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Cytoplasmic filaments and morphogenesis: Effects of cytochalasin B on contractile epidermal cells

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Summary

During tail resorption in Distaplia occidentalis the caudal epidermis contracts to 8.5% of its initial length in about 6 minutes and forces the axial complex (muscle, notochord and nerve cord) into a coiled configuration in the trunk. The contraction of the caudal epidermal cells is accompanied by rapid alignment of arrays of circa 50 Å (diameter) filaments parallel to the axis of contraction in the apical cytoplasm of each epidermal cell. Normal metamorphosis (including tail resorption) can be instantly induced by treating tadpole larvae with 0.5% dimethylsulfoxide. Cytochalasin B, (CCB) > 0.25 μg/ml rapidly inhibits contraction of the caudal epidermis. The tail stops shortening, then partly re-extends. When CCB is removed by washing immediately after relaxation, tail resorption resumes. Cytochalasin B reversibly disrupts the organization of central and subterminal arrays of apical filaments in the contractile caudal epidermal cells. Membrane associated filaments near the junctional complexes are not disrupted by 0.25–1.0 μg/ml of CCB. This suggests that CCB does not degrade the filaments into subunits. It is more likely that CCB blocks contraction by disrupting the binding forces between overlapping filaments and facilitates the disorganization of unattached filaments. A second type of filament with a fusiform configuration has been detected in the epidermal cells after CCB treatment. The possibility that these are myosinoid proteins is considered. The data presented in this paper strengthen the hypothesis that the filaments in the epidermal cells are part of a contractile apparatus.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

    Richard A. Cloney

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  1. Richard A. Cloney
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Acknowledgement: This investigation was supported in part by National Science Foundation Research Grant GB 5394. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. Daniel Szollosi for critical comments on the manuscript. An important part of this investigation was carried out at the Friday Harbor Laboratories of the University of Washington. The cooperation and enthusiasm of the Director, Dr. R. L. Fernald, facilitated the research and is greatly appreciated. The supply of Cytochalasin B donated by Dr. S. B. Carter of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. U.K. was indispensable for this investigation and is warmly acknowledged.

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Cloney, R.A. Cytoplasmic filaments and morphogenesis: Effects of cytochalasin B on contractile epidermal cells. Z.Zellforsch 132, 167–192 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00307009

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