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M C Willingham

Publications and source records attributed to M C Willingham.

262 records · Page 15Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Cyclic amp and cell morphology in cultured fibroblasts. Effects on cell shape, microfilament and microtubule distribution, and orientation to substratum.

The change in shape of 3T3 and L929 cells due to Bt2cAMP treatment is accompanied by altered intracellular distribution of microfilaments and microtubules. Bt2cAMP added to cells in low density culture causes (a) microfilaments to accumulate in bundles near the plasma membrane, mainly at the cell periphery, and (b) microtubules to accumulate beneath these microfilament bundles. In narrow cell processes that form characteristically in Bt2cAMP-treated L cells, microtubules accumulate in parallel arrays near the center of these processes. A new simple method for evaluating the relative distance of the cell from its underlying substratum is desribed. In normal medium, 3T3 cells attach to their substratum near the nucleus and at the tips of cell processes, bridging irregularities in the plastic surface. With Bt2cAMP treatment, attachment occurs at the cell edge and at many isolated points under the cytoplasm, and the cells conform more closely to irregularities of the underlying substratum. A model of the mechanism by which cAMP modulates cell shape is presented.

Bucladesine↗
PubMed1974

Myosin is a component of the cell surface of cultured cells.

Antisera to myosin from mouse L929 cells, mouse uterus, and rabbit skeletal muscle have been prepared in goats. Each antiserum shows specific reaction by immunodiffusion only to the myosin against which it was prepared. Antiserum against L cell myosin agglutinates L929 cells and shows surface localization in unfixed cells by indirect immunofluorescence. This reaction is prevented by immunoabsorption with L cell myosin, but not by absorption with mouse uterine or rabbit skeletal muscle myosins. Elution of the antibody from L cell myosin antiserum that absorbs to fixed L cells yields antibody reactive to L cell myosin in immunodiffusion. At the ultrastructural level, surface localization is also evident with a peroxidase bridge immunocytologic method as a uniform distribution of surface label. Antiserum against L cell myosin also shows localization on the surface of other cells of rodent origin (3T3-4, NRK, MNRK, KNRK, and MEF) and HeLa cells, but not with some other cells of human origin (ALL and WI-38). The reactivity with antibody of the plasma membrane myosin is unaffected by trypsin treatment or fixation with 0.5-2.0% formalin. These results strongly suggest that myosin in cultured nonmuscle cells is a component of the plasma membrane, a finding of possible significance in studying the mechanisms regulating the motility, morphology, and growth of these cells.

Agglutination↗
PubMed1974

Cyclic AMP mediates the concanavalin A agglutinability of mouse fibroblasts.

We have devised a quantitative way to measure the agglutination of cells which utilizes the size discrimination feature of an automatic particle counter. With this method we have studied the agglutinability by concanavalin A of 3T3 cells, a mutant of 3T3 cells (3T3cAMP(tcs)) in which cyclic AMP levels fall when the cells are subjected to temperature change or fresh serum, and L929 cells. We find with 3T3cAMP(tcs) cells that low levels of cyclic AMP correlate with increased agglutinability and that high levels of cyclic AMP correlate with decreased agglutinability. Prior treatment of these cells with a cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor or Bt(2)cAMP blocks the increase in agglutinability induced by temperature change. When 3T3 cells are treated with fresh serum, their agglutinability also increases although to a much smaller extent than with 3T3cAMP(tcs) cells. Cells change their agglutinability very rapidly. Treatment of L929 cells for 15 min with 1-methyl-3-isobutyl xanthine at 1 mM decreases their agglutinability to the level of normal 3T3 cells. We conclude that in normal and transformed cells the level of cyclic AMP regulates agglutinability.

Agglutination↗
PubMed1973

A mutant of 3T3 cells with cyclic AMP metabolism sensitive to temperature change.

A mutant line of 3T3 (mouse fibroblast) cells with temperature-sensitive cyclic AMP (cAMP) metabolism was isolated by selecting for low substratum adhesiveness after a change in temperature. Although the mutant is identical in behavior to the parent cell at constant temperature, a rise or fall in temperature causes a fall in intracellular cAMP levels within seconds, followed by loss of adherence to the culture dish and retraction of cell processes. The mechanism of this fall in cAMP level is at least in part excretion into the medium. The decrease in adhesiveness and retraction of processes can be blocked by analogues of cAMP or agents that elevate intracellular cAMP. The properties of this mutant imply that cAMP is a direct regulator of cell shape and adhesiveness.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use of colloidal gold cytochemistry in the study of the basic cell biology of cancer.

We are currently investigating the morphologic aspects of two areas of the basic cell biology of cancer: tumor-specific surface antigens as targets for immunotoxins, and the phenomenon of multidrug resistance in chemotherapy of human tumors. Colloidal gold cytochemistry has provided a useful method for the electron-microscopic cytochemical detection of materials endocytosed by cells in culture. This technique has been used to study the internalization pathway of ligands bound to the surface of cancer cells, particularly antibodies for use as immunologic targeting reagents for the construction of immunotoxins. These colloidal gold conjugates with monoclonal antibodies have demonstrated the internalization of these immunologic reagents through coated pits and receptosomes, which is a necessary step in the delivery of immunotoxins into the cell where they can mediate their cell-killing functions. Morphologic methods have been employed for the screening and selection of monoclonal antibodies reactive with the surface of human ovarian cancer cells for use as immunotoxins and have demonstrated the in vivo activity of immunotoxins made with these antibodies and Pseudomonas exotoxin in a nude mouse model system. In other studies, we have employed such reagents for the immunocytochemical detection of the surface expression of P170, the cell-surface efflux pump protein responsible for the phenotype of multidrug resistance in tumor cells, and to investigate the distribution of this protein by using immunocytochemistry in normal human tissues. These results have suggested a role for P170 in normal cell membrane transport of metabolites in various organ systems.

Clathrin↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Use of Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxin A in the construction of conjugate vaccines and immunotoxins.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxin A was used to construct conjugate vaccines and potent cytotoxic immunotoxins. Nontoxic, serologically active O polysaccharide derived from P. aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was covalently coupled to toxin A via reductive amination. The conjugate was nontoxic, nonpyrogenic, and had a molecular size of 2 X 10(6). The conjugate vaccine was safe when administered to human volunteers and was capable of evoking an immune response to both LPS and toxin A. Native toxin A was coupled to monoclonal antibodies to the human transferrin receptor and the human interleukin 2 receptor to produce immunotoxins active against receptor-bearing cell lines. Antitumor activity was demonstrated when the immunotoxin directed against the transferrin receptor was administered to nude mice bearing human ovarian tumors.

ADP Ribose Transferases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

All-trans-retinoic acid-induced growth suppression of blastemal Wilms' tumor.

All-trans-retinoic acid (RA) has been used to suppress growth of malignant cells and induce epithelial differentiation. We investigated whether RA had a similar effect on Wilms' tumor, a childhood tumor of the kidney that arises from the undifferentiated metanephric blastema. W13 cells, a cell line derived from a blastemal Wilms' tumor, were exposed to RA (10(-9)-10(-5) M) and its effects on cell proliferation, gene expression, and differentiation were examined. Treatment of W13 cells with RA resulted in a dose-dependent suppression of growth. Changes in expression of selected genes were determined by Northern analysis. After 24 h, there was a marked dose-dependent down-regulation of N-myc mRNA as well as up-regulation of insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) mRNA. [125I]IGF-II ligand blotting of conditioned medium from RA-treated cultures revealed a dramatic alteration in the pattern of expression of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs). Examination of RA-treated W13 cultures by light and electron microscopy did not reveal appreciable morphological changes. We conclude that RA inhibits growth and alters gene expression of W13 cells without inducing epithelial differentiation. The modulation of expression of IGF-II, IGFBP, and N-myc may play a role in RA-induced growth suppression of Wilms' tumor cells.

Cell Differentiation↗