ISSN:
0886-1544
Keywords:
microtubules
;
transport
;
secretion
;
peritrich ciliate
;
directional turnover
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
The role of microtubules in secretory granule translocation was studied during stalk secretion in the peritrich ciliate, Zoothamnium arbuscula. In each cell, the release of stalk-forming secretory materials is restricted to a specialized region of the cytoplasm, the scopula. Many of the membrane-bound secretory granules that dominate the scopular cytoplasm appear to be aligned along cortical microtubules that converge on the scopular surface. This arrangement is consistent with the hypothesis that microtubules transport granules relative to the sites of exocytosis. To establish the role of microtubules in stalk secretion, telotrochs were exposed to agents with different disruptive effects on microtubule function. Exocytosis itself is not prevented by these drugs, and granules positioned for secretion prior to treatment are released. Maytansine and isopropyl-n-phenyl carbamate (IPC) completely inhibit stalk elongation. In maytansine-treated cells, microtubules are absent from the scopular cytoplasm, and granules are absent from the scopular surface. Microtubules are present in IPC-treated cells, but the granules are misdirected to the cytoplasm lateral to the scopula where no secretory sites exist. Even though the rate of stalk secretion is decreased by deuterium oxide (D2O), a control length stalk is eventually produced. In D2O-treated cells microtubules are present and in their normal orientation. The inhibition of secretion when microtubules are absent (maytansine) or misdirected (IPC) and the retardation of secretion when microtubule turnover is reduced (D2O) supports a mechanism of granule transport based on the directional turnover of microtubule subunits.
Additional Material:
17 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cm.970020105
