Search results for "Cytochalasin"
showing 10 items of 20 documents
Characterization of fusion from without induced by herpes simplex virus
1991
The process of fusion from without (FFWO) induced by herpes simplex virus (HSV) was analyzed by using various inhibitors and compared to fusion from within (FFWI). The fate of certain elements of the cytoskeleton after FFWO was also investigated. Our experiments demonstrate FFWO as a very suitable system for study of early virus-cell interactions. Zn++ ions proved inhibitory for penetration whilst pretreatment of cells with Ca++ ions before infection enhanced FFWO activity. Dissociation of penetration from the fusion process itself was possible by use of Zn++ ions, low pH-treatment and antiserum on the one hand and N-ethylmaleimide and cytochalasin D on the other. Penetration itself needs o…
Staphylococcal alpha-toxin: repair of a calcium-impermeable pore in the target cell membrane
2000
Staphylococcal alpha-toxin forms heptameric pores that render membranes permeable for monovalent cations. The pore is formed by an amphipathic beta-barrel encompassing amino acid residues 118-140 of each subunit of the oligomer. Human fibroblasts are susceptible to alpha-toxin but are able to repair the membrane lesions. Thereby, toxin oligomers remain embedded in the plasma membrane and exposed to the extracellular medium. In this study, we sought to detect structural changes occurring in the pore-forming sequence during lesion repair. Single cysteine substitution mutants were labelled with the environmentally sensitive fluorochrome acrylodan and, after mixing with wild-type toxin, incorpo…
The translocation of signaling molecules in dark adapting mammalian rod photoreceptor cells is dependent on the cytoskeleton.
2008
In vertebrate rod photoreceptor cells, arrestin and the visual G-protein transducin move between the inner segment and outer segment in response to changes in light. This stimulus dependent translocation of signalling molecules is assumed to participate in long term light adaptation of photoreceptors. So far the cellular basis for the transport mechanisms underlying these intracellular movements remains largely elusive. Here we investigated the dependency of these movements on actin filaments and the microtubule cytoskeleton of photoreceptor cells. Co-cultures of mouse retina and retinal pigment epithelium were incubated with drugs stabilizing and destabilizing the cytoskeleton. The actin a…
Vitrification of Immature Porcine Oocytes: Effects of Lipid Droplets, Temperature, Cytoskeleton, and Addition and Removal of Cryoprotectant
1998
Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of single-step and stepwise exposure to and removal of cryoprotectant, of temperature, and of a cytoskeletal relaxant on the development of germinal vesicle porcine oocytes to the M-II stage. In experiment I, noncooled cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were treated using single-step/stepwise exposure to ethylene glycol (EG) and removal at 23 or 42 degrees C. Stepwise exposure to EG and dilution at 42 degrees C were found to have a positive effect on the COC developmental rate. In experiment II, also without cooling, COCs were treated with Cytochalasin B at 42 degrees C using single-step and stepwise protocols of exposure to and remov…
Loss of surface fibronectin after infection of cultured cells by HSV-1 and 2
1985
Fibronectin is lost from the surface of HSV infected cells during cell rounding. In order to investigate also the fate of fibronectin during the process of HSV-induced cell-fusion, BHK, Vero as well as primary or secondary rabbit kidney cells were infected with HSV-1 strains producing cell-fusion. By immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy a considerable loss of fibronectin after HSV infection could be demonstrated leaving only irregular clumps of fibronectin containing virus particles on the cell surface. Decrease and disarrangement of fibronectin was similar during cell rounding and cell fusion. Loss of Fibronectin was closely connected with the two types of the cytopathic effect…
Detection of cytokeratin dynamics by time-lapse fluorescence microscopy in living cells.
1999
To monitor the desmosome-anchored cytokeratin network in living cells fusion protein HK13-EGFP consisting of human cytokeratin 13 and the enhanced green fluorescent protein was stably expressed in vulvar carcinoma-derived A-431 cells. It is shown for A-431 subclone AK13-1 that HK13-EGFP emits strong fluorescence in fixed and living cells, being part of an extended cytoplasmic intermediate filament network that is indistinguishable from that of parent A-431 cells. Biochemical, immunological and ultrastructural analyses demonstrate that HK13-EGFP behaves identically to the endogenous cytokeratin 13 and is therefore a reliable in vivo tag for this polypeptide and the structures formed by it. T…
Long-lasting exocytosis and massive structural reorganisation in the egg periphery during cortical reaction inPlatynereis dumerilii(Annelida, Polycha…
1995
SummaryThe course of the cortical reaction in thePlatynereis dumeriliiegg is described from live observation and from sectioned fixed material and is found to differ in several aspects from the course of cortical reactions in better-known systems. Cortical granules are unusually numerous. They are discharged by exocytosis during a period of about 25 min following fertilisation (18°C). Most of the surplus membrane material brought to the egg surface by exocytosis is set free into the perivitelline space. Swelling of egg jelly precursor secreted by cortical granule exocytosis may be causal for the detachment of the vitelline envelope from the egg cell surface which, however, remains attached …
Single mechano-gated channels activated by mechanical deformation of acutely isolated cardiac fibroblasts from rats
2010
Aim Mechanosensitive conductances were reported in cardiac fibroblasts, but the properties of single channels mediating their mechanosensitivity remain uncharacterized. The aim of this work was to investigate single mechano-gated channels (MGCs) activated by mechanical deformations of cardiac fibroblasts. Methods Currents through single MGCs and mechanosensitive whole-cell currents were recorded from isolated rat atrial fibroblasts using the cell-attached and whole-cell patch-clamp configurations respectively. Defined mechanical stress was applied via the patch pipette used for the whole-cell recordings. Results Under resting conditions occasional short openings of two types of single MGCs …
Simultaneous imaging of the surface and the submembraneous cytoskeleton in living cells by tapping mode atomic force microscopy
1997
Contact and tapping mode atomic force microscopy have been used to visualize the surface of cultured CV-1 kidney cells in aqueous medium. The height images obtained from living cells were comparable when using contact and tapping modes. In contrast, the corresponding, and simultaneously acquired, deflection images differed markedly. Whereas, as expected, deflection images enhanced the surface features in the contact mode, they revealed the presence of a filamentous network when using the tapping mode. This network became disorganized upon addition of cytochalasin, which strongly suggests that it corresponded to the submembraneous cytoskeleton. Examination of fixed cells further supported th…
Cytochalasin B selectively releases ovalbumin mRNA precursors but not the mature ovalbumin mRNA from hen oviduct nuclear matrix
1987
Hen oviduct nuclear matrix-bound mature ovalbumin mRNA is released from the matrix in the presence of ATP, while the ovalbumin mRNA precursors remain bound to this structure. Detachment of the mature mRNA from the matrix by ATP as well as ATP-dependent efflux of mRNA from isolated nuclei were found to be inhibited by cytochalasin B. On the other hand, in the absence of ATP, cytochalasin B exclusively caused the release (and nucleocytoplasmic efflux) of the ovalbumin messenger precursors, but not of the mature mRNA. After cytochalasin B treatment, actin could be detected in the matrix supernatant. Phalloidin which stabilizes actin filaments did not cause RNA liberation in the absence of ATP,…