Biomedical subjects

G Sluder

Publications and source records attributed to G Sluder.

42 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMed1985

Experimental separation of pronuclei in fertilized sea urchin eggs: chromosomes do not organize a spindle in the absence of centrosomes.

We tested the ability of chromosomes in a mitotic cytoplasm to organize a bipolar spindle in the absence of centrosomes. Sea urchin eggs were treated with 5 X 10(-6) colcemid for 7-9 min before fertilization to block future microtubule assembly. Fertilization events were normal except that a sperm aster was not formed and the pronuclei remained up to 70 microns apart. After nuclear envelope breakdown, individual eggs were irradiated with 366-nm light to inactivate photochemically the colcemid. A functional haploid bipolar spindle was immediately assembled in association with the male chromosomes. In contrast to the male pronucleus, the female pronucleus in most of these eggs remained as a small nonbirefringent hyaline area throughout mitosis. High-voltage electron microscopy of serial semithick sections from individual eggs, previously followed in vivo, revealed that the female chromosomes were randomly distributed within the remnants of the nuclear envelope. No microtubules were found in these pronuclear areas even though the chromosomes were well-condensed and had prominent kinetochores with well-developed coronas. In the remaining eggs, a weakly birefringent monaster was assembled in the female pronuclear area. These observations demonstrate that chromosomes in a mitotic cytoplasm cannot organize a bipolar spindle in the absence of a spindle pole or even in the presence of a monaster. In fact, chromosomes do not even assemble kinetochore microtubules in the absence of a spindle pole, and kinetochore microtubules form only on kinetochores facing the pole when a monaster is present. This study also provides direct experimental proof for the longstanding paradigm that the sperm provides the centrosomes used in the development of the sea urchin zygote.

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PubMed1985

Experimental analysis of the reproduction of spindle poles.

We have investigated the functional properties of the mechanisms that control the reproduction of spindle poles in fertilized sea-urchin eggs. By prolonging mitosis by three independent means, we show that a spindle pole can split during mitosis into two functional poles of normal appearance. However, these poles have only half the normal reproductive capacity; each daughter cell that receives a split pole, always forms a monopolar spindle at the next division. Each monopolar spindle appears to be exactly half of a spindle because two of them can come together to form a functional bipolar spindle of normal appearance. The poles of such spindles show normal reproduction in subsequent divisions. By following the development of individual cells with monopolar spindles, we show that such a cell can stay in mitosis longer than normal, and the single pole splits into two asters, which move apart to give a functional bipolar spindle. The poles of such a spindle have only half the normal reproductive capacity, because the two daughters of the cell always form monopolar spindles at the next mitosis. This novel cycle of development is often repeated. The occurrence of such phenomena does not depend upon the method used to induce monopolar spindles. These results show that each normal pole has two polar determinants. The results also demonstrate that the reproduction of spindle poles consists of three distinct events: splitting of the polar determinants, physical separation of the two determinants, and duplication of the determinants to return the pole to a duplex state. Splitting and duplication are distinct events because they can be experimentally put out of phase with each other for several cell cycles.

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PubMed1983

Control mechanisms of the cell cycle: role of the spatial arrangement of spindle components in the timing of mitotic events.

To characterize the control mechanisms for mitosis, we studied the relationship between the spatial organization of microtubules in the mitotic spindle and the timing of mitotic events. Spindles of altered geometry were produced in sea urchin eggs by two methods: (a) early prometaphase spindles were cut into half spindles by micromanipulation or (b) mercaptoethanol was used to indirectly induce the formation of spindles with only one pole. Cells with monopolar spindles produced by either method required an average of 3 X longer than control cells to traverse mitosis. By the time the control cells started their next mitosis, the experimental cells were usually just finishing the original mitosis. In all cases, only the time from nuclear envelope breakdown to the start of telophase was prolonged. Once the cells entered telophase, events leading to the next mitosis proceeded with normal timing. Once prolonged, the cell cycle never resynchronized with the controls. Several types of control experiments showed that were not an artifact of the experimental techniques. These results show that the spatial arrangement of spindle components plays an important role in the mechanisms that control the timing of mitotic events and the timing of the cell cycle as a whole.

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PubMed1981

Cooperation of kinetochores and pole in the establishment of monopolar mitotic apparatus.

Monopolar mitotic apparatus can be produced in sea urchin eggs by a manoeuvre that distributes the four poles of the second mitosis into four separate blastomeres. The pole of the monopolar mitotic apparatus generates a half-spindle that is similar in structural details to the half-spindle of a normal bipolar mitotic apparatus, although the chromosomes are not as well aligned as in a normal metaphase plate. The chromosomes are oriented; one kinetochore faces the pole while its sister kinetochore faces away from the pole. The poleward kinetochore is connected to the pole by bundles of microtubules. No microtubules are seen on the sister kinetochore that faces away from the pole. Therefore, a single pole can direct most of the events in the establishment of a mitotic apparatus. Our interpretation examines the cooperation of kinetochores and poles in the formation of microtubules between them, stressing the half-spindle as the medium of cooperation and leaving open the question whether the kinetochores are origins or terminations of microtubules.

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PubMed1979

Role of spindle microtubules in the control of cell cycle timing.

Sea urchin eggs are used to investigate the involvement of spindle microtubules in the mechanisms that control the timing of cell cycle events. Eggs are treated for 4 min with Colcemid at prophase of the first mitosis. No microtubules are assembled for at least 3 h, and the eggs do not divide. These eggs show repeated cycles of nuclear envelope breakdown (NEB) and nuclear envelope reformation (NER). Mitosis (NEB to NER) is twice as long in Colcemid-treated eggs as in the untreated controls. Interphase (NER to NEB) is the same in both. Thus, each cycle is prolonged entirely in mitosis. The chromosomes of treated eggs condense and eventually split into separate chromatids which do not move apart. This "canaphase" splitting is substantially delayed relative to anaphase onset in the control eggs. Treated eggs are irradiated after NEB with 366-nm light to inactivate the Colcemid. This allows the eggs to assemble normal spindles and divide. Up to 14 min after NEB, delays in the start of microtubule assembly give equal delays in anaphase onset, cleavage, and the events of the following cell cycle. Regardless of the delay, anaphase follows irradiation by the normal prometaphase duration. The quantity of spindle microtubules also influences the timing of mitotic events. Short Colcemid treatments administered in prophase of second division cause eggs to assemble small spindles. One blastomere is irradiated after NEB to provide a control cell with a normal-sized spindle. Cells with diminished spindles always initiate anaphase later than their controls. Telophase events are correspondingly delayed. This work demonstrates that spindle microtubules are involved in the mechanisms that control the time when the cell will initiate anaphase, finish mitosis, and start the next cell cycle.

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PubMed1976

Experimental manipulation of the amount of tubulin available for assembly into the spindle of dividing sea urchin eggs.

Spindle assembly is studied in the eggs of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus by experimentally varying the amount of polymerizable tubulin within the egg. Aliquots of fertilized eggs from the same female are individually pulsed for 1-6 min with 1 X 10(-6) M Colcemid at least 20 min before first nuclear envelope breakdown. This treatment inactivates a portion of the cellular tubulin before the spindle is formed. Upon entering mitosis, treated eggs form functional spindles that are reduced in length and birefringent retardation but not width. With increased exposure to Colcemid, the length and retardation of the metaphase spindles are progressively reduced. Similar results are obtained by pulsing the eggs with Colcemid before fertilization, which demonstrates that the tubulin found in unfertilized sea urchin eggs is later used in spindle formation. Spindles, once assembled, are responsive to increases in the amount of polymerizable tubulin within the cell. Rapid increases in the amount of polymerizable tubulin within a Colcemid-treated cell can be experimentally effected by irradiating the cells with 366-nm light. This treatment photochemically inactivates the Colcemid, thereby freeing the tubulin to polymerize. Upon irradiation, the small prometaphase spindles of Colcemid-treated cells immediately increase in length and retardation. In these irradiated cells, spindle length and retardation increase as much as four times faster than they do during prometaphase for normal spindles. This suggests that the rate of the normal prometaphase increase in retardation and spindle size may be determined by factors other than the maximum rate of tubulin polymerization in the cell.

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