title: Tubulin content and synthesis in differentiating Drosophila cells in culture.
abstract: Drosophila Kc cells exposed to physiological doses of the moulting hormone, beta-ecdysone, elongate, become motile, and subsequently aggregate. This pattern of morphogenesis was found to require the assembly of a microtubular cytoskeleton. Tubulin content was significantly increased in hormone-treated cells when compared to controls, as measured by a 3H-colchicine-binding assay. However, determinations of rates of tubulin synthesis and breakdown revealed no difference between control and hormone-treated cells for either parameter. When tubulin content was assayed by methods that do not depend on colchicine-binding activity, no difference between hormone-treated and control cells was observed. These results are discussed in terms of a model in which beta-ecdysone affects the distribution of tubulin in "assembly-active" and "assembly-inactive" pools.
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003078:Colchicine / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila; D004441:Ecdysterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014404:Tubulin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D014404:Tubulin; D004441:Ecdysterone; D003078:Colchicine