title: A paper membrane filter assay for ciliate chemoattraction.
abstract: A quantitative bioassay for ciliate chemoattraction based on the Boyden assay is described with the ciliates Tetrahymena thermophila and Tetrahymena pyriformis as test organisms. A chamber is separated into two compartments by a Whatman 3MM filter, and a suspension of starved cells (approximately 10(5) cells/ml) is placed in one compartment and a solution containing attractant in the other. The gradient of chemoattractant across the filter causes the cells to swim through the filter into the attractant-containing compartment where their appearance is determined by electronic cell counting. The assay described is convenient with a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 10. It is shown here to work with the attractants proteose peptone and platelet-derived growth factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry B. Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leick
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frederiksen
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lyhne
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hellung-Larsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002364:Caseins / Q000494:pharmacology; D002417:Cattle; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000502:physiology; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000502:physiology*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D005374:Filtration / Q000295:instrumentation; D005898:Glass; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010209:Paper; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000494:pharmacology; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000494:pharmacology; D013768:Tetrahymena / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002364:Caseins; D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D003470:Culture Media; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; C009753:fiberglass; C018135:proteose-peptone; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D005346:Fibroblast Growth Factors; D004492:Edetic Acid