Three-dimensional electron microscopical visualization of the cytoskeleton of animal cells: immunoferritin identification of actin- and tubulin-containing structures

Cytoskeletons prepared by Triton X-100 treatment of tissue culture cells appear in stereo electron microscopy as a highly organized and interconnected three-dimensional matrix of different fibrous elements. Microfilament bundles and also tonofilament-like bundles are readily discerned when present in the cell type. In addition thinner fibers, some of which branch (smallest diameter 30--40 A), as well as fibers of larger diameter, some of which correspond to microtubules, can be seen. Since such cytoskeletons are an open, membrane-free system, individual fibrous organizations can be identified by specific antibodies. An indirect immunoferritin procedure using antibodies to tubulin or actin visualizes microtubules or actin-containing structures. Stereo electron microscopy of cytoskeletons decorated with actin antibody reveals, in addition to the F-actin-containing microfilament bundles, an extended fine actin lattice. This actin net is displayed throughout the cytoplasm not only between the microfilament bundles but also in those regions of the cytoskeleton that in the intact cell correspond to the submembraneous regions. Thus all actin-containing fibrous cytoplasmic structures may be interconnected in the living cell.

Reaction of tonofilament-like intermediate-sized filaments with antibodies raised against isolated defined polypeptides of bovine hoof prekeratin

Total purified and reconstituted bovine hoof prekeratin, containing several polypeptides, as well as individual polypeptide size classes isolated therefrom were used as antigens in guinea pigs. The antibodies raised against these protein preparations were found to decorate the system of wavy arrays of tonofilament-like, intermediate-sized filaments present in various epithelial and epithelia-derived cells. Strong cross-reaction between different vertebrate species was noted, including amphibia. Positive results were obtained with original sera as well as with IgG fractions and antibodies made monospecific by chromatography on total bovine prekeratin covalently bound to Sepharose. Among the antisera raised against the different polypeptide size classes the most intense decoration of fibrillar arrays was obtained with antibodies against fraction 4 which contained polypeptides VI and VII.

Changes in intracellular organization of tubulin and actin in N-18 neuroblastoma cells during the process of axon extension induced by serum deprivation

Specific antibodies against actin and tubulin have been used to follow the distribution and organization of actin and tubulin containing structures in N-18 neuroblastoma cells induced to sprout axons. Immunofluorescence microscopy shows that during the time of axonal sprouting microtubules converge into growing processes forming dense bundles in which individual microtubules cannot be resolved. In the growth cone where individual fluorescent fibers can again be distinguished microtubules seem to be excluded from the very margin. Actin is predominantly located at the cell periphery both in cell bodies and in cell processes. It appears to be present in areas of high surface motility and is especially abundant at the tip of the growth cone.

The intracellular organization of actin and tubulin in cultured C-1300 mouse neuroblastoma cells (clone NB41A3)

Cells of clone NB41A3 of the C-1300 mouse neuroblastoma were grown to a critical density at which many of the cells flatten, assume a variety of shapes and sizes and some sprout processes resembling neurites. We have studied the distribution of actin and tubulin in these cells using fluorescence microscopy and antibodies against actin or tubulin under these conditions. Actin-containing structures are variably arranged and predominantly associated with motile areas of the cell periphery including the growth cone. Microtubules appear to run radially from the perinuclear area towards the cell periphery. When neurites are present, microtubules converge into them and run to the growth cone but rarely contact its edge.

Different intermediate-sized filaments distinguished by immunofluorescence microscopy

The major protein of intermediate-sized filaments in mouse 3T3 cells, for which the name vimentin is proposed, has a molecular weight of 57,000. Antibodies against vimentin and antibodies against prekeratin have been used in parallel in immunofluorescence microscopy on a variety of cultured cells as well as on frozen tissue sections. Both antibodies decorate extended wavy arrays of filaments that are different from microfilaments and microtubules. Intermediate filament bundles decorated by antibodies against prekeratin are predominant in many epithelial cells, including epithelia-derived tumor cells, and are not decorated by antibodies to vimentin. In contrast, intermediate filaments decorated by antibodies against vimentin are widespread among nonmuscle cells of mesenchymal origin, including transformed cells, and also occur in other cells. Perinuclear whorls of aggregates of intermediate filaments induced by prolonged treatment with Colcemid generally show strong decoration with antibodies against vimentin. No significant reaction with either antiserum has been observed in muscle structures or in brain nerve tissue. These observations show that intermediate filaments with similar ultrastructure and solubility characteristics can be distinguished immunologically.

The intermediate-sized filaments in rat kangaroo PtK2 cells. I. Morphology in situ

The system of the intermediate-sized filaments (IF) of rat kangaroo PtK2 cells which can be specifically demonstrated by immunofluorescence microscopy using certain rabbit autoantibodies and guinea pig antibodies against bovine hoof prekeratin has been studied by electron microscopy. The characteristic ornamental, curved arrays of this system are shown after fixation in situ in both thin sections and whole-cell-preparations to represent bundles of 6 to 11 nm thick filaments extending through the whole cytoplasm, although in some cells they appear to be enriched in the perinuclear region. While many individual IF are recognized in the cytoplasm the tendency of such filaments to aggregate laterally into bundles is one of their prominent features. Among such bundle formations one form that consists of tightly packed IF cemented together in a dense osmiophilic matrix is especially conspicious. The appearance and mode of arrangement of the IF is not significantly altered in cells treated with colcemid and/or cytochalasin B. Spatial relationships of IF with microfilament-containing cables and microtubules as well as with membranous structures are also described. IF are heterogeneous in width and reveal an unstained, apparently hollow core, indicative of a tubular organization. Many IF show small, sometimes periodically arranged lateral projections which seem to be involved in IF cross-linking. Associations with polyribosomes are common. The changes in the IF system during mitosis have also been examined. The structural details of the IF as well as their possible role as cytoskeletal elements involved in the control of cell shape and cytoplasmic architecture are discussed in relation to data on various intermediate-sized filaments from other cell types. The close similarity of the IF of PtK2 cells to aggregates of prekeratin filaments is emphasized. It is suggested that PtK2 cells represent an epithelial cell line growing in a state of balanced semi-keratinization.

Specific visualization of the distribution of the calcium dependent regulatory protein of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (modulator protein) in tissue culture cells by immunofluorescence microscopy: mitosis and intercellular bridge

Monospecific antibodies against the homogeneous Ca++ dependent regulatory protein of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (CDR protein) from bovine brain were used in indirect immunofluorescence microscopy to visualize the cytoplasmic organization of this key regulatory protein in growing tissue culture cells. Although cells during interphase reveal only a weak general cytoplasmic fluorescence, a dramatic reorganization of CDR protein occurs with the onset of mitosis. Throughout the different mitotic stages CDR protein is strongly concentrated in the two polar parts of each half spindle. After completion of telophase (CDR protein appears at both cytoplasmic ends of the intercellular bridge which still connects the two daughter cells. Parallel use of monospecific antibodies against CDR protein and tubulin emphasizes the spatial restriction in the localization of CDR protein during mitosis and early G1 phase of the cell cycle.

The intermediate-sized filaments in rat kangaroo PtK2 cells. II. Structure and composition of isolated filaments

When cultured cells of the rat kangaroo cell line PtK2 grown on plastic or glass surfaces are lysed and extracted with combinations of low and high salt buffers and the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100 cytoskeletal preparations are obtained that show an enrichment of 6 to 11 nm thick filaments. The arrays of these filaments have been examined by various light and electron microscopic techniques, including ultrathin sectioning, whole mount transmission electron microscopy, negative staining, and indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. In addition, 6 to 11 nm filaments isolated from these cells with similar extraction procedures and with centrifugation techniques have been examined by electron microscopy. The arrays of these isolated intermediate-sized filaments, their ultrastructure and their specific decoration by certain antibodies present in normal rabbit sera as well as by guinea pig antibodies against purified bovine prekeratin is demonstrated. When preparations enriched in these intermediate-sized filaments are examined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis a corresponding enrichment of three polypeptide bands with apparent molecular weights of about 45 000, 52 000 and 58 000 (the latter component sometimes appears split into two bands) is observed, besides some residual actin and a few high molecular weight bands. The morphology of the isolated filaments, their immunological reaction with antibodies decorating prekeratin-containing structures, and the sizes of their constitutive polypeptides suggest that these filaments are closely related to prekeratin-containing filaments observed in a variety of epithelial cells.

The distribution of actin cables and microtubules in hybrids between malignant and non-malignant cells, and in tumours derived from them

Cell fusion provides a genetic test for linkage between cellular phenotypic markers and malignancy. We have examined hybrid cells in which malignancy is suppressed and malignant segregants derived from them, to test whether the reappearance of malignancy is regularly associated with loss or abnormality of actin cables or microtubules. Immunofluorescence studies did not reveal any difference between the malignant and non-malignant hybrids in the number and distribution of microtubules that they contained. All the hybrids, whether tumorigenic or not, contained elaborate patterns of cytoplasmic microtubules. Furthermore, no consistent relationship was observed between the absence of actin cables and malignancy.

Stereo immunofluorescence microscopy: I. Three-dimensional arrangement of microfilaments, microtubules and tonofilaments

An easy manipulation of the commercial fluorescence microscope allows stereo pairs of pictures to be taken, which when examined with a stereo viewer, give a strong three-dimensional impression. The procedure is described in detail. Its use allows the documentation by immunofluorescence microscopy of the three-dimensional display and organization of microfilament bundles, microtubules and tonofilaments in some well characterized tissue culture cell lines.

Individual microtubules viewed by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy in the same PtK2 cell

PtK2 cells were grown on gold grids and treated with Triton X-100 in a microtubule stabilizing buffer. The resulting cytoskeletons were fixed with glutaraldehyde and subjected to the indirect immunofluorescence procedure using monospecific tubulin antibodies. Grids were examined first by fluorescence microscopy, and the display of fluorescent cytoplasmic microtubules was recorded. The grids were then stained with uranyl acetate and the display of fibrous structures recorded by electron microscopy. Thus the display of cytoplasmic microtubular structures in the light microscope and the electron microscope can be compared within the same cytoskeleton. The results show a direct correspondence of the fluorescent fibers in the light microscope with uninterrupted fibers of diameter approximately 550 A in the electron microscope. This is the diameter reported for a single microtubule decorated around its circumference by two layers of antibody molecules. Thus under optimal conditions immunofluorescence microscopy can visualize individual microtubules.

Indirect immunofluorescence microscopy of microtubular structures in male germ cells of wildtype and l(3)pl (lethal-polyploid) Drosophila hydei

Tubulin-containing structures of the male germ cells of Drosophila hydei crossreact in indirect immunofluorescence microscopy with antibody directed against homogeneous porcine brain tubulin. There is no detectable difference in reactivity between germ cells of wildtype flies and the mutant l(3)pl (lethal-polyploid) which is characterized by microtubular abnormalities. However, the technique of indirect immunofluorescence microscopy allows the direct visualization of several abnormalities in the arrangement of the microtubular system of the mutant, particularly in the axonemal complex.

Cytoplasmic microtubular images in glutaraldehyde-fixed tissue culture cells by electron microscopy and by immunofluorescence microscopy

Electron microscopy and indirect immunofluorescence microscopy using monospecific tubulin antibodies were performed in parallel on glutaraldehyde-fixed tissue culture cells without osmium fixation. In order to reduce the excess aldehyde groups of the strongly crosslinked cellular matrix, which normally interfere with subsequent immunofluorescence microscopy, a mild NaBH(4) treatment was introduced during or after the dehydration steps. Cells processed through the NaBH(4) step show, in transmission electron microscopy, normal cytoplasmic microtubules approximately 250 A in diameter. When such cells are subjected to indirect immunofluorescence microscopy using monospecific tubulin antibody they reveal a complex system of unbroken, fine, fluorescent fibers traversing the cytoplasm between the perinuclear space and the plasma membrane. Thin sections of cells processed through the indirect immunofluorescence procedure show antibody-decorated microtubules with a diameter of approximately 600 A. This decoration is not obtained when non-immune IgGs are used instead of monospecific antitubulin IgGs. Thus, a direct comparison of cytoplasmic microtubules in glutaraldehyde-fixed cells by both electron microscopy and immunofluorescence microscopy can be obtained.

Microtubule system of isolated fish melanophores as revealed by immunofluorescence microscopy

The microtubule system of melanophores of the angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare, has been studied using antibodies prepared against purified porcine brain tubulin in indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. Melanophores were freed from the surrounding tissue components of isolated scales by mild enzymatic digestion and then allowed to settle on a glass cover slip. In both the dispersed and the aggregated states large numbers of fluorescent fibers are seen. The number and the astral arrangement of these fibers, which run from the central region to the periphery of the cell, are striking. The system of fluorescent fibers is replaced by diffuse fluorescence of moderate intensity after cold treatment, but is restored after rewarming the cells. Differences in the immunofluorescence profiles between cells with dispersed and aggregated pigment are discussed in relation to electron microscopic data available for this system.

Phalloidin-induced actin polymerization in the cytoplasm of cultured cells interferes with cell locomotion and growth

Phalloidin, the toxic drug from the mushroom Amanita phalloides, was injected into the cytoplasm of tissue culture cells and the changes in intracellular actin distribution were followed by immunofluorescence microscopy with actin antibody. At low concentrations, phalloidin recruits the non- or less highly polymerized forms of cytoplasmic actin into stable "islands" of aggregated actin polymers and does not interfere with the preexisting thick bundles of microfilaments (stress fibers). Differential focusing shows that these islands of phalloidin-induced actin polymers occur at a level in the cytoplasm that is above the submembranous bundles of microfilaments present on the adhesive side of the cells. The pattern of cytoplasmic microtubules remains unaffected by the injection of phalloidin; however, filamin, a protein usually associated with actin in the cytoplasm, is also recruited into the islands. At higher phalloidin concentrations, contraction of the cell is observed. These results are discussed in the light of previous biochemical studies by Wieland and Faulstich and their coworkers [for a review see Wieland, T. (1977) Naturwissenschaften 64, 303-309] on the in vitro interaction of phalloidin with muscle actin, which have documented that phalloidin reacts stoichiometrically with actin, promotes actin polymerization, and stabilizes actin polymers. In addition, we show that microinjection of phalloidin interferes in a concentration-dependent manner with cell locomotion and cell growth. These results indicate that a well-balanced controlled reversible equilibrium between different polymerization states of actin may be a necessary requirement for cell locomotion and may also influence other cellular functions such as growth.

The display of microtubules in transformed cells

Monospecific tubulin antibodies have been used in indirect immunofluorescence microscopy on a variety of well characterized, transformed cell lines grown in tissue culture. Networks of colcemid-sensitive fibers are seen in SV40-transformed 3T3 cells, SV40-transformed rat embryo cells, HeLa cells and other transformed cell lines. In each case, greater than 90% of the cells contain visible microtubular networks, and where individual microtubules can be distinguished, they run for long distances. Documentation of these metworks is more difficult in transformed than in normal cells, because transformed cells are in general more rounded and have less well spread cytoplasm. In addition, the microtubular networks can be readily visualized in "cytoskeletons" of both normal and transformed cells, obtained by treatment of cells with nonionic detergents in a buffer which stabilizes microtubules in vitro. Addition of calcium to this buffer results in in situ fragmentation and destruction of the microtubular network. In view of these results, we conclude that transformed cells contain significant numbers of microtubules, and that in transformed cells, as in normal cells, microtubules are arranged in networks.

Visualization of a system of filaments 7-10 nm thick in cultured cells of an epithelioid line (Pt K2) by immunofluorescence microscopy

During our studies with antibodies against structural proteins of the cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells we have observed that sera from many normal rabbits decorate a fiber system in cells of the established rat kangaroo cell line Pt K2. The display and organization of these fibers are different from those of microfilament bundles (decorated by antibody to actin) and microtubules (decorated by antibody to tubulin). This new fiber system can be further distinguished by its resistance to reorganization when cells are treated with Colcemid or cytochalasin B. The decoration of this fiber system is not detected if Pt K2 cells are fixed with formaldehyde. Such sera also appear to decorate swirls of perinuclear fibers in mouse Neuro 2a cells, and in mouse 3T3 cells treated with mitotic drugs. Comparison of the immunofluorescence pictures with electron microscopic data suggests that the sera are visualizing bundles of intermediate 7- to 10-nm filaments.

Reaction of the anastral mitotic apparatus of endosperm cells of the plant Leucojum aestivum with antibodies to tubulin from porcine brain as revealed by immunofluorescence microscopy

Structures binding an antibody against tubulin from porcine brain were localized in the giant anastral mitotic apparatus of endosperm cells of the monocotyledonous plant, Leucojum aestivum, by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. Both continuous and chromosomal spindle fibers were strongly stained. Postive fluorescence was also noted in polar cap regions and, in prometaphase stages, to some extent at the fragmented nuclear envelope. Intermingling and branching of subfiber elements was frequently noted.