Abstract
The oocytes of saturniid moths take up proteins selectively from the blood. The distribution of blood proteins in the ovary during protein uptake was investigated by staining 2 µ sections of freeze-dried ovaries with fluorescein-labeled antibodies. The results indicate that blood proteins occur primarily in the intercellular spaces of the follicle cell layer, in association with a brush border at the surface of the oocyte, and within the oocyte in the yolk spheres. That proteins derived from the blood are associated with the yolk spheres was confirmed by isolating these bodies and showing that lysis, which can be induced by any of a number of mechanical means, causes them to release immunologically defined proteins known to be derived from the blood. That the level of blood proteins in the cytoplasm is low relatively to that in the yolk spheres was confirmed by the observation that the yellow pigments associated with several blood proteins, although conspicuous in the yolk spheres, are not visible in the translucent layer of centrifuged oocytes. From these and previous physiological observations, it is proposed that blood proteins reach the surface of the oocyte by an intercellular route, that they combine with some component of the brush border, and that they are transformed into yolk spheres by a process akin to pinocytosis.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1,015.2 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BRANDT P. W. A study of the mechanism of pinocytosis. Exp Cell Res. 1958 Oct;15(2):300–313. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(58)90032-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FLICKINGER R. A., ROUNDS D. E. The maternal synthesis of egg yolk proteins as demonstrated by isotopic and serological means. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1956 Oct;22(1):38–42. doi: 10.1016/0006-3002(56)90220-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- GLASS L. E. Immuno-histological localization of serum-like molecules in frog oocytes. J Exp Zool. 1959 Jul;141:257–289. doi: 10.1002/jez.1401410204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- HOLTER H. Pinocytosis. Int Rev Cytol. 1959;8:481–504. doi: 10.1016/s0074-7696(08)62738-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- NATH V., GUPTA B. L., AGGARWALA D. K. Histochemical and morphological studies of the lipids in oogenesis. IV. The orthopterans, Chrotogonus trachypterus Blanch, and Gryllodes sigillatus (Walk.). Cellule. 1959;60:79–101. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- PREER J. R., Jr, TELFER W. H. Some effects of nonreacting substances in the quantitative application of gel diffusion techniques. J Immunol. 1957 Oct;79(4):288–293. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SCHUMAKER V. N. Uptake of protein from solution by Amoeba proteus. Exp Cell Res. 1958 Oct;15(2):314–331. doi: 10.1016/0014-4827(58)90033-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TELFER W. H. Immunological studies of insect metamorphosis. II. The role of a sex-limited blood protein in egg formation by the Cecropia silkworm. J Gen Physiol. 1954 Mar;37(4):539–558. doi: 10.1085/jgp.37.4.539. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TELFER W. H., WILLIAMS C. M. Immunological studies on insect metamorphosis. I. Qualitative and quantitative description of the blood antigens of the Cecropia silkworm. J Gen Physiol. 1953 Jan;36(3):389–413. doi: 10.1085/jgp.36.3.389. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WITTEK M. La vitellogénèse chez les amphibiens. Arch Biol (Liege) 1952;58(2):133–198. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]