Back to Search
Start Over
Ethanol-induced alterations of the microtubule cytoskeleton in hepatocytes
- Source :
- The American journal of physiology. 274(4)
- Publication Year :
- 1998
-
Abstract
- Ethanol has been predicted to alter vesicle-based protein traffic in hepatocytes, in part, via a disruption of the microtubule (MT) cytoskeleton. However, information on the effects of chronic ethanol exposure on MT function in vivo is sparse. Therefore the goal of this study was to test for ethanol-induced changes in rat liver tubulin expression, assembly, and cellular organization, using molecular, biochemical and morphological methods. The results of this study showed that tubulin mRNA and protein levels were not altered by ethanol. Tubulin, isolated from control and ethanol-fed rats, showed similar polymerization characteristics as assessed by calculation of the critical concentration for assembly and morphological structure. In contrast, the total amount of assembly-competent tubulin was reduced in livers from ethanol-fed rats compared with control rats when assessed by quantitative immunoblot analysis using a tubulin antibody. In addition, we observed that MT regrowth and organization in cultured hepatocytes treated with cold and nocodazole was markedly impaired by chronic ethanol exposure. In summary, these results indicate that tubulin levels in liver are not reduced by ethanol exposure. While there is a substantial amount of tubulin protein capable of assembling into functional MTs in ethanol-damaged livers, a marked portion of this tubulin is polymerization incompetent. This may explain why these hepatocytes exhibit a reduced number of MTs with an altered organization.
- Subjects :
- Male
Time Factors
Physiology
Polymers
macromolecular substances
Biology
Microtubules
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemistry.chemical_compound
Microtubule
In vivo
Tubulin
Physiology (medical)
Gene expression
medicine
Animals
RNA, Messenger
Cytoskeleton
Messenger RNA
Hepatology
Ethanol
Gastroenterology
Molecular biology
Rats
Nocodazole
medicine.anatomical_structure
chemistry
Liver
Hepatocyte
biology.protein
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00029513
- Volume :
- 274
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- The American journal of physiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....0fa23c282c268d9494747260ce9962ac