of cell membranes. The MAs were stable for at least 1 day at 20 °C as indicated by phase contrast microscopy. The MAs also showed stable birefringence and solubility properties over a period of several hours. Only centrospheres remained intact in 0.4 M KCl-containing isolation medium. The 0.4 M KCl extract contained tubulin as one of its major components. Transfer of isolated MAs to an Mg-free medium caused the otherwise stable MA birefringence to decay upon addition of sulfhydryl-blocking reagents or Ca ions that depolymerize MA microtubules. Furthermore, when Mg ions were omitted from the isolation medium, only unstable MAs were obtained. This method seems to be of great advantage in the preparation of pure MAs in large quantity.     

Ultraviolet microbeam irradiations of mitotic diatoms: investigation of spindle elongation

Our simple instrumentation for generating a UV-microbeam is described UV microbeam irradiations of the central spindle in the pennate diatom Hantzschia amphioxys have been examined through correlated birefringence light microscopy and TEM. A precise correlation between the region of reduced birefringence and the UV-induced lesion in the microtubules (MTs) of the central spindle is demonstrated. The UV beam appears to dissociate MTs, as MT fragments were rarely encountered. The forces associated with metaphase and anaphase spindles have been studied via localized UV-microbeam irradiation of the central spindle. These spindles were found to be subjected to compressional forces, presumably exerted by stretched or contracting chromosomes. Comparisons are made with the results of other writers. These compressional forces caused the poles of a severed anaphase spindle to move toward each other and the center of the cell. As these poles moved centrally, the larger of the two postirradiational central spindle remnants elongated with a concomitant decrease in the length of the overlap. Metaphase spindles, in contrast, did not elongate nor lose their overlap region. Our interpretation is that the force for anaphase spindle elongation in Hantzschia is generated between half-spindles in the region of MT overlap.     

Reactivation of isolated mitotic apparatus: metaphase versus anaphase spindles

Mitotic spindles isolated from sea urchin eggs can be reactivated to undergo mitotic processes in vitro. Spindles incubated in reactivation media containing sea urchin tubulin and nucleotides undergo pole-pole elongation similar to that observed in living cells during anaphase-B. The in vitro behavior of spindles isolated during metaphase and anaphase are compared. Both metaphase and anaphase spindles undergo pole-pole elongation with similar rates, but only in the presence of added tubulin. In contrast, metaphase but not anaphase spindles increase chromosome-pole distance in the presence of exogenous tubulin, suggesting that in vitro, tubulin can be incorporated at the kinetochores of metaphase but not anaphase chromosomes. The rate of spindle elongation, ultimate length achieved, and the increase in chromosome-pole distance for isolated metaphase spindles is related to the concentration of available tubulin. Pole-pole elongation and chromosome-pole elongation does not require added adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Guanosine triphosphate (GTP) will support all activities observed. Thus, the force generation mechanism for anaphase-B in isolated sea urchin spindles is independent of added ATP, but dependent on the availability of tubulin. These results support the hypothesis that the mechanism of force generation for anaphase-B is linked to the incorporation of tubulin into the mitotic apparatus. (If, in addition, a microtubule-dependent motor-protein(s) is acting to generate force, it does not appear to be dependent on ATP as the exclusive energy source.     

The mechanism of anaphase spindle elongation

At anaphase chromosomes move to the spindle poles (anaphase A) and the spindle poles move apart (anaphase B). In vitro studies using isolated diatom spindles demonstrate that the primary mechanochemical event responsible for spindle elongation is the sliding apart of half-spindle microtubules. Further, these forces are generated within the zone of microtubule overlap in the spindle mid-zone.     

Direct visualization of microtubule flux during metaphase and anaphase in crane-fly spermatocytes

Microtubule flux in spindles of insect spermatocytes, long-used models for studies on chromosome behavior during meiosis, was revealed after iontophoretic microinjection of rhodamine-conjugated (rh)-tubulin and fluorescent speckle microscopy. In time-lapse movies of crane-fly spermtocytes, fluorescent speckles generated when rh-tubulin incorporated at microtubule plus ends moved poleward through each half-spindle and then were lost from microtubule minus ends at the spindle poles. The average poleward velocity of approximately 0.7 microm/min for speckles within kinetochore microtubules at metaphase increased during anaphase to approximately 0.9 microm/min. Segregating half-bivalents had an average poleward velocity of approximately 0.5 microm/min, about half that of speckles within shortening kinetochore fibers. When injected during anaphase, rhtubulin was incorporated at kinetochores, and kinetochore fiber fluorescence spread poleward as anaphase progressed. The results show that tubulin subunits are added to the plus end of kinetochore microtubules and are removed from their minus ends at the poles, all while attached chromosomes move poleward during anaphase A. The results cannot be explained by a Pac-man model, in which 1) kinetochore-based, minus end-directed motors generate poleward forces for anaphase A and 2) kinetochore microtubules shorten at their plus ends. Rather, in these cells, kinetochore fiber shortening during anaphase A occurs exclusively at the minus ends of kinetochore microtubules.     

The role of tubulin polymerization during spindle elongation in vitro

We describe the effect of exogenous tubulin on reactivation of anaphase spindle elongation in isolated diatom spindles. In the absence of tubulin, spindle elongation is limited to the equivalent of the microtubule overlap zone, but in the presence of tubulin spindle elongation is several times the length of the overlap zone. Biotinylated neurotubulin is incorporated into the overlap zone and around the poles. Before spindles have elongated by the equivalent of the overlap zone, there are two regions of incorporated tubulin flanking this zone. After further elongation, there is one broad zone of incorporated tubulin in the spindle midzone. Spindle elongation and the pattern of tubulin incorporation into the midzone, but not the poles, are ATP-dependent and vanadate-sensitive. These results suggest that tubulin adds onto the ends of microtubules in the overlap zone, which then slide through the midzone as the spindle elongates.     

Anaphase motions in dilute colchicine. Evidence of two phases in chromosome segregation

We have examined the rates of chromosome and pole motion during anaphase in HeLa cells using differential interference contrast and polarization optics. In early anaphase both chromosomes and poles move apart. When the chromosomes are separated by a distance about equal to the metaphase spindle length, both chromosomes and poles slow but continue to move at a reduced rate. Throughout anaphase, the chromosomes move faster than the poles, so the chromosome-to-pole distance decreases. Treatment of the cells with about 5 × 10^?8 M colchicine up to 45 min before observation tends to block normal formation of metaphase spindles, but more than half of the cells in metaphase go on through anaphase. In these cells, both chromosome and pole motions are essentially normal until the chromosomes are separated by a distance equal to the length of the metaphase spindle. After that time, chromosome motion is supressed and the poles move slowly toward one another. These data suggest that the mechanism of anaphase motion changes character when the chromosomes become spaced by the metaphase spindle length. We call anaphase before and after that time phase 1 and phase 2, respectively. The results are discussed in the light of a sliding tubule model for chromosome motion.     

TRANSIENT LOCALIZATION OF γ-TUBULIN AROUND THE CENTRIOLES IN THE NUCLEAR DIVISION OF BOERGESENIA FORBESII (SIPHONOCLADALES, CHLOROPHYTA)

Mitosis in Boergesenia forbesii (Harvey) Feldman was studied by immunofluorescence microscopy using anti-β–tubulin, anti-γ–tubulin, and anti-centrin antibodies. In the interphase nucleus, one, two, or rarely three anti-centrin staining spots were located around the nucleus, indicating the existence of centrioles. Microtubules (MTs) elongated randomly from the circumference of the nuclear envelope, but distinct microtubule organizing centers could not be observed. In prophase, MTs located around the interphase nuclei became fragmented and eventually disappeared. Instead, numerous MTs elongated along the nuclear envelope from the discrete anti-centrin staining spots. Anti-centrin staining spots duplicated and migrated to the two mitotic poles. γ–Tubulin was not detected at the centrioles during interphase but began to localize there from prophase onward. The mitotic spindle in B. forbesii was a typical closed type, the nuclear envelope remaining intact during nuclear division. From late prophase, accompanying the chromosome condensation, spindle MTs could be observed within the nuclear envelope. A bipolar mitotic spindle was formed at metaphase, when the most intense staining of γ-tubulin around the centrioles could also be seen. Both spindle MT poles were formed inside the nuclear envelope, independent of the position of the centrioles outside. In early anaphase, MTs between separating daughter chromosomes were not detected. Afterward, characteristic interzonal spindle MTs developed and separated both sets of the daughter chromosomes. From late anaphase to telophase, γ-tubulin could not be detected around the centrioles and MT radiation from the centrioles became diminished at both poles. γ-Tubulin was not detected at the ends of the interzonal spindle fibers. When MTs were depolymerized with amiprophos methyl during mitosis, γ-tubulin localization around the centrioles was clearly confirmed. Moreover, an influx of tubulin molecules into the nucleus for the mitotic spindle occurred at chromosome condensation in mitosis.     

CENP-32 is required to maintain centrosomal dominance in bipolar spindle assembly

Centrosomes nucleate spindle formation, direct spindle pole positioning, and are important for proper chromosome segregation during mitosis in most animal cells. We previously reported that centromere protein 32 (CENP-32) is required for centrosome association with spindle poles during metaphase. In this study, we show that CENP-32 depletion seems to release centrosomes from bipolar spindles whose assembly they had previously initiated. Remarkably, the resulting anastral spindles function normally, aligning the chromosomes to a metaphase plate and entering anaphase without detectable interference from the free centrosomes, which appear to behave as free asters in these cells. The free asters, which contain reduced but significant levels of CDK5RAP2, show weak interactions with spindle microtubules but do not seem to make productive attachments to kinetochores. Thus CENP-32 appears to be required for centrosomes to integrate into a fully functional spindle that not only nucleates astral microtubules, but also is able to nucleate and bind to kinetochore and central spindle microtubules. Additional data suggest that NuMA tethers microtubules at the anastral spindle poles and that augmin is required for centrosome detachment after CENP-32 depletion, possibly due to an imbalance of forces within the spindle.     

GROWTH AND LABILITY OF CHAETOPTERUS OOCYTE MITOTIC SPINDLES ISOLATED IN THE PRESENCE OF PORCINE BRAIN TUBULIN

Purified tubulin solutions stabilized and augmented the birefringence (BR) of isolated Chaetopterus spindles. Tubulin was extracted from pig brain tissue in cold PEG buffer (0.1 M piperazine-N-N'-bis[2-ethane sulfonic acid], 1 mM ethylene bis-[oxyethylenenitrilo]tetraacetate, [EGTA], 2.5 mM guanosine triphosphate, [GTP], pH 6.94, at 25°C), and purified by two cycles of a reversible, temperature-dependent assembly-disassembly procedure. The spindle BR of the meiotic metaphase-arrested oocytes of Chaetopterus decreased linearly at a rate of 1.5 nm/min when perfused with PEG buffer without tubulin. In this hypotonic, calcium-chelating solution, the cell lysed within 1.5 min, and after a brief, transient rise, the BR disappeared in ca. 4 min from the time of buffer application. Cells perfused with tubulin in PEG buffer also showed BR decay at the same rate until cell lysis. Immediately upon cell lysis the spindle BR increased, initially at ca. 2.3 nm/min and then more slowly until the BR attained or exceeded intact cell values. Spindle and asters grew considerably larger than those in intact cells. From the kinetics of the transient BR increase after lysis, we infer that, initially, Chaetopterus cytoplasmic tubulin contributes to increased BR; further augmentation required added pig brain tubulin and most probably reflects the addition and incorporation of heterologous porcine tubulin into the spindle and asters. Isolated, augmented spindles depolymerized rapidly at 6°C. Upon return to 23°C, spindle BR returned slowly in tubulin-PEG. The BR of the isolates also decayed in solutions containing calcium ions 2.5 mM in excess of the EGTA. However, the isolates did not respond, or responded very slowly, to 1 mM colchicine or Colcemid and to dilution of tubulin with PEG solution. Microinjection into Chaetopterus oocytes of tubulin-PEG, but not PEG alone, enhanced spindle and aster BR which reversibly disappeared upon chilling the cell.     

MITOSIS IN THE OCTAFLAGELLATE PRASINOPHYTE,PYRAMIMONAS AMYLIFERA (CHLOROPHYTA)1

Cell division is described in the octaflagellate prasinophyte Pyramimonas amylifera Conrad and is compared in related genera. Basal bodies replicate at preprophase and move toward the poles. Cells remain motile throughout division. The nuclear envelope disperses and chromosomes begin to condense at prophase. Pairs of multilayered kinetochores are evident on the chromosomes of the metaphase plate. Spindle microtubules extending from the region of the basal bodies and rhizoplasts attach to the kinetochores or extend from pole to pole. Numerous vesicles and ribosomes have entered the nuclear region and the incipient cleavage furrow invaginates. The chromosomes move toward the poles at anaphase leaving a broad interzonal spindle between the two chromosomal plates. The nuclear envelope reforms first around the chromatin on the side adjacent to the spindle poles and later on the interzonal side. The cleavage furrow progresses into the interzonal spindle at telophase. By late telophase the nucleoli have reformed and the chromosomes have decondensed. The interzonal spindle has not been observed late in telophase. As the cleavage furrow nears completion the cells begin to twist and contort, ultimately separating the two cells.     

Chromosome micromanipulation

The attachment of individual chromosomes to the spindle has been studied by micromanipulation in functionally normal grasshopper spermatocytes. Prometaphase to anaphase I chromosomes can be repeatedly stretched with a microneedle without much increase in the distance between the kinetochores and the poles. Individual chromosomes can, however, be displaced laterally (prometaphase-anaphase) or toward the pole (anaphase) without loss of spindle attachment and without greatly disturbing other chromosomes. It is concluded that chromosomes are firmly and individually attached to the spindle by chromosomal spindle fibers which are capable of bearing any normal mitotic load, including the stretching of dikinetic (dicentric) chromosomes in anaphase. Prolonged or severe manipulation can produce a small — three or four micron — increase in the kinetochore-to-pole distance. Anaphase motion continues normally in spite of lateral or poleward displacements or of small increases in the kinetochore-to-pole distance. In late anaphase, chromosomes can be displaced to the opposite pole. An unusual, rapid motion back toward the original pole follows such displacements, but repeated displacements eventually result in non-disjunction. No evidence for firm interzonal connections between anaphase chromosomes was obtained. Prometaphase and metaphase bivalents can be detached from the spindle by manipulations other than bivalent stretching, but half-bivalents in anaphase are never detached by these manipulations.This investigation was supported in part by research grants GM-8480 and GM-13745 from the Division of General Medical Sciences, United States Public Health Service.     

THE MITOTIC APPARATUS ISOLATED IN GLYCEROL-CONTAINING MEDIUM

The mitotic apparatus of the sea urchin egg was isolated at 30°C in an isolation medium containing glycerol which is known to stabilize microtubules. After isolation in the 1 m glycerol-isolation medium, the mitotic apparatus was stabilized on addition of glycerol to a final concentration of 3 to 4 m. Without the addition, the chromosomes were disjoined from the spindle and the interzonal region between separating chromosomes was fragile resulting in separation of half spindles. Lowering the temperature of the isolation medium to 20°C or below, the isolation procedure allowed to isolate spindles. The isolated spindle behaved in a manner similar to the mitotic apparatus on the effect of glycerol concentration.
The glycerol-mitotic apparatus contained tubulin which was extractable with the isolation medium containing Ca ions or an organic mercurial. Tubulin was also extracted upon lowering the temperature to 0°C in the presence of GTP. Addition of KCl to a final concentration of 0.6 m immediately dispersed the mitotic apparatus. The extract revealed a colchicine binding of 0.001 mole per 105,000 × g of protein. The colchicine binding complex was found to have a molecular weight of 105,000. The DEAE Sephadex column chromatography of the KCl extract allowed to elute tubulin fraction which bound 0.1 mole colchicine per 105,000 × g of protein. The mitotic apparatus tubulin was shown to contain α and β subunits with mobilities quite identical with those of brain tubulin subunits. The molecular weights of the α and β subunits were 55,000 ± 1,000 and 51,000 ± 1,000, respectively.     

On the mechanism of anaphase A: evidence that ATP is needed for microtubule disassembly and not generation of polewards force

As anaphase began, mitotic PtK1 and newt lung epithelial cells were permeabilized with digitonin in permeabilization medium (PM). Permeabilization stopped cytoplasmic activity, chromosome movement, and cytokinesis within about 3 min, presumably due to the loss of endogenous ATP. ATP, GTP, or ATP-gamma-S added in the PM 4-7 min later restarted anaphase A while kinetochore fibers shortened. AMPPNP could not restart anaphase A; ATP was ineffective if the spindle was stabilized in PM + DMSO. Cells permeabilized in PM + taxol varied in their response to ATP depending on the stage of anaphase reached: one mid-anaphase cell showed initial movement of chromosomes back to the metaphase plate upon permeabilization but later, anaphase A resumed when ATP was added. Anaphase A was also reactivated by cold PM (approximately 16 degrees C) or PM containing calcium (1-10 mM). Staining of fixed cells with antitubulin showed that microtubules (MTs) were relatively stable after permeabilization and MT assembly was usually promoted in asters. Astral and kinetochore MTs were sensitive to MT disassembly conditions, and shortening of kinetochore MTs always accompanied reactivation of anaphase A. Interphase and interzonal spindle MTs were relatively stable to cold and calcium until extraction of cells was promoted by longer periods in the PM, or by higher concentrations of detergent. Since we cannot envisage how both cold treatment or relatively high calcium levels can reactivate spindle motility in quiescent, permeabilized, and presumably energy-depleted cells, we conclude that anaphase A is powered by energy stored in the spindle. The nucleotide triphosphates effective in reactivating anaphase A could be necessary for the kinetochore MT disassembly without which anaphase movement cannot proceed.     

Aster formation in vitro is nucleated by granules isolated from the mitotic apparatus

Mitotic apparatuses (MAs) isolated from sea urchin eggs contained clusters of granular material in their centrospheres. After cold treatment and mild agitation, the MA fraction formed asters when combined with tubulin. Many microtubules grew from isolated centrospheres most of which were covered with astral residues. Homogenization of the isolated MA fraction dispersed the centrospheres which broke into fragments or into aggregates of small granules that formed small asters when tubulin was added. Electron microscopy showed that more than ten microtubules were nucleated from a granular aggregate composed of several approximately 90-nm granules. The aster-forming activity was lost with time when the MAs were kept at 0 degree C. Only glycerol stabilized this activity. The aster-forming activity also was heat labile and trypsin sensitive, but it was resistant to RNase treatment. When the dispersed MAs were extracted with a buffer solution of high ionic strength, aster-forming activity was recovered only in the extract; that is, when the extract had been dialyzed against a solution of low ionic strength, the fine granules self assembled and retained their aster-forming ability.     

Poleward microtubule flux is a major component of spindle dynamics and anaphase a in mitotic Drosophila embryos

During cell division, eukaryotic cells assemble dynamic microtubule-based spindles to segregate replicated chromosomes. Rapid spindle microtubule turnover, likely derived from dynamic instability, has been documented in yeasts, plants and vertebrates. Less studied is concerted spindle microtubule poleward translocation (flux) coupled to depolymerization at spindle poles. Microtubule flux has been observed only in vertebrates, although there is indirect evidence for it in insect spermatocytes and higher plants. Here we use fluorescent speckle microscopy (FSM) to demonstrate that mitotic spindles of syncytial Drosophila embryos exhibit poleward microtubule flux, indicating that flux is a widely conserved property of spindles. By simultaneously imaging chromosomes (or kinetochores) and flux, we provide evidence that flux is the dominant mechanism driving chromosome-to-pole movement (anaphase A) in these spindles. At 18 degrees C and 24 degrees C, separated sister chromatids moved poleward at average rates (3.6 and 6.6 microm/min, respectively) slightly greater than the mean rates of poleward flux (3.2 and 5.2 microm/min, respectively). However, at 24 degrees C the rate of kinetochore-to-pole movement varied from slower than to twice the mean rate of flux, suggesting that although flux is the dominant mechanism, kinetochore-associated microtubule depolymerization contributes to anaphase A.