Thinking about the nucleus

One of the most sacred freedom in the scientific world is the freedom to challenge: to test new ideas against old, established ones, to try and explain facts and results by means of new interpretations, sometimes even to believe the unbelievable. Obviously, a consequence of this freedom to challenge is the freedom to be challenged, i.e. any new, earth-shaking theory can be challenged by other scientists. During the summer of 2001, a paper published by Iborra et al. (2001) pushed the scientific community to rethink about one of the basic mechanisms of cell biology: translation. According to this paper, mRNA could be translated, although in a limited amount, also in the nucleus. Other papers confirming these data were soon published and these findings were more or less quietly accepted. However, in January 2003, two papers (Dahlberg et al., 2003; Nathanson et al., 2003) repeated carefully the experiments of Iborra and coworkers and concluded that there was no proof of nuclear translation. In this way, we are restored to our previous dogma of nuclear transcription and cytoplasmic translation

Fine structural analyses of pancreatic acinar cell nuclei from mice fed on genetically modified soybean

We carried out ultrastructural morphometrical and immunocytochemical analyses on pancreatic acinar cell nuclei from mice fed on genetically modified (GM) soybean, in order to investigate possible structural and molecular modifications of nucleoplasmic and nucleolar constituents.We found a significant lowering of nucleoplasmic and nucleolar splicing factors as well as a perichromatin granule accumulation in GM-fed mice, suggestive of reduced post-transcriptional hnRNA processing and/or nuclear export. This is in accordance to already described zymogen synthesis and processing modifications in the same animals

Heat shock affects mitotic segregation of human chromosomes bound to stress-induced satellite III RNAs

Heat shock activates the transcription of arrays of Satellite III (SatIII) DNA repeats in the pericentromeric heterochromatic domains of specific human chromosomes, the longest of which is on chromosome 9. Long non-coding SatIII RNAs remain associated with transcription sites where they form nuclear stress bodies or nSBs. The biology of SatIII RNAs is still poorly understood. Here, we show that SatIII RNAs and nSBs are detectable up to four days after thermal stress and are linked to defects in chromosome behavior during mitosis. Heat shock perturbs the execution of mitosis. Cells reaching mitosis during the first 3 h of recovery accumulate in pro-metaphase. During the ensuing 48 h, this block is no longer detectable; however, a significant fraction of mitoses shows chromosome segregation defects. Notably, most of lagging chromosomes and chromosomal bridges are bound to nSBs and contain arrays of SatIII DNA. Disappearance of mitotic defects at the end of day 2 coincides with the processing of long non-coding SatIII RNAs into a ladder of small RNAs associated with chromatin and ranging in size from 25 to 75 nt. The production of these molecules does not rely on DICER and Argonaute 2 components of the RNA interference apparatus. Thus, massive transcription of SatIII DNA may contribute to chromosomal instability

Discrete foci containing RNase A are found in nucleoli of HeLa cells aged in culture

We have studied by means of ultrastructural immunocytochemistry the localization of RNase A in nuclei of HeLa cells in control conditions and following cell ageing in culture. We have found that roundish, electron dense foci, which contain a significant amount of RNase A, can be detected within nucleoli of aged cells. These bodies also contain RNA and lack ribosomal S3 proteins, and may represent either simple storage sites or areas where RNA degradation takes place

Nuclear localization of phosphorylated c-Myc protein in human tumor cells.

Using immunocytochemical techniques at light and electron microscopy, we analysed the distribution of phosphorylated c-Myc in actively proliferating human HeLa cells. The distribution pattern of c-Myc was also compared with those of other ribonucleoprotein (RNP)-containing components (PANA, hnRNP-core proteins, fibrillarin) or RNP-associated nuclear proteins (SC-35 splicing factor). Our results provide the first evidence that phosphorylated c-Myc accumulates in the nucleus of tumor cells, where it colocalizes with fibrillarin, both in the nucleolus and in extranucleolar structures

Visualization of transcription sites at the electron microscope

In order to localize at EM level the sites of transcription of both pre-mRNA and pre-rRNA, we have detected the DNA/RNA hybrid molecules and m3Gcapped structures by means of specific antibodies after short bromo-uridine (BrU) incorporation. In addition, the sections have been stained by a selective RNA stain, terbium citrate. Our data indicate that perichromatin fibrils incorporate BrU and are labeled by the anti-hybrid probe; this supports the idea that they are the pre-mRNA transcription sites. On the contrary, interchromatin granules do not incorporate BrU after short pulses and are not labeled by the anti-hybrid probe. Concerning the nucleolus, anti-hybrid and anti-BrdU antibodies colocalize only on the dense fibrillar component, suggesting that this is the site of rRNA transcription. Interestingly, the dense fibrillar component and the granular component, after specific RNA staining, show remarkable structural similarities, both containing fibrogranular RNA structures

investigating the nucleolar epigenetic code at ultrastructural level

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Diaminobenzidine photoconversion is a suitable tool for tracking the intracellular location of fluorescently labelled nanoparticles at transmission electron microscopy.

Chitosan-based nanoparticles (NPs) deserve particular attention as suitable drug carriers in the field of pharmaceutics, since they are able to protect the encapsulated drugs and/or improve their efficacy by making them able to cross biological barriers (such as the blood-brain barrier) and reach their intracellular target sites. Understanding the intracellular location of NPs is crucial for designing drug delivery strategies. In this study, fluorescently-labelled chitosan NPs were administered in vitro to a neuronal cell line, and diaminobenzidine (DAB) photoconversion was applied to correlate fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy to precisely describe the NPs intracellular fate. This technique allowed to demonstrate that chitosan NPs easily enter neuronal cells, predominantly by endocytosis; they were found both inside membrane-bounded vesicles and free in the cytosol, and were observed to accumulate around the cell nucleus

AUTOCOUNTER, an ImageJ JavaScript to analyze LC3B-GFP expression dynamics in autophagy-induced astrocytoma cells

An ImageJ JavaScript, AUTOCOUNTER, was specifically developed to monitor and measure LC3B-GFP expression in living human astrocytoma cells, namely T98G and U373-MG. Discrete intracellular GFP fluorescent spots derived from transduction of a Baculovirus replication-defective vector (BacMam LC3B-GFP), followed by microscope examinations at different times. After viral transgene expression, autophagy was induced by Rapamycin administration and assayed in ph-p70S6K/p70S6K and LC3B immunoblotting expression as well as by electron microscopy examinations. A mutated transgene, defective in LC3B lipidation, was employed as a negative control to further exclude fluorescent dots derived from protein intracellular aggregation. The ImageJ JavaScript was then employed to evaluate and score the dynamics changes of the number and area of LC3B-GFP puncta per cell in time course assays and in complex microscope examinations. In conclusion, AUTOCOUNTER enabled to quantify LC3B-GFP expression and to monitor dynamics changes in number and shapes of autophagosomal-like vesicles: it might therefore represent a suitable algorithmic tool for in vitro autophagy modulation studies

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells from patients with renal cell carcinoma display aberrant VEGF regulation, reduced apoptosis and altered ultrastructure

Endothelial colony forming cells (ECFCs) are the only endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) subtype belonging to the endothelial phenotype and capable of forming neovessels in vivo. We have recently shown that the intracellular Ca2+ machinery plays a key role in ECFC activation and is remodeled in ECFCs isolated from patients suffering from renal cellular carcinoma (RCC-ECFCs). More specifically, ECFCs upregulate the store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) machinery, while they seemingly show a reduction in the Ca2+ concentration within the endoplasmic reticulum ([Ca2+]ER). Metastatic RCC patients are commonly treated with an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy, but they show either intrinsic or adaptive refractoriness, which ultimately leads to their death. Herein, we assessed whether and how the rearrangement of the Ca2+ machinery impacts on the pro-angiogenic Ca2+ response to VEGF, which stimulates normal ECFCs (N-ECFCs) through an oscillatory Ca2+ response. We found that VEGF stimulates the nuclear translocation of p65/RelA, a major component of the Ca2+-dependent transcription fac- tor NF-kB, in N-ECFCs. This process is blocked by the pharmacological abrogation of VEGF-induced Ca2+ oscillations. We further showed that NF-kB controls VEGF-induced protein expression of E-selectin, VCAM-1 and MMP9. Likewise, VEGF-induced expression was also inhibited by the pharmacological suppression of the accompanying Ca2+ spikes. Thus, VEGF induces a Ca2+-dependent, NF-kB-mediated protein expression in N-ECFCs. VEGF did not trigger protein expression in RCC-ECFCs despite the fact that VEGFR-2 was normally expressed and auto-phosphorylated. Our subsequent studies employed the tar- geted recombinant Ca2+-sensitive photoprotein aequorin to confirm that [Ca2+]ER is lower in RCC-ECFCs; surprisingly, electron microscopy analysis revealed that the endoplasmic reticulum cisternae are enlarged rather than shrinked in these cells. These results show for the first time that VEGF fails to stimulate tumor-derived ECFCs: these findings could therefore help to understand the relative failure of anti-VEGF treatment in RCC patients. Reference