Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Cytoskeleton”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,171 records · Page 65Linked to original sources

Translocation of small heat shock proteins to the actin cytoskeleton upon proteasomal inhibition.

The role of small heat shock proteins (sHsps) as molecular chaperones is still poorly understood. We therefore investigated the effect of proteasomal inhibition on sHsps in the rat cardiac myoblast cell line H9c2. Proteasomes are responsible for controlled degradation of intracellular proteins. Inhibition of their activities leads to accumulation of unfolded proteins, which can form insoluble "aggresomes" together with proteasomes and heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsp90. We here report that upon proteasome inhibition, alpha B-crystallin and Hsp25 translocate from the detergent-soluble cytosolic fraction to the detergent-insoluble nuclear/cytoskeletal fraction. Although phosphorylation of both alpha B-crystallin and Hsp25 is induced, this does not seem to be essential for the translocation. Immunocytochemistry revealed that alpha B-crystallin and Hsp25, which show a diffuse cytoplasmic staining in unstressed H9c2 cells, colocalize with F-actin upon proteasomal inhibition. After transfection in H9c2 cells, other sHsps (alpha A-crystallin, Hsp20, HspB2 and HspB3) showed similar translocation to the actin cytoskeleton. The redistribution of sHsps upon proteasomal inhibition may reflect a mechanism by which cells are protected from damaged intracellular proteins by sequestering them on the cytoskeleton.

Actins↗

Cytoskeleton architecture of C6 rat glioma cell subclones differing in intermediate filament protein expression.

Whole-mount electron microscopy was used in conjunction with immunogold labeling to characterize the cytoskeleton architecture of C6 rat glioma cell subclones. These subclones differ in intermediate filament (IF) protein composition and either contain vimentin (subclone C6D8) or do not express any of the known cytoplasmic IF proteins (subclone C6D10) (Röser et al., 1991). In C6D8 cells short thin (3 nm) connecting filaments frequently linked vimentin to actin filaments and, in addition, connected vimentin filaments to each other. Occasionally, direct contacts were noticed between actin and vimentin filaments. Thin connecting filaments were present at a significantly higher number in IF-deficient C6D10 cells, forming a dense cytoplasmic network in conjunction with actin filament bundles as the dominating structure. The data indicate that thin connecting filaments are present in C6 cells independent of the expression of cytoplasmic IF proteins. They suggest that structural linkages between vimentin and actin filaments mediated by thin connecting filaments could play a major role in determining the cytoskeleton architecture of these cells.

Actins↗

Substrate deformation determines actin cytoskeleton reorganization: A mathematical modeling and experimental study.

A mathematical model has been developed to define the relationship between the actin cytoskeleton reorganization of a cell and substrate deformation acting on the cell. The model is based on the following major assumptions: (a) normal substrate strain, not the shear substrate strain, determines the actin cytoskeleton reorganization; (b) the normal substrate strain is transmitted to individual actin filaments; (c) each actin filament has a basal strain energy (BSE) when the cell adheres to the substrate without stretching; and (d) the actin filaments undergo disassembly when their strain energies are decreased to zero or increased to twice their BSEs. The resulting model predicts that the actin filaments are formed in the direction where their BSEs are minimally altered. This direction is therefore the one without normal substrate strain. The prediction was confirmed by experiments conducted on both fibroblasts and endothelial cells. The present model may be relevant for understanding better the effects of mechanical stimuli on the cells.

Actins↗

A cellular tensegrity model to analyse the structural viscoelasticity of the cytoskeleton.

This study describes the viscoelastic properties of a refined cellular-tensegrity model composed of six rigid bars connected to a continuous network of 24 viscoelastic pre-stretched cables (Voigt bodies) in order to analyse the role of the cytoskeleton spatial rearrangement on the viscoelastic response of living adherent cells. This structural contribution was determined from the relationships between the global viscoelastic properties of the tensegrity model, i.e., normalized viscosity modulus (eta(*)), normalized elasticity modulus (E(*)), and the physical properties of the constitutive elements, i.e., their normalized length (L(*)) and normalized initial internal tension (T(*)). We used a numerical method to simulate the deformation of the structure in response to different types of loading, while varying by several orders of magnitude L(*) and T(*). The numerical results obtained reveal that eta(*) remains almost independent of changes in T(*) (eta(*) proportional, variant T(*+0.1)), whereas E(*) increases with approximately the square root of the internal tension T(*) (from E(*) proportional, variant T(*+0.3) to E(*) proportional, variant T(*+0.7)). Moreover, structural viscosity eta(*) and elasticity E(*) are both inversely proportional to the square of the size of the structure (eta(*) proportional, variant L(*-2) and E(*) proportional, variant L(*-2)). These structural properties appear consistent with cytoskeleton (CSK) mechanical properties measured experimentally by various methods which are specific to the CSK micromanipulation in living adherent cells. Present results suggest, for the first time, that the effect of structural rearrangement of CSK elements on global CSK behavior is characterized by a faster cellular mechanical response relatively to the CSK element response, which thus contributes to the solidification process observed in adherent cells. In extending to the viscoelastic properties the analysis of the mechanical response of the cellular 30-element tensegrity model, the present study contributes to the understanding of recent results on the cellular-dynamic response and allows to reunify the scattered data reported for the viscoelastic properties of living adherent cells.

Animals↗

Insulin stimulates binding of phosphofructokinase to cytoskeleton and increases glucose 1,6-bisphosphate levels in NIH-3T3 fibroblasts, which is prevented by calmodulin antagonists.

We report here a novel mechanism of insulin action in cultures of NIH-3T3 fibroblasts. Our experiments revealed that in these cells, insulin induced a rapid and transient increase in cytoskeleton-bound phosphofructokinase (EC 2.7.1.11), the rate-limiting enzyme in glycolysis, with a corresponding decrease in soluble (cytosolic) activity. Insulin also induced a slower increase in the levels of glucose 1,6-bisphosphate, the potent activator of cytosolic glycolysis. Both the rapid and the slower stimulatory actions of insulin were prevented by treatment with structurally different calmodulin antagonists, which strongly suggest that calmodulin is involved in these effects of insulin. The present and our previous experiments in muscle suggest that rapid, Ca2+-calmodulin-mediated increase in the binding of glycolytic enzymes to cytoskeleton, as well as the slower increase in glucose 1,6-bisphosphate, may be a general mechanism, in different cells, in signal transduction of insulin.

3T3 Cells↗

The cytoskeleton and the secretory pathway are not involved in targeting the cowpea mosaic virus movement protein to the cell periphery.

The movement protein (MP) of cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) forms tubules on infected protoplasts and through plasmodesmata in infected plants. In protoplasts the MP fused to GFP (MP-GFP) was shown to localize in peripheral punctate structures and in long tubular structures extending from the protoplast surface. Using cytoskeletal assembly inhibitors (latrunculin B and oryzalin) and an inhibitor of the secretory pathway (brefeldin A), targeting of the MP to the peripheral punctate structures was demonstrated not to be dependent on an intact cytoskeleton or functional secretion pathway. Furthermore it was shown that a disrupted cytoskeleton had no effect on tubule formation but that the addition of brefeldin A severely inhibited tubule formation. The results presented in this paper suggest a role for a plasma membrane host factor in tubule formation of plant viral MPs.

Brefeldin A↗

A functional link between the actin cytoskeleton and lipid rafts during budding of filamentous influenza virions.

Morphogenesis of influenza virus is a poorly understood process that produces two types of enveloped virion: approximately 100-nm spheres and similar diameter filaments that reach 20 microm in length. Spherical particles assemble at plasma membrane lipid rafts in a process independent of microfilaments. The budding site of filamentous virions is hitherto uncharacterised but their formation involves the actin cytoskeleton. We confirm microfilament involvement in filamentous budding and show that after disruption of cortical actin by jasplakinolide, HA, NP, and M1 redistributed around beta-actin clusters to form novel annular membrane structures. HA in filamentous virions and jasplakinolide-induced annuli was detergent insoluble at 4 degrees C. Furthermore, in both cases HA partitioned into low buoyant density detergent-insoluble glycolipid domains, indicating that filamentous virions and annuli contain reorganised lipid rafts. We propose that the actin cytoskeleton is required to maintain the correct organisation of lipid rafts for incorporation into budding viral filaments.

Actins↗

The cells of the dorsal iris involved in lens regeneration are myoepithelial cells whose cytoskeleton changes during cell type conversion.

During newt lens regeneration, the pigmented epithelial cells (PECs) of the dorsal iris dedifferentiate and give rise to a new lens. We have studied the cytoskeleton of the PECs using iris flat mounts and sections. In flat-mount iris preparations stained by labelled phalloidin three main regions can be recognized: the pupillary (P) ring, the middle (M) ring, and the more external junctional (J) ring. The cells of the P ring that give rise to the lens have an elongated spindle shape and exhibit an elaborate cytoskeleton of actin filament bundles oriented along the long axis of the cells, reminiscent of myoepithelial or smooth muscle cells. These cells express smooth muscle-specific alpha actin, muscle gamma actin and cytokeratin II, and adhere to each other through the cell adhesion molecule A-CAM. During dedifferentiation, actin staining increases considerably as the actin filament bundles thicken and shorten and then accumulate preferentially in the apical and basel regions of the elongating lens fibres. Cytokeratin II, which is also organized as fibrils along the long axis of the normal iris PECs, increases progressively during dedifferentiation, when it is organized as a thick band surrounding the nucleus. The expression of this protein is repressed during lens fibre differentiation, but is retained in mitotic cells. The data suggest that during cell type conversion some cytoskeletal proteins increase and reorganize, while others disappear during lens fibre differentiation.

Actins↗

The 180-kD component of the neural cell adhesion molecule N-CAM is involved in cell-cell contacts and cytoskeleton-membrane interactions.

N-CAM180, the molecular form of the three neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAM) with the largest cytoplasmic domain, is accumulated at sites of cell-cell contact (cell bodies, neurites, growth cones) in cultures of neuroblastoma and cerebellum. At these sites the cytoskeleton-membrane linker protein brain spectrin and actin are also accumulated. Brain spectrin copurifies with N-CAM180 by immunoaffinity chromatography and binds specifically to N-CAM180 but not to N-CAM140 or N-CAM120 in a solid-phase binding test. These observations indicate an association of N-CAM180 with the cytoskeleton in vivo. This association may underlie the reduced lateral mobility of N-CAM180 in the surface membrane compared to N-CAM140 (Pollerberg et al. 1986). Together with the fact that N-CAM180 is only expressed after termination of neuron migration in vivo (Persohn and Schachner, unpublished) these results suggest a role for N-CAM180 in stabilization of cell contacts.

Animals↗

The cytoskeleton of microvilli of leech photoreceptors. A stable bundle of actin microfilaments.

The microvilli of leech photoreceptors have diameters in the range of 60-100 nm. Each contains a bundle of microfilaments extending into the photoreceptor soma as a rootlet (Walz 1979 b). Apparent thicknesses of individual filaments are estimated to be 4-5 nm, consonant with those of identified actin filaments in the basement membranes of blowflies (Blest and De Couet 1983). Frozen sections of leech photoreceptors labelled with antibodies against scallop actin exhibited strong binding to the rootlet region but not to the microvilli, which are destroyed by the severe saponin or acetone extraction needed to permeabilise the preparation. NBD-phallacidin binds strongly but non-specifically to the photoreceptors and does not allow positive identification of F-actin. The cytoskeletons of the microvilli and rootlets are adequately preserved by conventional routines of fixation, and similar results were obtained when retinae were pretreated with either 0.5 mM Ca2+, 10 mM EGTA, 2 mM Ep-475 (a specific inhibitor of thiol proteases) or 2 mM Ep-475 combined with 0.5 mM Ca2+. Unlike the axial cytoskeletons of arthropod photoreceptor microvilli, those of the leech are stable to cellular insult.

Actins↗

Early structural changes in the axoplasmic cytoskeleton after axotomy studied by cryofixation.

Alterations in the cytoskeleton were studied in the axoplasm of neurites at the tips of proximal stumps of transected chicken sciatic nerves. The studies were carried out using cryofixation with a nitrogen-cooled propane jet. The most immediate effect is the almost complete disassembly of axoplasmic microtubules. This consequently causes the axonal transport of membrane-bounded organelles to cease and results in an accumulation of mitochondria and vesicles of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. The neurofilament network is partially disorganized. Neurofilaments become shorter and fragmented, and are linked by a large number of anastomosed cross-linkers. The neurofilaments become newly aligned to the axis of the axoplasm and are of normal length 48-72 h after the transsection. At this stage the newly formed neurofilament bundles are in close proximity to the anastomosed cisternae and profiles of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. The axonal sprouts always show a normally organized cytoskeletal network. These studies support the idea that the rapid remodelling of the neurofilament network is apparently a local event, not dependent on the slow transport of cytoskeletal materials to the tip of the proximal stump. The repair of the degraded cytoskeleton may be in accordance with the function of the endoplasmic reticulum as Ca2+-sequestering membrane system, which may be involved in restoring the physiological conditions of the axoplasm.

Animals↗

Synthesis and phosphorylation of cytoskeleton components in foetal, regenerating and adult normal rat hepatocytes during culture.

Detergent insoluble material (DIM) was prepared by gentle treatment with detergent from foetal, regenerating and adult normal rat hepatocytes cultured for various times. It retained to some degree the morphology of the cells. After incubation of intact cells with 35S-methionine, most of the labelled DIM proteins were found to be components of the cytoskeleton. They included several cytokeratins, vimentin and actin. The synthesis rate varied with the age of animals and culture conditions. The high synthetic rate of vimentin in foetal and regenerating hepatocytes could be associated with cell proliferation. No correlation was found between cytokeratin synthesis and hepatocyte growth. Most of the cytoskeleton proteins could be phosphorylated in intact cells and in DIM from cultured hepatocytes. However the degree of phosphorylation of these proteins was not related to their synthetic rate. The decreased phosphorylation level in cultured adult rat hepatocytes could be related to the rapid loss of specific functions.

Animals↗

Visualization of the cytoskeleton in Leydig cells in vitro. Effect of luteinizing hormone and cytoskeletal disrupting drugs.

Effect of LH, vinblastine and cytochalasin B on the cytoskeleton of cultured Leydig cells was investigated using monoclonal antibodies and fluorescence microscopy. After LH addition and treatment with cytoskeletal disrupting drugs, three main effects were observed: 1) increase of androgen level secreted by cultured mouse Leydig cells, 2) changes of cell-shape towards regular and rounded, 3) increase of delta 5,3 beta-HSD activity. The results are discussed in respect to possible involvement of cytoskeleton in the regulation of steroidogenesis.

3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases↗

Actin cytoskeleton and calcium-ATPase in the process of abomasal mucus secretion in cattle.

The distribution of actin filaments in pyloric gland cells of cattle was studied with respect to their functional significance in the process of exocrine secretion by use of rhodamine-phalloidin labelling and immunogold-electron microscopy based on the biotin-streptavidin bridge technique. Actin concentrates on the filamentous network of the luminal-cell cortex. Membranes of secretory vesicles accumulating in the cell cortex are also labelled for actin. The present results support the concept of a barrier function of cortical microfilaments entrapping vesicles and linking them to the cytoskeleton. In addition, intracellular localization of calcium-ATPase activity was determined. Enzyme activity associated with the microfilamentous cortical matrix is supposed to be of cytoskeletal nature indicating participation of myosin (-like) structures in the dynamic secretion event. Deposition on the interior aspect of secretory vesicle membranes points to an ATPase transporting calcium into these organelles and enabling them to participate via storage of the cation in intracellular calcium homeostasis, thereby influencing the functional architecture of the cortical cytoskeleton.

Abomasum↗

Endocardial endothelium in the rat: cell shape and organization of the cytoskeleton.

The cytoskeleton in endocardial endothelium of rat heart was examined by en face confocal scanning laser microscopy. In the ventricular cavity, endocardial endothelial cells had a polygonal shape and F-actin staining was generally restricted to the peripheral junctional actin band. Central F-actin bundles, or stress fibers, in endocardial endothelial cells were found on the tendon end of papillary muscles, especially in the right ventricle, and frequently in the outflow tract of both ventricles; elsewhere, stress fibers were scarce. Many endocardial endothelial cells were elongated in areas of endothelium with stress fibers, but no correlation was found between cell elongation and the number of stress fibers. An inverse correlation was found between the number of stress fibers and the surface area of endocardial endothelial cells. Shear stress as well as mechanical deformation of the surface of the ventricular wall during the cardiac cycle may affect cell shape and the organization of actin filaments in endocardial endothelial cells. Vimentin in endocardial endothelial cells formed a filamentous network with some distinct cytoplasmic and juxtanuclear vimentin bundles. No perinuclear ring of vimentin filaments was observed in endocardial endothelium. Microtubules in endocardial endothelial cells were, in contrast to endothelial cells of rat aorta, not aligned, less closely packed and originated from randomly distributed centriolar regions. The cytoskeleton has been suggested to play an important role in cellular functions of vascular endothelial cells. Accordingly, differences in the cytoskeletal organization between endocardial and vascular endothelial cells may relate to differences in functional properties.

Actins↗

Alterations to the microtubular cytoskeleton and increased disorder of chromosome alignment in spontaneously ovulated mouse oocytes aged in vivo: an immunofluorescence study.

Alterations in the organization of the microtubular cytoskeleton and chromosome alignment were examined by tubulin immunofluorescence and DAPI staining during in vivo ageing of naturally ovulated, metaphase-arrested oocytes of CBA/Ca mice in the fallopian tubes. In oocytes isolated from young mice on the day of oestrus, a few hours after ovulation, when they are still tightly surrounded by cumulus, the anti-tubulin fluorescence is almost exclusively restricted to the metaphase spindle. Only some faintly staining foci are observed in the cytoplasm, which presumably represent cytoplasmic MTOC not involved in spindle formation. The spindle is usually barrel-shaped or slightly pointed at its poles and does not possess astral fibres. In oocytes aged for more than 12 h in the fallopian tubes cytoplasmic asters develop, while microtubules seem to become gradually lost from the spindle, preferentially in its central area near the chromosomes. Astral fibres are observed radiating out from the polar centrosomes into the cytoplasm. In oocytes free of cumulus, and consequently more than 24 h post-ovulation, a pronounced shrinking of the spindle is observed. The mean pole-to-pole distance becomes significantly reduced in postovulatory aged cells. At the same time astral microtubules in the cytoplasm appear to become gradually depolymerized. Age-dependent alterations in the microtubular cytoskeleton do not seem to result from a changed pattern of the post-translational detyrosylation of alpha-tubulin in certain sets of microtubules. In freshly ovulated oocytes chromosomes in most spindles are well ordered and precisely arranged at the equatorial plane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aneuploidy↗

Progressive supranuclear palsy with hypertrophy of the olives. An immunocytochemical study of the cytoskeleton of argyrophilic neurons.

In a patient with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and hypertrophy of the olives, neurons with different forms of argyrophilic degeneration were detected by means of Bodian's silver staining method, i.e., neurofibrillary tangle-bearing neurons in the basal ganglia and brain stem, ballooned argyrophilic neurons in the brain stem, and hypertrophied neurons in the olives. In these cells, the cytoskeleton was investigated to ascertain whether neurons with different cytoskeletal changes contained phosphorylated neurofilaments (P-Nf) in the perikaryon. This study, carried out using two monoclonal antibodies that recognize phosphorylated epitopes of the neurofilament high molecular weight subunits, showed that hypertrophied olivary neurons, most ballooned neurons and a small aliquot of tangle-bearing neurons were labelled. The immunostaining of hypertrophied and ballooned neurons was localized in the whole perikaryon and dendrites, whereas that of tangle-bearing neurons was confined to the tangle. These findings were reproduced in five additional patients (one with hypertrophy of the olives, four with PSP) and demonstrated that, in PSP, the mechanism responsible for tangle formation does not affect the ability of neurons to accumulate P-Nf. This fact suggested that perikaryonal P-Nf accumulation is likely to be part of the cell reaction to abnormal conditions affecting the neuronal cytoskeleton.

Brain↗

Role of the cytoskeleton in the regulation of Cl- channels in human embryonic skeletal muscle cells.

The effects of volume change and cytoskeleton manipulation on the Cl- channels in human embryonic skeletal muscle cells were studied. Trypsination, used for production of myoballs, changes the channel properties only a little. When the external osmolarity was reduced from 300 to 270 mosmol/l, the specific Cl- conductance, gCl, (at -80 mV) of myoballs increased from 5.1 +/- 1.9 to 30.4 +/- 12.2 microS/cm2 (SD; n = 6) within 15 min. Concomitantly, the kinetics of Cl- currents, elicited by clamping the membrane potential from a negative to positive values, changed from activation and subsequent slow inactivation to instantaneous activation with fast inactivation. G protein activation, protein kinase action or [Ca2+]i elevation seemed not to be involved in these effects. Similar changes were produced in the absence of a transmembrane osmotic gradient by 500 nM intracellular cytochalasin D (gCl = 34.3 +/- 10.3 microS/cm2; n = 6) or 12.5 microM colchicine (gCl = 15.4 +/- 1.4 microS/cm2; n = 5). When the external osmolarity was increased to 418 mosmol/l, 1 microM cytochalasin D did not affect gCl. In four of six cell-attached patches the open probability of the intermediate Cl- channel was increased after reduction of the bath osmolarity. In inside-out patches, the drugs increased the open probability of the channels. It is concluded that the Cl- channels are under control of the cytoskeleton.

Calcium↗