Fine-Structural Aspects of Morphogenesis in Acetabularia

Colchicine forms a complex in vivo with a protein present in fertilized or unfertilized sea urchin eggs; similar binding was obtained in vitro with the soluble fraction from egg homogenates. Kinetic parameters and binding equilibrium constant were essentially the same in vivo and in vitro. The binding site protein was shown to have a sedimentation constant of 6S by zone centrifugation. The protein was present in extracts of the isolated mitotic apparatus at a concentration which was several times higher than in whole-egg homogenates. It was extracted from the mitotic apparatus at low ionic strength under conditions which lead to the disappearance of microtubules. No binding could be detected to the 27S protein, previously described by Kane, which is a major protein component of the isolated mitotic apparatus. The properties of the colchicine-bindinG protein, (binding constant, sedimentation constant, Sephadex elution volume) are similar to those obtained with the protein from mammalian cells, sea-urchin sperm tails, and brain tissue, and thus support the conclusion that the protein is a subunit of microtubules. Show more

The majority of the colchicine-3H bound by tissue culture cells (KB or Hela) was found to be present as a noncovalent complex with a macromolecule which appears in the soluble fraction after homogenization. Similar binding was demonstrated in vitro and was confined to a component of the soluble fraction. The binding-equilibrium constant and the kinetic constants were essentially the same in vivo and in vitro. Bound radioactivity was reisolated and shown to be present in a molecule with the same chromatographic behavior and specific antimitotic activity as colchicine. In vitro assay of binding activity of a variety of cells and tissues showed a correlation with the presence of microtubules. High binding activity was given by dividing cells, mitotic apparatus, cilia, sperm tails, and brain tissue. Binding to extracts of slime mold or to purified muscle proteins was very low or undetectable. The binding site had a sedimentation constant of 6S and it is suggested that the protein is a subunit of microtubules. Show more