ISSN:
0886-1544
Keywords:
mitosis
;
spindle fibers
;
cytoskeleton
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
We studied the distribution of acetylated α-tubulin in the microtubules of spermatogenic cells from the crane fly Nephrotoma suturalis (Loew) using a mono-clonal antibody specific for acetylated α-tubulin (6-11B-1). We found that cells in all stages of spermatogenesis contained acetylated microtubules including primary spermatocytes, meiotic cells, spermatids, and sperm. A subset of the acety-lated microtubules (those in midbodies and flagella) were resistant to cold depolymerization. Newly polymerized microtubules in nondividing cells were not acetylated for up to 15 min. indicating that acetylation lagged behind polymerization. In spindles, newly polymerized microtubules were acetylated after 5 min. Antibodies to acetylated α-tubulin selectively stained chromosome-to-pole fibers in dividing cells, but the staining appeared to decrease and taper of at the kinetochores. This observation supports the hypothesis that tubulin subunits add at the kinetochore in metaphase and that acetylation occurs subsequent to addition. Further, this taper may be useful as a marker in anaphase, to distinguish between different hypotheses of chromosome motion.
Additional Material:
6 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cm.970140210
