The International Journal of Developmental Biology

Int. J. Dev. Biol. 45: 861 - 868 (2001)

Vol 45, Issue 8

The redistribution of Ca2+ stores with inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor to the cleavage furrow in a microtubule-dependent manner

Published: 1 December 2001

F Mitsuyama and T Sawai

Developmental Neurobiology Laboratory, Brain Science Institute, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan. fmituyam@f2.dion.ne.jp

Abstract

We reported that microinjection of Ca2+ store-enriched microsome fractions from cultured CHO cells and mouse cerebella to dividing newt eggs induced extra-cleavage furrows via inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate-induced Ca2+ release (Mitsuyama et al., 1999). Our observation strongly suggested that Ca2+ stores with inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) induce and position a cleavage furrow, as Ca2+-releasing machinery, and that such is itself a putative cleavage stimulus. For confirmation, we immunocytochemically examined mitotic CHO cells using antibodies against Ca2+ store-related proteins. We found that polar dominant Ca2+ stores with IP3R during metaphase were re-distributed to the future cleavage cortex just preceding the onset of furrowing, and that this redistributing IP3R was present on microtubule bundles. When a microsome fraction from sacro/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA)-GFP stably expressing CHO cells was microinjected into dividing newt eggs and observed by confocal microscopy, the microinjected Ca2+ stores with IP3R moved linearly toward the next cleavage furrow and this movement was blocked by nocodazole, a microtubule-depolarizing agent, but not by cytochalasin B, an F-actin-depolarizing agent. These observations strongly suggest that Ca2+ stores with IP3R are transferred and accumulate to the cleavage furrow by microtubule-based motility, as a cleavage stimulus.

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