Myofibrillogenesis in living cells microinjected with fluorescently labeled alpha-actinin

Fluorescently labeled alpha-actinin, isolated from chicken gizzards, breast muscle, or calf brains, was microinjected into cultured embryonic myotubes and cardiac myocytes where it was incorporated into the Z-bands of myofibrils. The localization in injected, living cells was confirmed by reacting permeabilized myotubes and cardiac myocytes with fluorescent alpha-actinin. Both living and permeabilized cells incorporated the alpha-actinin regardless of whether the alpha-actinin was isolated from nonmuscle, skeletal, or smooth muscle, or whether it was labeled with different fluorescent dyes. The living muscle cells could beat up to 5 d after injection. Rest-length sarcomeres in beating myotubes and cardiac myocytes were approximately 1.9-2.4 microns long, as measured by the separation of fluorescent bands of alpha-actinin. There were areas in nearly all beating cells, however, where narrow bands of alpha-actinin, spaced 0.3-1.5 micron apart, were arranged in linear arrays giving the appearance of minisarcomeres. In myotubes, alpha-actinin was found exclusively in these closely spaced arrays for the first 2-3 d in culture. When the myotubes became contraction-competent, at approximately day 4 to day 5 in culture, alpha-actinin was localized in Z-bands of fully formed sarcomeres, as well as in minisarcomeres. Video recordings of injected, spontaneously beating myotubes showed contracting myofibrils with 2.3 microns sarcomeres adjacent to noncontracting fibers with finely spaced periodicities of alpha-actinin. Time sequences of the same living myotube over a 24-h period revealed that the spacings between the minisarcomeres increased from 0.9-1.3 to 1.6-2.3 microns. Embryonic cardiac myocytes usually contained contractile networks of fully formed sarcomeres together with noncontractile minisarcomeres in peripheral areas of the cytoplasm. In some cells, individual myofibrils with 1.9-2.3 microns sarcomeres were connected in series with minisarcomeres. Double labeling of cardiac myocytes and myotubes with alpha-actinin and a monoclonal antibody directed against adult chicken skeletal myosin showed that all fibers that contained alpha-actinin also contained skeletal muscle myosin. This was true whether alpha-actinin was present in Z-bands of fully formed sarcomeres or present in the closely spaced beads of minisarcomeres. We propose that the closely spaced beads containing alpha-actinin are nascent Z-bands that grow apart and associate laterally with neighboring arrays containing alpha-actinin to form sarcomeres during myofibrillogenesis.     

小麦细胞核仁中DNA原位位置与rRNA基因转录位点的研究

以小麦细胞为研究材料, 应用常规电子显微镜技术和DNA细胞化学特异染色NAMA-Ur技术, 在原位水平对核仁中DNA的分布和特征进行了直观的观察。结果表明, 小麦细胞核仁中DNA位于纤维中心(Fibrillar Centers, FC)、致密纤维组分(Dense Fibrillar Component, DFC)以及两者的过渡区域, 并呈现出环绕FC排布的构型; 应用RNP优先染色(Benhard staining)技术分析了核仁中RNP的分布及其原位位置, 直观的显示了小麦细胞核仁中RNP颗粒主要集中在 FC与DFC的过渡区域及DFC和颗粒组分(Granular Component, GC)中; 并且在FC与DFC的过渡区域, 它们不太均匀也不太连续地半围绕着FC而排布; 进一步借助于RNA/DNA杂合体抗体在原位水平标记和分析了细胞核仁中活跃基因转录的精细位点, 结果表明小麦细胞核仁rRNA基因的转录位点位于FC与DFC的过渡区域及DFC中。     

Correlation of nucleolar activity and nucleolar vacuolation in plant cells

In root meristematic cells nucleolar structure varies with the cell cycle. Apart from normal meristematic nucleoli one finds nucleoli with a big central vacuole surrounded by a loose cortex with individual fibrillar centres [22] clearly visible within it. There are also intermediate structures between both nucleolar types. In Pisum sativum nuclear tissue, the structure of the vacuolated nucleoli is similar and appears in periods of high metabolic activity during megasporogenesis. In both tissues, vacuolated nucleoli incorporate tritiated uridine more actively than 'normal' nucleoli. In this work the structure of spontaneous nucleolar vacuoles is compared with that induced by drugs such as cordycepin, and FUdR. The vacuolated nucleolus with its increased surface corresponds to a transient structure which not only shows higher metabolic activity but also supplies a storing and/or transporting mechanism for nucleolar products.     

Ultrastructural immunocytochemical localization of 5-hydroxytryptamine in gastric enterochromaffin cells

Enterochromaffin (EC) cells in the gastrointestinal tract are known to contain 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT). The probable ultrastructural localization of 5HT in the dense core vesicles ( DCVs ) of EC cells is based on the use of histochemical techniques, such as argentaffinity and the potassium dichromate reaction. In the present paper we describe an immunocytochemical method for specifically localizing 5HT in EC cells by electron microscopy. Pieces of mucosa from the pyloric region of the rabbit stomach were prepared for electron microscopy by fixation in 0.5% glutaraldehyde-picric acid-formaldehyde without osmication , and then embedded in LX-112. Thick sections (1 micron) were mounted on glass slides and processed for the fluorescence immunocytochemical localization of 5HT. Thin sections (60-90 nm) were mounted on formvar-coated slot grids and processed for the ultrastructural immunocytochemical localization of 5HT. Both the thick and thin sections were processed by an identical procedure, beginning with a 30-min incubation in anti-5HT antiserum diluted 1:1400, followed by an IgG-FITC-gold-labeled second antibody. Fluorescent EC cells were consistently observed in the thick sections of gastric mucosa. By carefully trimming and sectioning the adjacent block face, the identical EC cell could be identified by electron microscopy. A quantitative analysis revealed the number of gold particles in EC cells to be significantly greater over the cores of DCVs than over the non-core cytoplasm or over the nucleus. Absorption of the primary antiserum with 5HT abolished all labeling, while absorption with a 5HT precursor, 5-hydroxytryptophan, did not significantly reduce core labeling. Non-EC epithelial cells were not labeled. These results demonstrate that immunoreactive 5HT in EC cells is stored in the cores of DCVs .     

Ultrastructural analysis of basal neuroepithelial cells in dysraphic mice

Ultrastructural aspects of the cellular pathology in the basal neuroepithelium of the hindbrain and spinal cord were analyzed in dysraphic loop-tail mice at nine days of gestation. Whereas the basal cytoplasm of the neuroepithelium in normal littermates showed a consistent electron density, the neuroepithelium in abnormal embryos was characterized by "light" and "dark" cells scattered randomly along the basal aspect of the hindbrain and spinal cord. In the abnormals, gaps occurred in the neural basal lamina, and the neuroepithelial cells often were in direct contact with cytoplasmic processes from mesenchymal cells and from notochordal cells; in normal littermates, contact was observed only between the intact and continuous neural basal lamina and mesenchymal cells and notochordal cells. Thus, it is possible that the pathological features observed ultrastructurally in the basal neuroepithelium in dysraphic embryos may represent faulty tissue interaction with adjacent notochordal and mesenchymal cells.     

Ultrastructural analysis of membrane-bound polysomes in human myeloma cells

We prepared ultra-thin sections of human myeloma cells, in which the rER was cut tangentially, and studied the make-up and distribution of membrane-bound polysomes electromicroscopically. In IgG myeloma large and small polysomes were detected. The polysome distribution curve showed a high peak at 7 ribosomes and a lower peak at 17-18 ribosomes. IgA-, IgD- and IgE myeloma, as well as macroglobulinemia, showed peaks at 7 and 13 ribosomes. BJP myeloma manifested a sharp peak only at 7 ribosomes. Our results suggest that BJP myeloma has only small polysomes participating in L-chain synthesis, while the other myelomas exhibited large and small polysomes participating in H- and L-chain synthesis, respectively. The quantitative ratio of small and large polysomes was determined on the basis of an analytically corrected direct count.     

Biochemical analysis of RNA particles and nucleolar RNases in eucaryotic cells]

Four types of rat liver nucleolar RNP particles with the sedimentation coefficients of 120S, 80S, 60S and 12--16S were analyzed and their chemical composition was established. The nucleolar RNP particles were found to contain a RNA set with the sedimentation coefficients of 43S, 33S, 20S and 7S. The nucleolar proteins were shown to contain endonucleases, one of which was isolated and partially purified by fractionation on DEAE-Sephadex A-50. In some of its properties this RNAse was found similar to an analogous enzyme from membrane-bound ribosomes.