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R L Margolis

Publications and source records attributed to R L Margolis.

144 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Recycling of cold-stable microtubules: evidence that cold stability is due to substoichiometric polymer blocks.

A substantial subpopulation of mammalian brain crude extract microtubules is resistant to cold-temperature disassembly. We propose here that microtubules are rendered cold stable by rare substoichiometric blocks. Mild shearing of rat brain cold-stable microtubules makes them largely cold labile. In addition, cold-stable microtubules can be destabilized by exposure to low concentrations of calmodulin (5 microM) in the presence of calcium at 0 degree C. Cold-disassembled microtubule protein, obtained from sheared or calmodulin-treated cold-stable preparations, re-forms a cold-stable subpopulation upon reassembly. These observations allow strategies for the recycling purification of cold-stable microtubules. Comparison of purified cold-labile and cold-stable material by gel electrophoresis shows enrichment for a few unique polypeptides, of 135, 70-82, and 56 kilodaltons, in the cold-stable preparation. The 64-kilodalton "switch protein", previously identified as uniquely dephosphorylated in cold-stable microtubules, is equally represented in recycled cold-stable and cold-labile microtubule preparations. Furthermore, when disassembled, cold-stable microtubule proteins are passed through a calmodulin affinity column on which the polypeptides characteristic of cold-stable microtubules are specifically retained, the breakthrough (unbound) material repolymerizes into cold-labile microtubules only. Based on the above data, a model is presented in which microtubules are rendered cold stable by the presence of substoichiometric, calmodulin-sensitive blocks that randomly reshuffle upon reassembly of cold-stable microtubules.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Microtubule treadmills--possible molecular machinery.

Microtubule polymerization in vitro is the summation of different reactions occurring at each end of the polymer. In steady-state conditions in vitro, net tubulin addition on the microtubule occurs at one end of the polymer, and net tubulin loss occurs at the opposite end. Thus, a unidirectional flux of tubulin from one end of the microtubule to the other, or "treadmilling', can occur. The opposite end assembly--disassembly behaviour of microtubules, if it occurs within cells, could be fundamentally linked to the functions of microtubules, as, for example, in the translocation of chromosomes during mitosis.

Actins↗
PubMed1981

Characterization of rat brain crude extract microtubule assembly: correlation of cold stability with the phosphorylation state of a microtubule-associated 64K protein.

We have conducted preliminary investigations into the control of microtubule assembly in rat brain crude extract supernatants. The rationale for these experiments is that microtubules interact with many proteins and are undoubtedly subject to physiological control mechanisms that are lost during tubulin purification. A more complete understanding of the cellular regulation of microtubules must include the physiology of these proteins. Assembly can be monitored in rat brain crude extract high-speed supernatants by measuring the increase in solution turbidity. We find that assembly is maximal in both rate and extent in the absence of added nucleotide. Increasing concentrations of either adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) or guanosine 5'-triphosphate (GTP) inhibit both initiation and elongation of microtubules. GTP appears necessary for assembly and is apparently replenished from an intrinsic energy source during the time course of the assembly reaction. Inhibition of GTP production prevents microtubule assembly, and addition of exogenous GTP will reverse the blockage. Enzymatic removal of GTP at steady state causes a rapid depolymerization to the cold-stable microtubule level. Both GTP production and microtubule assembly display periodic oscillatory maxima. Cold-stable microtubules, which are always present in rat brain crude extract preparations, are rapidly made labile by addition of ATP. Analysis of proteins in cold-stable and cold-labile microtubule fractions shows changes in protein phosphorylation but not in the microtubule-associated protein composition. The tentative conclusion is that the state of phosphorylation of a 64K protein, designated the "switch protein", determines the cold stability or lability, and therefore the dimer association and dissociation rates, of crude extract microtubules.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1981

Role of GTP hydrolysis in microtubule treadmilling and assembly.

GTP hydrolysis accompanies addition of tubulin to microtubules. I find that hydrolysis is a requirement for the opposite-end assembly/disassembly of microtubules and consequent subunit treadmilling from one end to the other of the polymer. Neither GDP nor guanosine 5'-[beta, gamma-imido]triphosphate allows or participates in the treadmilling reaction. Therefore, there is a requirement for hydrolysis in the addition of subunits to the favored assembly end of the microtubule. Podophyllotoxin, an assembly inhibitory drug, "caps" the microtubule assembly end, preventing subunit loss from that site to equilibrium. Continued hydrolysis of GTP is required to maintain the podophyllotoxin cap. A corollary of this finding is that GTP hydrolysis is required for cap formation. Microtubules assembled in GTP enter a metastable state when all remaining GTP is hydrolyzed. This state is characterized by its ability to maintain indefinitely a subunit/polymer distribution ratio that is arbitrary and that can be altered at will by brief chilling or by addition of small amounts of GTP. This metastable state is labile to podophyllotoxin. Use of podophyllotoxin allows measurement of the microtubule treadmilling rate; use of podophyllotoxin in the absence of GTP allows measurement of the overall rate of dimer dissociation from the microtubule. Measurement of these rates has permitted determination of the efficiency with which adding dimers incorporate into the microtubule treadmill and are not lost to assembly end equilibrium. The efficiency varies with GTP concentration for unknown reasons, being high at 0.1 mM GTP and low at higher GTP concentrations.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Rapid disassembly of cold-stable microtubules by calmodulin.

Purified cold-stable microtubules from the rat brain are insensitive to podophyllotoxin and to millimolar concentrations of free calcium. However, in the presence of calmodulin at concentrations substoichiometric to that of tubulin, calcium causes rapid microtubule disassembly. The half-maximal effective calcium concentration in the presence of calmodulin is 100 microM. With 800 microM free calcium, the half-maximal effective concentration of calmodulin is 1.0 microM (or one-tenth the tubulin concentration). Calmodulin is without effect in the absence of calcium. Troponin C is approximately one-fifth as effective as calmodulin, and parvalbumin is totally ineffective. Troponin I partially inhibits the calcium/calmodulin-induced disassembly of microtubules in the crude extract and blocks the calcium/calmodulin effect on purified cold-stable microtubules. A 5-fold excess of trifluoperazine does not inhibit the calcium/calmodulin-induced disassembly.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Regulation of the microtubule steady state in vitro by ATP.

ATP increases microtubule steady state assembly and disassembly rates in vitro in a concentration-dependent manner. Bovine brain microtubules, composed of 75% tubulin and 25% high molecular weight microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), were purified by three cycles of assembly and disassembly in the absence of ATP. When assembled to steady state, these microtubules add dimers at one end and lose them at the other in a unidirectional assembly-disassembly process. In the presence of 1.0 mM ATP the unidirectional flow of tubulin from one end of the microtubules to the other increases as much as 20 fold, as revealed by loss of 3H-GTP from uniformly labeled microtubules under GTP chase conditions and by the rate of disassembly following addition of 50 microM podophyllotoxin. UTP, CTP and 5' adenylylimidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP) cannot substitute for ATP in producing this effect. Furthermore, the increase in steady state flow rate persists afer ATP is removed. Thus microtubules assembled in ATP and centrifuged through sucrose cushions to separate them from nucleotides continue to exhibit increased rates in the next assembly cycle in the absence of ATP. It is possible that an ATP-dependent microtubule protein kinase is responsible for the observed increase in tubulin flow rate. A kinase activity associated with brain MAPs has been reported to be cAMP-dependent (Sloboda et al., 1975). We have found an adenylate cyclase activity associated with these microtubules. Whether the adenylate cyclase is a contaminant or due to a specific microtubules-associated protein, and whether its activity is functionally linked to the increased rate of assembly and disassembly in the presence of ATP, remain to be determined.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1978

Opposite end assembly and disassembly of microtubules at steady state in vitro.

Measurements of tubulin exchange into and from bovine brain microtubules at steady state in vitro were made with 3H-GTP as a marker for tubulin addition to or loss from microtubules. Tubulin has an exchangeable GTP binding site that becomes nonexchangeable in the microtubule. We found that tubulin addition to and loss from microtubules under steady state conditions occurred at equivalent rates, that loss and gain were linear, and that exchange rates (percentage of total tubulin in microtubules lost or gained per hour) were dependent upon microtubule length. Furthermore, we found that podophyllotoxin blocked steady state assembly, but did not alter the rate of steady state tubulin loss. When the assembling microtubule end was pulsed with 3H-GTP at steady state, the label was almost completely retained during a subsequent chase. We conclude that the microtubule assembly-disassembly "equilibrium" is a steady state summation of two different reactions which occur at opposite ends of the microtubule, and that assembly and disassembly occur predominantly and perhaps exclusively at the opposite ends under steady state conditions in vitro.

Brain↗
PubMedDate not supplied

In vitro response of rat gastrointestinal segments to cholecystokinin and bombesin.

In previous studies of the rat gastrointestinal (GI) tract, we have demonstrated specific binding of cholecystokinin (CCK) to the pylorus and of bombesin (BN) to the gastric fundus, gastric antrum, duodenum, and ileum. We now present the results of an investigation of the in vitro response of the same regions of the rat GI tract to CCK-8 (the active octapeptide of CCK) and BN. Sections of rat fundus, antrum, pylorus, duodenum, and ileum were suspended in a Tyrode buffer and attached to an isometric pressure transducer in a longitudinal orientation. Dose-response curves to CCK-8 and BN were generated for each tissue. CCK-8 consistently induced a change only in pylorus, while BN induced a response from fundus, antrum and duodenum. With the exception of the lack of ileal response to BN, the regions of the rat GI tract which biologically respond (i.e., contract or relax) to CCK-8 or BN were the same regions in which we have located BN and CCK-8 binding sites. This correlation supports the hypothesis that GI function is modified by specified hormone-receptor interactions with these peptides.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nonpsychiatrist house staff frequently misdiagnose psychiatric disorders in general hospital inpatients.

Nonpsychiatric house staff referring inpatients for psychiatric consultation were asked to make a psychiatric diagnosis before their patients were evaluated by the consultants. The psychiatrists confirmed this diagnosis in only 22% of patients age 50 years and older, but in 68% of patients under age 50. Referring physicians identified 27 cases of major depression; the psychiatric consultants agreed with this diagnosis in only 6 (22%) of these patients. In the remaining 21 patients, the psychiatrists identified 10 cases of delirium, 7 cases of adjustment disorder, and 4 cases of various other conditions. These results suggest that nonpsychiatric house staff frequently misidentify other psychiatric conditions as major depression and that the psychiatric diagnosis of older patients by nonpsychiatrist house staff is far more problematic than the diagnosis of younger patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

SCA12: an unusual mutation leads to an unusual spinocerebellar ataxia.

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 12 (SCA12) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder which has been described in pedigrees of German American and Indian descent. The phenotype typically begins with tremor in the fourth decade, progressing to include ataxia and other cerebellar and cortical signs. SCA12 is associated with an expansion of a CAG repeat in the 5' region of the gene PPP2R2B which encodes a brain-specific regulatory subunit of the protein phosphatase PP2A. The repeat size ranges from 55 to 78 triplets in the mutant allele of affected individuals, and from 9 to 28 triplets in normal alleles. It is possible that an expansion mutation in PPP2R2B may influence PPP2R2B expression, perhaps altering the activity of PP2A, an enzyme implicated in multiple cellular functions, including cell cycle regulation, tau phosphorylation, and apoptosis.

Female↗