Dataset Information

Cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila oocytes varies with kinesin activity and correlates with the microtubule cytoskeleton architecture.

ABSTRACT: Cells can localize molecules asymmetrically through the combined action of cytoplasmic streaming, which circulates their fluid contents, and specific anchoring mechanisms. Streaming also contributes to the distribution of nutrients and organelles such as chloroplasts in plants, the asymmetric position of the meiotic spindle in mammalian embryos, and the developmental potential of the zygote, yet little is known quantitatively about the relationship between streaming and the motor activity which drives it. Here we use Particle Image Velocimetry to quantify the statistical properties of Kinesin-dependent streaming during mid-oogenesis in Drosophila. We find that streaming can be used to detect subtle changes in Kinesin activity and that the flows reflect the architecture of the microtubule cytoskeleton. Furthermore, based on characterization of the rheology of the cytoplasm in vivo, we establish estimates of the number of Kinesins required to drive the observed streaming. Using this in vivo data as the basis of a model for transport, we suggest that the disordered character of transport at mid-oogenesis, as revealed by streaming, is an important component of the localization dynamics of the body plan determinant oskar mRNA.

SUBMITTER: Ganguly S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3458379 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila oocytes varies with kinesin activity and correlates with the microtubule cytoskeleton architecture.

Ganguly Sujoy S Williams Lucy S LS Palacios Isabel M IM Goldstein Raymond E RE

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20120904 38

Cells can localize molecules asymmetrically through the combined action of cytoplasmic streaming, which circulates their fluid contents, and specific anchoring mechanisms. Streaming also contributes to the distribution of nutrients and organelles such as chloroplasts in plants, the asymmetric position of the meiotic spindle in mammalian embryos, and the developmental potential of the zygote, yet little is known quantitatively about the relationship between streaming and the motor activity which ...[more]

PMID: 22949706

Similar Datasets

Project description:The transport of cytoplasmic components can be profoundly affected by hydrodynamics. Cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila oocytes offers a striking example. Forces on fluid from kinesin-1 are initially directed by a disordered meshwork of microtubules, generating minor slow cytoplasmic flows. Subsequently, to mix incoming nurse cell cytoplasm with ooplasm, a subcortical layer of microtubules forms parallel arrays that support long-range, fast flows. To analyze the streaming mechanism, we combined observations of microtubule and organelle motions with detailed mathematical modeling. In the fast state, microtubules tethered to the cortex form a thin subcortical layer and undergo correlated sinusoidal bending. Organelles moving in flows along the arrays show velocities that are slow near the cortex and fast on the inward side of the subcortical microtubule layer. Starting with fundamental physical principles suggested by qualitative hypotheses, and with published values for microtubule stiffness, kinesin velocity, and cytoplasmic viscosity, we developed a quantitative coupled hydrodynamic model for streaming. The fully detailed mathematical model and its simulations identify key variables that can shift the system between disordered (slow) and ordered (fast) states. Measurements of array curvature, wave period, and the effects of diminished kinesin velocity on flow rates, as well as prior observations on f-actin perturbation, support the model. This establishes a concrete mechanistic framework for the ooplasmic streaming process. The self-organizing fast phase is a result of viscous drag on kinesin-driven cargoes that mediates equal and opposite forces on cytoplasmic fluid and on microtubules whose minus ends are tethered to the cortex. Fluid moves toward plus ends and microtubules are forced backward toward their minus ends, resulting in buckling. Under certain conditions, the buckling microtubules self-organize into parallel bending arrays, guiding varying directions for fast plus-end directed fluid flows that facilitate mixing in a low Reynolds number regime.

Dataset Information

Cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila oocytes varies with kinesin activity and correlates with the microtubule cytoskeleton architecture.

Publications

Cytoplasmic streaming in Drosophila oocytes varies with kinesin activity and correlates with the microtubule cytoskeleton architecture.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets