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PubMed1989

The expression of intermediate filaments in canine mammary glands and their tumors.

Monoclonal antibodies specific for different types of intermediate filaments (cytokeratin, vimentin, desmin and neurofilaments) were used to study the histogenesis of canine mammary glands and 57 canine mammary tumors by immunocytochemistry. The intra- and interlobular duct epithelium, acinar, and intralobular myoepithelial cells stained positively for cytokeratin. Peripheral ductal and acinar cells, as well as interstitial cells, stained positively for vimentin. A similar staining pattern was seen in adenomas, complex adenomas, benign mixed tumors, ductular carcinomas, and one myoepithelioma-like tumor. Additionally, cytokeratin positive cells were scattered interstitially in one single adenoma, most complex adenomas, some benign mixed tumors, complex carcinomas, and in the malignant mixed tumors. All stromal cells stained positively for vimentin. The fibrosarcomas were positive only for vimentin, while the following expressed both desmin and cytokeratin: epithelial-like cells in one adenoma, three complex adenomas, the myoepithelioma-like tumor, the single comedo carcinoma, two complex carcinomas, the single lobular carcinoma, one malignant mixed tumor, and three osteosarcomas. Epithelial-like cells in one adenoma, six complex adenomas, two benign mixed tumors, two complex carcinomas, the lobular carcinoma, and the malignant schwannoma stained for neurofilaments. Three tumors, one adenoma, one complex adenoma, and the lobular carcinoma expressed both desmin and neurofilaments in addition to cytokeratin and vimentin. The results show the expression of different types of intermediate filaments and indicate that there might be a stem cell origin in most of the canine mammary tumors.

Adenoma↗
PubMed1984

Fc-mediated binding of IgG to vimentin-type intermediate filaments in vascular endothelial cells.

Prior studies have shown that vascular endothelial cells bind circulating IgG intracellularly during cell death. We now demonstrate that all endothelial cells have intracellular binding sites for IgG and that these binding sites are exposed to circulating IgG only if the plasma membrane is damaged. The binding sites are located on the cytoskeletal intermediate filaments and can be detected also in other cells containing vimentin-type intermediate filaments. Monoclonal human IgG1 exhibited saturable, high-affinity binding to vimentin-enriched cytoskeletons. Binding was inhibited by Fc fragments but not by Fab, F(ab')2, or pFc' fragments, suggesting that the binding site on IgG is located in the C gamma 2 domain of the Fc fragment. Binding of IgG to intermediate filaments may be important for the destruction and removal of damaged cells.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Astrocyte intermediate filaments in CNS pathologies and regeneration.

Astroglial cells are the most abundant cells in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), yet our knowledge about their function in health and disease has been limited. This review focuses on the recent work addressing the function of intermediate filaments in astroglial cells under severe mechanical or osmotic stress, in hypoxia, and in brain and spinal cord injury. Recent data show that when astrocyte intermediate filaments are genetically ablated in mice, reactive gliosis is attenuated and the course of several CNS pathologies is altered, while the signs of CNS regeneration become more prominent. GFAP is the principal astrocyte intermediate filament protein and dominant mutations in the GFAP gene have been shown to lead to Alexander disease, a fatal neurodegenerative condition in humans.

Alexander Disease↗
PubMed1988

Metabolic inhibitors and intermediate filament organization in human fibroblasts.

A number of metabolic inhibitors including the mRNA transcription inhibitor actinomycin D; the protein synthesis inhibitors emetine, cycloheximide, and puromycin; the energy metabolism inhibitors sodium azide and oligomycin; the amino acid analog L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid; sodium fluoride; and acrylamide each cause the collapse of vimentin filament organization while leaving microtubule organization apparently unaffected in the human fibroblastic cell line MCH23. The protein kinase inhibitor N-[2-(methylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulfonamide dihydrochloride (H8) caused a partial collapse of vimentin organization but its effect was more difficult to discern, since it also induced a dramatic change in cellular morphology. Each of these drugs produced a significant inhibition of protein synthesis at concentrations that affected vimentin organization. The mechanisms by which these drugs affect intermediate filament organization are unclear, but our results demonstrate that intermediate filament organization in MCH23 cells is affected by a wide range of drugs and that such drugs cannot be used without great caution as reagents for the study of intermediate filament organization and function.

Acrylamide↗
PubMed1997

Intermediate filaments in the Sertoli cells of the ageing human testis.

The presence and distribution of intermediate filaments (vimentin, keratin, desmin) was studied in the Sertoli cells of elderly men by means of quantitative immunohistochemical methods. Sertoli cells from young men showed moderate immunogold labelling to vimentin throughout the entire cytoplasm between the cell organelles in tubules showing complete spermatogenesis. Immunogold particles were more numerous in the perinuclear cytoplasm and beneath the plasma membrane in all its faces. The testes from elderly men showed different tubule types; some showed complete spermatogenesis and a normal lamina propria, while others had spermatogenic arrest at different levels (spermatids, spermatocytes, spermatogonia). The immunohistochemical reaction to vimentin in the Sertoli cells of tubules with complete spermatogenesis (type a) was similar to that in the cells of young men. In the Sertoli cells of severely damaged tubules (type b) the immunohistochemical reaction was more intense and immunogold particles extended in similar proportions throughout the whole cytoplasm. When immunolabelling intensity was compared between the three groups of tubules, by counting the number of immunogold particles per square micrometre of cytoplasm, it was found to be significantly higher (P < or = 0.05) in type b tubules of elderly men than either in tubules of young men or in type a tubules of elderly men. Since the average cell surface of Sertoli cells was similar in all tubule types, these data suggest that an actual vimentin increase occurs in Sertoli cells of germ-cell-depleted tubules. Sertoli cell immunogold labelling to keratin was found neither in young men nor in type a tubules of ageing men, whereas a positive immunohistochemical reaction was observed in the Sertoli cells of type b tubules of elderly men. Immunogold particles were localized mainly in the perinuclear cytoplasm, and beneath the lateral and basal cell surfaces. The observation of vimentin increase and keratin re-expression in ageing Sertoli cells only in germ-cell-depleted tubules suggests that the changes in intermediate filaments are related to the local factors associated with completion of spermatogenesis, causing functional changes in Sertoli cells.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

'Hard' and 'soft' principles defining the structure, function and regulation of keratin intermediate filaments.

Keratins make up the largest subgroup of intermediate filament proteins and represent the most abundant proteins in epithelial cells. They exist as highly dynamic networks of cytoplasmic 10-12 nm filaments that are obligate heteropolymers involving type I and type II keratins. The primary function of keratins is to protect epithelial cells from mechanical and nonmechanical stresses that result in cell death. Other emerging functions include roles in cell signaling, the stress response and apoptosis, as well as unique roles that are keratin specific and tissue specific. The role of keratins in a number of human skin, hair, ocular, oral and liver diseases is now established and meshes well with the evidence gathered from transgenic mouse models. The phenotypes associated with defects in keratin proteins are subject to significant modulation by functional redundancy within the family and modifier genes as well. Keratin filaments undergo complex regulation involving post-translational modifications and interactions with self and with various classes of associated proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Transgenic expression of the muscle-specific intermediate filament protein desmin in nonmuscle cells.

The coding region of the hamster desmin gene was fused to the 5' flanking sequences of the hamster vimentin gene and introduced into the germ line of mice. The expression of this intermediate filament gene construct (pVDes) was analyzed at the RNA and protein level in transgenic mice as well as in fibroblast cell lines and primary hepatocyte cultures derived from these mice. In all transgenic mice, the pVDes-encoded protein was coexpressed with mouse vimentin in a tissue-specific fashion and was indistinguishable from normal hamster desmin. Culturing of transgenic hepatocytes induced desmin expression indicating that 3.2 kbp of the vimentin gene 5' region regulates both tissue-specific and tissue culture-induced intermediate filament protein expression. Immunohistochemical staining and double-label immunoelectron microscopy of cultured transgenic fibroblasts showed that the pVDes protein assembled into intermediate filaments which colocalized with the mouse vimentin filaments. Endogenous vimentin RNA levels were not influenced by high-level pVDes expression. The coexpression of desmin and vimentin in nonmuscle cells did not result in detectable developmental, morphological, or physiological abnormalities.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cryo-electron microscopy of trichocyte (hard alpha-keratin) intermediate filaments reveals a low-density core.

Trichocyte intermediate filaments (IF) are the principal components of epidermal appendages such as hair and nail. Based on studies by a variety of techniques, it has been inferred that trichocyte IF are structurally similar to other kinds of IF. However, some basic structural attributes have yet to be established: in particular, it has remained unclear whether IF are hollow. We have examined trichocyte IF isolated from rat vibrissae and human hair follicles by electron microscopy. Scanning transmission electron microscopy of freeze-dried specimens yielded mass-per-unit-length values of approximately 32 kDa/nm, with the human preparations also containing filaments at half this density, corresponding to two rather than four protofibrils. Radial density profiles calculated from cryo-electron micrographs of vitrified specimens preserved in a near-native state revealed a low-density region of approximately 3 nm diameter around the filament axis. A minor species of filament with the same internal structure was surface-decorated with material arranged with a helical pitch length of 9.3 nm. These filaments appear to represent IF coated with associated proteins-perhaps, "high-sulfur" proteins-readied for incorporation into the filament-matrix biocomposite of the mature hair.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Dynamic changes in the intermediate filaments of the epithelial cells during development of the chicken's bursa of Fabricius.

The development of bursal follicles and the differentiation of the follicle-associated epithelium and interfollicular epithelium were studied immunohistochemically using monoclonal anti-vimentin and anti-cytokeratin antibodies. In 10-day-old embryos the entodermal and cloacal epithelia coexpressed vimentin- and cytokeratin-intermediate filaments. Both undifferentiated and differentiated bursal surface epithelium simultaneously expressed vimentin- and cytokeratin-intermediate filaments during the entire period of embryogenesis. Vimentin expression in reticuloepithelial cells was related to bursal cell differentiation but was not linked to immune function. Sequential loss of vimentin from interfollicular epithelium, follicle-associated epithelium, and reticuloepithelial cells may reflect sequential acquisition of maturity in these three compartments. The presence of cytokeratin-intermediate filaments suggested that follicle-associated epithelium was not of mesenchymal origin. Testosterone treatment did not influence the vimentin and cytokeratin filament expression in the epithelial cell.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Differential regulation of two classes of neuronal intermediate filament proteins during optic nerve regeneration.

The regulation of expression of two different types of neuronal intermediate filament proteins, ON1/ON2 and plasticin, was studied during optic nerve regeneration in the goldfish. During regenerative growth of optic axons, there is a rapid and dramatically increased expression of plasticin, a recently cloned, novel type III intermediate filament protein, in the retinal ganglion cells. At the time when the growing axons reinnervate the optic tectum, expression of plasticin declines and there is an increased expression of ON1 and ON2. This time course suggests that the target tissue participates in the regulation of these proteins. The aim of this study was to characterize the regulatory role played by the optic tectum. To address this issue, a repeated-crush paradigm was used whereby growing axons were hindered from reaching their target. It was found that in absence of tectal contact, the increased expression of ON1 and ON2 normally seen during regeneration was not induced. In contrast, expression of plasticin increased both in the presence and in the absence of tectal contact.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Tissue type-specific expression of intermediate filament proteins in a cultured epithelial cell line from bovine mammary gland.

Different clonal cell lines have been isolated from cultures of mammary gland epithelium of lactating cow's udder and have been grown in culture media containing high concentrations of hydrocortisone, insulin, and prolactin. These cell (BMGE+H), which grow in monolayers of typical epithelial appearance, are not tightly packed, but leave intercellular spaces spanned by desmosomal bridges. The cells contain extended arrays of cytokeratin fibrils, arranged in bundles attached to desmosomes. Gel electophoresis show that they synthesize cytokeratins similar, if not identical, to those found in bovine epidermis and udder, including two large (mol wt 58,500 and 59,000) and basic (pH range: 7-8) and two small (mol wt 45,500 and 50,000) and acidic (pH 5.32 and 5.36) components that also occur in phosphorylated forms. Two further cytokeratins of mol wts 44,000 (approximately pH 5.7) and 53,000 (pH 6.3) are detected as minor cytokeratins in some cell clones. BMGE+H cells do not produce vimentin filaments as determined by immunofluorescence microscopy and gel electrophoresis. By contrast, BMGE-H cells, which have emerged from the same original culture but have been grown without hormones added, are not only morphologically different, but also contain vimentin filaments and a different set of cytokeratins, the most striking difference being the absence of the two acidic cytokeratins of mol wt 50,000 and 45,500. Cells of the BMGE+H line are characterized by an unusual epithelial morphology and represent the first example of a nonmalignant permanent cell line in vitro that produces cytokeratin but not vimentin filaments. The results show that (a) tissue-specific patterns of intermediate filament expression can be maintained in permanent epithelial cell lines in culture, at least under certain growth conditions; (b) loss of expression of relatively large, basic cytokeratins is not an inevitable consequence of growth of epithelial cells in vitro. Our results further show that, during culturing, different cell clones with different cytoskeletal composition can emerge from the same cell population and suggest that the presence of certain hormones may have an influence on the expression of intermediate filament proteins.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

The dynamic phosphorylation of the human intermediate filament keratin 1 chain.

The major sites of phosphorylation have been determined on the human keratin intermediate filament keratin 1 (type II) chain expressed in terminally differentiating epidermis. A total of nine phosphate sites were found, involving 1 threonine and 8 serine residues, and were localized to end domain sequences. The sites identified corresponded to major sites of phosphorylation as determined by direct quantitation of O-phosphoserine. Since the tissue was cultured with [32 P] orthophosphate only briefly, labeling occurred primarily by turnover, so that information on the dynamics of phosphorylation was also obtained. The degrees and specific activities (that is, turnover rates) of phosphorylation of these sites varied widely between different isoelectric variants (phosphate isomers) of keratin 1 chains and correlated with their locations on the chain: those sites on the more exposed E1 and E2 subdomains were fully phosphorylated and turning over at high rates, while a site near the end of the rod domain in a presumably more confined location was only slightly phosphorylated and turning over at low rate. The nature of the sequences around the phosphorylated residues indicates that cAMP-dependent and probably other protein kinase activities operate simultaneously in intact normal epidermal tissue. The correlation between the degrees and rates of turnover of phosphorylation with the locations on the chain may have an important bearing on the functional role of phosphorylation of the keratin intermediate filaments in this tissue.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1992

Intermediate filaments and steroidogenesis in adrenal Y-1 cells: acrylamide stimulation of steroid production.

The possible role of intermediate filaments in steroidogenesis was investigated in Y-1 mouse adrenal tumor cells by treatment with acrylamide, which is thought to disrupt intermediate filaments without directly affecting microtubules or microfilaments. Treatment of cells with 5 mM acrylamide increases steroidogenesis after a lag period of 4-6 h and induces rounding of the cells at approximately the same time. The effect of acrylamide on steroidogenesis is not cAMP mediated and occurs before pregnenolone formation. DNA synthesis is inhibited, while protein synthesis is not. Acrylamide does not affect polymerization/depolymerization of microtubules in vitro. Acrylamide stimulation of steroidogenesis is additive with that produced by either colchicine or ACTH, implying that acrylamide, ACTH, and colchicine act at different rate-limiting steps in steroidogenesis. In addition, acrylamide stimulation is additive with that of forskolin. Pretreatment of cells with taxol, an agent that specifically promotes microtubule polymerization, decreases acrylamide-stimulated (as well as colchicine or ACTH-stimulated) steroidogenesis, implying that there must also be some shared elements in the stimulating pathways. We hypothesize that regulation of steroidogenesis in the Y-1 cell depends on 1) disruption of a vimentin or tubulin coat surrounding lipid droplets and 2) possible functional shortening of the distance between cholesterol droplets and the mitochondrion. However, because of interactions between cytoplasmic fibers, it is currently impossible to say whether interruption of any one of them is a direct or indirect stimulus of steroidogenesis.

Acrylamide↗
PubMed1983

Synthesis and post-translational assembly of intermediate filaments in avian erythroid cells: vimentin assembly limits the rate of synemin assembly.

The assembly of vimentin intermediate filaments and the high molecular weight filament crosslinking protein, synemin, was studied in erythroid cells from 10-day chicken embryos. Pulse labeling studies show that newly synthesized vimentin is present both in a Triton X-100-insoluble form and in a soluble form. The incorporation of labeled vimentin into the insoluble fraction increases linearly with time, while the soluble pool of labeled vimentin saturates quickly. In contrast, synemin accumulates rapidly in the Triton X-100-soluble fraction and begins to accumulate in the insoluble fraction only after a considerable lag of time. Pulse-chase studies reveal that the detergent-soluble pools of both vimentin and synemin contain precursors for their post-translational assembly into detergent-insoluble filaments and that the half-life of soluble synemin is about twice as long as that of soluble vimentin. Immunoprecipitation of solubilized filaments with synemin antiserum precipitates vimentin with synemin. On the other hand, soluble vimentin does not coimmunoprecipitate with soluble synemin. These results suggest that, in the assembly of vimentin and synemin into intermediate filaments, vimentin filament elongation generates synemin binding sites, and thus the rate of vimentin filament elongation limits the rate of synemin assembly.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

In vitro reconstitution of intermediate filaments form mammalian neurofilament triplet polypeptides.

Intermediate filaments (IF) were reconstituted in vitro from bovine neurofilament triplet polypeptides. Neural IF, solubilized in either low salt or 8 M urea solution, assembled into IF when returned to near-physiological solution conditions. The 68,000-dalton component of the triplet, purified to homogeneity by preparative NaDodSO4 electrophoresis, was renatured and reassembled into short (approximatley 0.05-micrometer) approximatley 10 nm-diameter filaments. These results demonstrate that the triplet polypeptides are components of neural IF and that the 68,000-dalton polypeptide is an IF structural protein.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Complete sequence of a hair-like intermediate filament type II keratin gene.

The Intermediate Filament (IF) superfamily comprises several multigene families, of which the two keratin families are the largest. The keratin IF genes are expressed in epithelial tissues in differentiation-specific patterns and recently we reported the sequence and expression of a hair IF type II keratin gene (KRT2.9). Two related genes were present in the cosmid containing KRT2.9 and we have now sequenced one of them and found that it encodes a hair-like IF type II protein (KRT2.13). However, KRT2.13 is not expressed in the hair follicle. Interestingly there is significant sequence homology between introns 1, 5 and 6 of KRT2.13 and KRT2.9 to suggest gene conversion of these regions or possibly conservation of functional sequences.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1982

Mitochondria are associated with microtubules and not with intermediate filaments in cultured fibroblasts.

Triple-immunofluorescence experiments with antibodies to cytochrome c oxidase, tubulin, and vimentin have been used to immunolabel the mitochondria, microtubules, and intermediate filaments inside the same cultured fibroblasts. In particular, fibroblasts were immunolabeled after they had either been transformed by infection with Rous sarcoma virus or given long-term treatment with cycloheximide. These treatments induced redistribution of the intermediate filaments into a perinuclear arrangement, segregated away from the microtubules, which remained extended to the cell periphery. In such cells, many labeled mitochondria were observed to be codistributed with the peripherally located microtubules. From these results, we infer that an association, probably involving some type of chemical linkage(s), between mitochondria and microtubules exists in these cells that is independent of the intermediate filaments.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Are desmosomes more than tethers for intermediate filaments?

Desmosomes are intercellular adhesive junctions that anchor intermediate filaments at membrane-associated plaques in adjoining cells, thereby forming a three-dimensional supracellular scaffolding that provides tissues with mechanical strength. But desmosomes have also recently been recognized as sensors that respond to environmental and cellular cues by modulating their assembly state and, possibly, their signalling functions.

Animals↗