Dynamic properties of intermediate filaments: disassembly and reassembly during mitosis in baby hamster kidney cells.
A morphological analysis of the organizational changes in the type III intermediate filament (IF) system in dividing baby hamster kidney (BHK-21) cells was carried out by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy. The most dramatic change occurred during prometaphase, when the typical network of long 10-nm-diameter IF characteristic of interphase cells disassembled into aggregates containing short 4-6 nm filaments. During anaphase-telophase, arrays of short IF reappeared throughout the cytoplasm, and, in cytokinesis, the majority of IF were longer and concentrated in a juxtanuclear cap. These results demonstrate that the relatively stable IF cytoskeletal system of interphase cells is partitioned into daughter cells during mitosis by a process of disassembly and reassembly. This latter process occurs in a series of morphologically distinct steps at different stages of the mitotic process.
Rosevear
E R
ER
Department of Cell, Molecular, and Structural Biology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago.
McReynolds
M
M
Goldman
R D
RD
D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D006224:Cricetinae; D007382:Intermediate Filaments / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007668:Kidney / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology*