
高尔基体被证实是另一个微管形成来源
生物谷报道:微管(microscopic)是细胞骨架的组成部分,起源于中心体(centrosome)。最近,范德比尔特大学医学院研究人员再微管起源研究中获得了重大突破。Irina Kaverina博士与其同事发现高尔基体(Golgi apparatus)是微管的另一个起源,指出了一种可能指导细胞运动和癌细胞入侵的新细胞机制。这一成果刊登于本月Developmental Cell杂志。
微管是构成细胞骨架的三种filaments中最大的一种,由两种球状蛋白——alpha tubulin(微管蛋白)和beta tubulin组装而成。为了立足,初生微管“种子”必须锚定在与细胞核相邻的中心体(或称MTOC,微管组织中心)上。
从MTOC开始,处于生长状态的微管向四周扩散。它们的快速聚集和解聚,帮助蛋白在细胞中运输,使引发细胞运动的信号极性分布。今天大多数人将中心体视作微管“晶核形成(nucleation,生物通编者译)”的主要发源地。文章高级作者、细胞和发育生物学副教授Kaverina说:“我发现许多微管没有附着在中心体。所以我打算寻找它们的起源。”
Kaverina怀疑高尔基有MTOC的功能。然而,在活细胞成像技术出现之前无法证明微管的这种起源学说。“高尔基体与中心体很近,不仔细看的话,很难区分二者。”为了提高分辨率,Kaverina等用荧光分子标记人视网膜上皮细胞中微管的生长末端(plus端),拍摄它们生长过程。“我们发现不止中心体,高尔基体也能产生微管。而且与中心体微管不同的是,高尔基体微管是放射状的、对称的、有方向的。”
他们发现高尔基体微管直接指向细胞运动的“前”端,这种方向性是指导迁移必需的,Kaverina推测这种微管可能通过易化蛋白向细胞前端运动过程,影响细胞移动。
“我们新发现的这种微管将高尔基体与细胞前端直接联系起来,如果这些微管有传递作用,这将更为合理。”除了鉴别这种微管晶体形成的新位点,Kaverina还检测了控制该过程发生的机制,发现与微管plus端有关的蛋白CLASPs,定位在高尔基体的特定部位——高尔基体反面的网络结构(trans Golgi network,TGN)并且稳定高尔基上的微管“种子”。
高尔基体微管可能是影响癌细胞远距离扩散的重要因子。因为微管在细胞分裂中发挥中心作用,治疗癌症的药物如colchicine、vincristine和paclitaxel (Taxol)能够通过改变微管动力学特征阻止细胞分裂。
许多经典的化学疗法会影响微管,尽管不清楚这些药物对癌细胞和正常细胞的影响有何不同。调节两种微管的增生、迁移和入侵可能会影响治疗效果。因此进一步对新发现的微管进行研究有望找到抑制癌细胞向周围组织扩散的途径。
原始出处:
Developmental Cell, Vol 12, 917-930, 05 June 2007
Article
Asymmetric CLASP-Dependent Nucleation of Noncentrosomal Microtubules at the trans-Golgi Network
1 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
2 Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna A1030, Austria
3 Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY 12201, USA
4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
5 Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
6 Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology and Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto 4050-345, Portugal
7 Department of Cell Biology, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 93037, USA
Corresponding author
Irina Kaverina
irina.kaverina@vanderbilt.edu
Abstract
Proper organization of microtubule arrays is essential for intracellular trafficking and cell motility. It is generally assumed that most if not all microtubules in vertebrate somatic cells are formed by the centrosome. Here we demonstrate that a large number of microtubules in untreated human cells originate from the Golgi apparatus in a centrosome-independent manner. Both centrosomal and Golgi-emanating microtubules need γ-tubulin for nucleation. Additionally, formation of microtubules at the Golgi requires CLASPs, microtubule-binding proteins that selectively coat noncentrosomal microtubule seeds. We show that CLASPs are recruited to the trans-Golgi network (TGN) at the Golgi periphery by the TGN protein GCC185. In sharp contrast to radial centrosomal arrays, microtubules nucleated at the peripheral Golgi compartment are preferentially oriented toward the leading edge in motile cells. We propose that Golgi-emanating microtubules contribute to the asymmetric microtubule networks in polarized cells and support diverse processes including post-Golgi transport to the cell front.
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