Cell
Volume 54, Issue 1, 1 July 1988, Pages 37-46
Journal home page for Cell

Article
Dynamic behavior of endoplasmic reticulum in living cells

https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(88)90177-8Get rights and content

Abstract

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) was studied by fluorescence microscopy of living CV-1 cells treated with the fluorescent carbocyanine dye DiOC6(3). Using video recording and image processing techniques, several distinct forms of highly localized movements of ER were documented, categorized, and analyzed in terms of mechanism and structural implications. These include tubule branching, ring closure, and sliding. These localized movements have been observed to generate the basic elements of ER: linear tubules, polygonal reticulum, and triple junctions. We propose that as such they act as the mechanism for constructing the polygonal lattice of interconnected membrane tubules that constitutes ER. The nature of these movements suggests possible involvement of the cytoskeleton, and, in view of the close correlations in the distributions of ER and microtubules, and the accompanying paper (Dabora and Sheetz), it is possible that microtubules may play a role in generating ER motility and in constructing and maintaining the ER network in living cells.

References (67)

  • R.D. Vale et al.

    Identification of a novel force-generating protein, kinesin, involved in microtubule-based motility

    Cell

    (1985)
  • R.D. Vale et al.

    Kinesin: possible biological roles for a new microtubule motor

    TIBS

    (1986)
  • G. Adam et al.

    Reduction of dimensionality in biological diffusion processes

  • R.J. Adams et al.

    Propulsion of organelles isolated from Acanthameoba along actin filaments by myosin-I

    Nature

    (1986)
  • V.J. Allan et al.

    A microtubule binding protein associated with membranes of the Golgi apparatus

    J. Cell Biol.

    (1986)
  • I.K. Buckley

    Phase contrast observations on the endoplasmic reticulum of living cells in culture

    Protoplasma

    (1964)
  • I.K. Buckley

    The lysosomes of cultured chick embryo cells. A correlated light and electron microscopic study

    Lab Invest.

    (1973)
  • I.K. Buckley et al.

    Electron microscopy of critical point dried whole cultured cells

    J. Microsc.

    (1975)
  • J.M. Caron et al.

    Interaction of microtubule proteins with phospholipid vesicles

    J. Cell Biol.

    (1979)
  • J.M. Caron et al.

    Dynamic interactions between microtubules and artificial membranes

    Biochemistry

    (1987)
  • L.B. Chen

    Mitochondrial membrane potential in living cells

    Annu. Rev. Cell Biol.

    (1988)
  • Y. Clermont et al.

    Evolution of the endoplasmic reticulum during rat spermiogenesis

    Am. J. Anat.

    (1978)
  • S.L. Dabora et al.

    The microtubule dependent formation of a tubulovesicular network with characteristics of the endoplasmic reticulum from cultured cell extracts

    Cell

    (1988)
  • M.H. Ellisman et al.

    Microtubular structure of the axoplasmic matrix: visualization of cross-linking structures and their distribution

    J. Cell Biol.

    (1980)
  • D.W. Fawcett

    Endoplasmic reticulum

  • D.W. Fawcett et al.

    Observations on the cytoplasmic membranes of testicular cells, examined by phase-contrast and electron microscopy

    J. Biophys. Biochem. Cytol.

    (1958)
  • H. Feit et al.

    Colchicine-binding activity in particulate fractions of mouse brain

    J. Neurochem.

    (1970)
  • J.M. Gilbert et al.

    Studies on the cell-free biosynthesis of CNS membrane proteins

    J. Neurochem.

    (1983)
  • J.M. Gilbert et al.

    Tubulin synthesis in rat forebrain: studies with free and membranebound polysomes

    J. Neurochem.

    (1981)
  • M.A. Goldstein et al.

    Microtubules in mammalian heart cells

    J. Cell Biol.

    (1980)
  • M.H. Heggeness et al.

    Association of mitochondria with microtubules in cultured cells

  • P.K. Hepler

    Membranes in the mitotic apparatus of barley cells

    J. Cell Biol.

    (1980)
  • L.V. Johnson et al.

    Localization of the mitochondria in living cells with rhodamine 123

  • Cited by (395)

    • Model for ring closure in ER tubular network dynamics

      2023, Biophysical Journal
      Citation Excerpt :

      In the following, we will refer to this structure as the junctional knot. Normally, a junctional knot transforms into a regular junction with no noticeable swelling or discontinuity (6), thus completing the ring closure. In addition to the ring closure, a direct scission of ER tubules has been reported (16) but appears to happen too rarely to play a considerable role in the network dynamics (17).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text