Download to Citation Manager

Cell Biology International (2007) 31, 724–732 (Printed in Great Britain)

PDF

Legacy HTML

Citing articles

Effects of taxol treatment on the microtubular system and mitochondria of Tetrahymena

P. Kovács^a, G. Csaba^a*, Éva Pállinger^b and Renate Czaker^c

^aDepartment of Genetics, Cell- and Immunobiology, Semmelweis University, Nagyvárad tér 4, POB 370, H-1445 Budapest, Hungary
^bMolecular Immunological Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
^cCenter of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University, Vienna, Austria

Abstract

Complex investigation was done using immunocytochemical confocal microscopy, electron microscopy and flow cytometry on the effect of taxol to the microtubular arrangement and dynamics. The most interesting phenomenon was the rapid disappearance of transversal microtubule bands, while longitudinal microtubule bands remained and were submitted to the known effects of taxol. There was a broad variation in mitochondrial effect, some of them remained normal, while others swollen, desintegrated and their tubules disoriented. Treatment with 50nM taxol significantly reduced the binding of anti α-tubulin antibody and a lesser degree anti-acetylated tubulin antibody. The difference between the transversal and longitudinal microtubules is emphasized by the results and the paper discusses the possibilities of indirect effects of taxol to the transversal microtubules (tubulin-GTP interaction, faster turnover, mitochondrial interaction). Polyglutamylation of tubulin has not a role in this difference.

Key words: Microtubules, Taxol, Tetrahymena, Transversal microtubule band.

^*Corresponding author. Tel.: +36 1 210 2950; fax: +36 1 303 6968.

Received 30 October 2006/12 December 2006; accepted 10 January 2007