[Concentration of tritium-labelled ecdysone in the cell nuclei of the salivary glands of Drosophila hydei]

Localization of ecdysterone on polytene chromosomes of Drosophila melanogaster

Ecdysterone has been crosslinked in situ to polytene chromosomes of salivary glands of Drosophila melanogaster by photoactivation. The crosslinked hormone has been localized on the chromosomes by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. At different developmental stages the hormone was detected at different chromosomal loci. These chromosomal sites correspond to ecdysterone-inducible puff sites. Thus, the hormone binds directly to chromosomal loci, whose transcription depends on the presence of the hormone. Ecdysterone was also crosslinked to one puff site that regresses during larval development. This indicates that (i) hormone binding to polytene chromosomes activates transcription at specific loci, and (ii) hormone-dependent regression of intermolt puff 68C is mediated by direct binding of ecdysterone. Ecdysterone was not detected on puff sites that are independent of hormone action or in chromosomal interbands. After heat shock, no ecdysterone became crosslinked to polytene chromosomes.

[Topochemistry of hormone action]

The site of hormone action is the cells of target tissues. Now that ultrastructural research has revealed the complexity of eukaryotic cells, we must ask which cellular structures are involved. Some hormones act at the cell membrane, mainly via adenylate cyclase and the "second messenger" cAMP. The cytosol and the mitochondria, the main sites of intermediate metabolism and enzyme activity, are apparently not involved, although in the past interaction of hormones with enzymes has been postulated. Most of the steroid hormones act at the level of the cell nucleus, regulating transcription of specific genes and inducing enzymes or other proteins. The mechanisms by means of which this regulation is achieved are not fully understood, but it is likely that derepression is involved. The active agent seems to be a complex of the hormone with a receptor protein.