Mitotic disruption by a novel pyrimidine herbicide, NS-245852, in oat (Avena sativa L.) roots

The effects of a novel pyrimidine herbicide, NS-245852 [2-chloro-6-fluorophenyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)thieno[2,3-d]pyrimidine-2-yl-ketone], on mitosis in oat ( Avena sativa L. cv. Zenshin) root tips were investigated by using light and immunofluorescence microscopy. The root growth was strongly inhibited at 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹ of NS-245852, and swollen root tips were induced at 5 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹. As observed by the use of light microscopy, the herbicide produced disrupted mitosis and large polynucleate cells in the meristematic root tissue. These symptoms were similar to those of mitotic disrupter herbicides. The immunofluorescence microscopy studies of the root tip cells treated for 30 min revealed that spindle fibers and the preprophase band were reduced, although kinetochore fibers and the phragmoplast were not affected. Kinetochore fibers remained as small fluorescence spots, and the phragmoplast disappeared after a 3 h treatment. No microtubule arrays were observed by a longer treatment (longer than 3 h). Among the microtubule arrays, spindle fibers and the preprophase band were found to be the most sensitive to the herbicide, whereas kinetochore fibers were the most resistant. The phragmoplast was intermediate. Thus, the primary action of NS-245852 is the inhibition of polymerization of tubulin into microtubules.     

Evaluation of the drug sensitivity and expression of 16 drug resistance-related genes in canine histiocytic sarcoma cell lines

Canine histiocytic sarcoma (HS) is an aggressive tumor type originating from histiocytic cell lineages. This disease is characterized by poor response to chemotherapy and short survival time. Therefore, it is of critical importance to identify and develop effective antitumor drugs against HS. The objectives of this study were to examine the drug sensitivities of 10 antitumor drugs. Using a real-time RT-PCR system, the mRNA expression levels of 16 genes related to drug resistance in 4 canine HS cell lines established from dogs with disseminated HS were determined and compared to 2 canine lymphoma cell lines (B-cell and T-cell). These 4 canine HS cell lines showed sensitivities toward microtubule inhibitors (vincristine, vinblastine and paclitaxel), comparable to those in the canine B-cell lymphoma cell line. Moreover, it was shown that P-gp in the HS cell lines used in this study did not have enough function to efflux its substrate. Sensitivities to melphalan, nimustine, methotrexate, cytarabine, doxorubicin and etoposide were lower in the 4 HS cell lines than in the 2 canine lymphoma cell lines. The data obtained in this study using cultured cell lines could prove helpful in the developing of advanced and effective chemotherapies for treating dogs that are suffering from HS.     

Probing mode of action in plant cell cycle by the herbicide endothall, a protein phosphatase inhibitor

The mode of action of endothall, an herbicide which was reported to inhibit plant protein phosphatases 1 (PP1) and 2A (PP2A), was investigated. For initial characterization, a series of bioassays was used for comprehensive physiological profiling of endothall effects which suggested a phytotoxic mode of action similar to mitotic disrupter herbicides. Unlike known microtubule disrupters, endothall did not inhibit soybean tubulin polymerization in vitro. As shown in meristematic corn root tips, endothall distorted the orientation of cell division plane and microtubule spindle structures which led to cell cycle arrest in prometaphase. In tobacco BY-2 cells, malformed spindles together with prometaphase arrest of nuclei and abnormal perinuclear microtubule patterns were detected as early as 4 h of endothall treatment. These effects were also observed after treatment with other protein phosphatase inhibitors, cantharidin and okadaic acid, which phenocopied the mitotic changes described in tonneau1 (ton1) and tonneau2 (ton2) Arabidopsis mutants. These mutants are defective in TONNEAU2 (TON2) protein, a regulatory subunit of PP2A, which governs cell division plane and microtubule orientation. Therefore, PP2A/TON2 phosphatase complex is suggested to be an in planta molecular target of endothall. However, in BY-2 cells, additional effects of endothall, including inhibition of S-phase initiation and DNA synthesis, detected by 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation, and condensed nuclei arrested in late mitosis were observed which were not reported in Arabidopsiston1 and ton2 mutants. This result indicates that two additional checkpoints in cell cycle were blocked by endothall which are probably not associated with TON2-pathway inhibition. Possibly, inhibition of PP1 and/or other PP2A protein phosphatases are involved in the regulation of these cell cycle phenomena.     

毛竹微管蛋白基因PeTua3的原核表达及其 功能初步研究

作为细胞骨架的重要组成部分,微管蛋白在细胞壁发育过程中起着重要的调控作用。采用RT-PCR技术从毛竹叶片中克隆到一个微管蛋白(Tua3)同源基因的cDNA序列,长1 356 bp,编码451个氨基酸,命名为PeTua3。构建原核表达载体pET-32b-PeTua3,并将其转入大肠杆菌中诱导表达。蛋白电泳检测结果表明:温度和诱导时间对PeTua3基因蛋白的表达影响差异显著,其中,在37℃用0.4 mmol.L-1IPTG诱导2 h的表达效果最好。用PeTua3基因体外表达的重组蛋白处理拟南芥种子,其幼苗上胚轴明显增粗,侧根增多;超薄切片显微观察显示,重组蛋白处理的拟南芥上胚轴和主根的薄壁细胞数量均增多,细胞体积变大,维管束增粗。     

Microtubule distribution in somatic cell nuclear transfer bovine embryos following control of nuclear remodeling type

This study was conducted to evaluate the microtubule distribution following control of nuclear remodeling by treatment of bovine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos with caffeine or roscovitine. Bovine somatic cells were fused to enucleated oocytes treated with either 5 mM caffeine or 150 µM roscovitine to control the type of nuclear remodeling. The proportion of embryos that underwent premature chromosome condensation (PCC) was increased by caffeine treatment but was reduced by roscovitine treatment (p < 0.05). The microtubule organization was examined by immunostaining β- and γ-tubulins at 15 min, 3 h, and 20 h of fusion using laser scanning confocal microscopy. The γ-tubulin foci inherited from the donor centrosome were observed in most of the SCNT embryos at 15 min of fusion (91.3%) and most of them did not disappear until 3 h after fusion, regardless of treatment (82.9-87.2%). A significantly high proportion of embryos showing an abnormal chromosome or microtubule distribution was observed in the roscovitine-treated group (40.0%, p < 0.05) compared to the caffeine-treated group (22.1%). In conclusion, PCC is a favorable condition for the normal organization of microtubules, and inhibition of PCC can cause abnormal mitotic division of bovine SCNT embryos by causing microtubule dysfunction.     

Aluminum inhibits growth and stability of cortical microtubules in wheat (Triticum aestivum) roots

Aluminum (Al) occurs abundantly in soil and solubilized aluminum ions in acid soil inhibit plant growth, in particular, root growth. Although several toxic effects of Al on plant growth have been reported, the mechanism of Al toxicity remains to be clarified.     

小胡杨小孢子发生及微管骨架变化

利用间接免疫荧光结合DAPI(4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole)染色方法,进行了小胡杨小孢子母细胞减数分裂过程中微管骨架变化和染色体行为的研究。结果表明:①小胡杨小孢子发生过程中细胞内微管骨架呈动态变化过程,中期Ⅱ形成平行纺锤体和垂直纺锤体;末期Ⅱ未观察到典型的成膜体结构,同时型胞质分裂由子核间微管系统的相对界面发生,胞质分裂后形成四边形和四面体型四分体。②小胡杨小孢子母细胞减数分裂过程中还存在各种异常细胞学现象,中期Ⅰ和中期Ⅱ存在落后染色体;中期Ⅱ相互平行纺锤体发生联合;中期Ⅱ和后期Ⅱ孢母细胞两个纺锤体间的胞质会出现裂沟;四分体时期存在三分体和二分体等,说明由于远缘杂交而造成小胡杨染色体的异质性,并在减数分裂过程中得到体现。      

Microtubule assembly crucial to bovine embryonic development in assisted reproductive technologies

Centrosome integrity and microtubule network are crucial to the events around fertilization, including pronuclear development, migration and fusion, and the first mitotic division. The present review highlights the importance of bull spermatozoal centrosomes to function as a microtubule‐organizing center for successful fertilization and the subsequent embryonic development. Spermatozoal centrosomes need to be blended with ooplasmic pericentriolar materials accurately to nucleate and organize the sperm aster. Dysfunction of the spermatozoal centrosomes is associated with fertilization failure, which has been overcome with supplemental stimuli for oocyte activation following intracytoplasmic sperm injection in humans. Even though the spermatozoal centrosomes are functionally intact, abnormal sperm aster formation was frequently observed in vitrified‐warmed bovine oocytes, with delayed pronuclear development and migration. Treatment of the post‐warm oocytes with Rho‐associated coiled‐coil kinase inhibitor or α‐tocopherol inhibited the incidence of the abnormal aster formation, resulting in higher blastocyst yields following in vitro fertilization and culture. Thus, understanding of centrosomal function made it possible to improve the performance of advanced reproductive technologies.     

小麦叶片原生质体微管骨架的免疫荧光标记及其影响因素

以小麦叶肉细胞原生质体为材料，利用免疫荧光标记并辅以共聚焦激光扫描显微镜检术（Confocal la-ser scanning microscopy,CLSM)观察，对含有叶绿体较多的小麦叶肉细胞微管骨架的标记方法及其影响因素进行了探索。结果表明，来自未完全展开叶片的原生质体中，微管的数量多且骨架的排列方式较复杂，而从完全展开的叶片获得的原生质体中，微管数量很少，实验中发现，外加Ca^2 离子浓度的增加，使微管的稳定性降低，并确定了导致微管解聚的Ca^2 浓度。     

研究植物胚囊中微管的PEG切片法的改进

经改良的PEG切片法，操作简单易行，观察结果清晰。水稻子房经固定、脱水、包埋、切片、真空粘片法粘片、荧光抗体标记等处理后，在激光共聚焦扫描显微镜下观察胚囊中的微管并拍照。传统粘片法（如多聚赖氨酸粘片法）中的粘片剂阻碍了抗体与微管的结合（致使微管不易被标记出），本文提出的真空粘片法从根本上解决了这一问题，这一新的粘片方法的采用，是使PEG切片法的观察效果获得了较大改进的主要原因，真空粘片法的一个最主要特点是不需要粘片剂，该法解决了由粘片剂所引起的一系列问题，适用于既需粘片、而粘片剂又影响以后操作的情况，有较大的推广价值。