Abstract
The cilia of Tetrahymena were amputated by the use of a procedure in which the cells remained viable and regenerated cilia. Deciliated cells were nonmotile, and cilia regeneration was assessed by scoring the percentage of motile cells at intervals following deciliation. After a 30-min lag, the deciliated cells rapidly recovered motility until more than 90% of the cells were motile at 70 min after amputation. Cycloheximide inhibited both protein synthesis and cilia regeneration. This indicated that cilia formation in Tetrahymena was dependent on protein synthesis after amputation. Conversely, colchicine was found to inhibit cilia regeneration without affecting either RNA or protein synthesis. This observation suggested the action of colchicine to be an interference with the assembly of ciliary subunit proteins. The finding that colchicine binds to microtubule protein subunits isolated from cilia and flagella (13) supports this possibility. The potential of the colchicine-blocked cilia-regenerating system in Tetrahymena for studying the assembly of microtubule protein subunits during cilia formation and for isolating ciliary precursor proteins is discussed.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (524.8 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Borisy G. G., Taylor E. W. The mechanism of action of colchicine. Binding of colchincine-3H to cellular protein. J Cell Biol. 1967 Aug;34(2):525–533. doi: 10.1083/jcb.34.2.525. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Borisy G. G., Taylor E. W. The mechanism of action of colchicine. Colchicine binding to sea urchin eggs and the mitotic apparatus. J Cell Biol. 1967 Aug;34(2):535–548. doi: 10.1083/jcb.34.2.535. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibbons I. R. Chemical dissection of cilia. Arch Biol (Liege) 1965;76(2):317–352. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibbons I. R., Rowe A. J. Dynein: A Protein with Adenosine Triphosphatase Activity from Cilia. Science. 1965 Jul 23;149(3682):424–426. doi: 10.1126/science.149.3682.424. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Inoué S., Sato H. Cell motility by labile association of molecules. The nature of mitotic spindle fibers and their role in chromosome movement. J Gen Physiol. 1967 Jul;50(6 Suppl):259–292. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Renaud F. L., Rowe A. J., Gibbons I. R. Some properties of the protein forming the outer fibers of cilia. J Cell Biol. 1968 Jan;36(1):79–90. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rosenbaum J. L., Child F. M. Flagellar regeneration in protozoan flagellates. J Cell Biol. 1967 Jul;34(1):345–364. doi: 10.1083/jcb.34.1.345. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Shelanski M. L., Taylor E. W. Isolation of a protein subunit from microtubules. J Cell Biol. 1967 Aug;34(2):549–554. doi: 10.1083/jcb.34.2.549. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stephens R. E. On the structural protein of flagellar outer fibers. J Mol Biol. 1968 Mar 14;32(2):277–283. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(68)90009-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stephens R. E., Renaud F. L., Gibbons I. R., Stevens R. E. Guanine nucleotide associated with the protein of the outer fibers of flagella and cilia. Science. 1967 Jun 23;156(3782):1606–1608. doi: 10.1126/science.156.3782.1606. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stubblefield E., Brinkley B. R. Cilia formation in Chinese hamster fibroblasts in vitro as a response to colcemid treatment. J Cell Biol. 1966 Sep;30(3):645–652. doi: 10.1083/jcb.30.3.645. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TAYLOR E. W. THE MECHANISM OF COLCHICINE INHIBITION OF MITOSIS. I. KINETICS OF INHIBITION AND THE BINDING OF H3-COLCHICINE. J Cell Biol. 1965 Apr;25:SUPPL–SUPPL:160. doi: 10.1083/jcb.25.1.145. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WATSON M. R., HOPKINS J. M. Isolated cilia from Tetrahymena pyriformis. Exp Cell Res. 1962 Nov;28:280–295. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(62)90284-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WILLIAMS N. E., SCHERBAUM O. H. Morphogenetic events in normal and synchronously dividing Tetrahymena. J Embryol Exp Morphol. 1959 Jun;7:241–256. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]