Date of Award

Summer 1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Sciences

Program/Concentration

Biology

Committee Director

Christopher J. Osgood

Committee Member

Lloyd Wolfinbarger, Jr.

Committee Member

Robert E. Ratzlaff

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.B46 S35

Abstract

The effects of aneuploidogens (aneuploidy causing agents) on taxol-purified microtubules from Drosophila and mouse brain in vitro were studied by using a spectrophotometric assay and electron microscopy. Colchicine, acetonitrile, propionitrile, acrylonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), griseofulvin and cadmium chloride inhibited microtubule polymerization whereas methoxyethyl acetate (MEA) and methyl mercuric chloride (MMC) did not. All aneuploidogens tested (at 50mM) resulted in reduced rate of elongation of mouse brain microtubules. MMC, cadmium chloride and DMSO resulted in increased rates of Drosophila microtubule elongation whereas the rest of the drugs resulted in decreases. The in vitro results from Drosophila correlate well with the previously published results from in vivo assays monitoring induced sex chromosome aneuploidy in that aneuploidogens are observed to affect microtubule polymerization. Qualitatively-similar effects of aneuploidogens were observed with both Drosophila and mouse brain microtubule polymerization (only in terms of final, plateau, levels).

The inclusion of taxol does not appear to affect qualitatively the polymerization of microtubules under appropriate conditions. Quantitative effects of taxol on the aneuploidogens have not been studied in detail. In contrast to the polymerization assay, aneuploidogens, including colchicine, do not promote depolymerization of taxol-purified microtubules. It appears that taxol shifts the equilibrium and stabilization of both Drosophila and mouse brain microtubules to such an extent that they are no longer sensitive to aneuploidogen-induced depolyrnerization.

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DOI

10.25777/mtx0-xn21

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