Resistance of Dictyostelium discoideum membranes to saponin permeabilization.
BACKGROUND
Saponin is a mild detergent commonly used to permeabilize cells prior to immunofluorescence labeling of intracellular proteins. It has previously been used to that effect in Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae.


RESULTS
We show that saponin, contrary to Triton X-100 or alcohol, permeabilizes at best incompletely membranes of Dictyostelium. In cells exposed to osmotic stress, almost complete resistance to saponin permeabilization was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Saponin should be used with special care to permeabilize Dictyostelium membranes. This unsusual property is presumably linked to the specific sterol composition of Dictyostelium membranes. It may also represent an adaptation of Dictyostelium to harsh conditions or to natural compounds encountered in its natural environment.
Mercanti
Valentina
V
Dpt of Cell Physiology and Metabolism, Geneva Faculty of Medicine, Centre Médical Universitaire, 1 rue Michel Servet, CH1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland. Valentina.Mercanti@unige.ch.
Cosson
Pierre
P