Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1995-4-21
pubmed:abstractText
We have studied asteroid bodies (ABs) of multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) in a series of sarcoid and foreign body granulomas with a standard streptavidin-biotin peroxidase technique, using commercial antibodies against collagen, vimentin and tubulin on routinely processed tissue as well as, in one case, on fresh frozen sections (FS). Our findings clearly indicate that ABs are products of the microtubule (MT) system and lack collagen. The tubulin in them stains in fresh FS but is "masked" in formalin-fixed tissue. It can be fully "unmasked" by dephosphorylation and partially by trypsinization. Compared to single microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) in mononuclear cells serving as internal controls, ABs are obvious replicas of centrosome-nucleated MT assemblies from which they differ principally by the disproportionate size of their components and by the invariable vacuolation of the surrounding cytoplasm. Relying on bits of relevant information gleaned from the literature, our observations support the following preliminary conclusions: 1) spokes are massive bundles of MTs rich in tyrosinated alpha-tubulin coassembled in phosphorylated linkages with yet unidentified microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) and probably microfilament proteins; cores are masses of pericentriolar material including amorphous tubulins, MAPs, phosphoproteins and phospholipids; 2) their size, at least in some ABs, appears to indicate the presence of overlapping centrosome-nucleated MTOCs which in monocyte-derived MGCs are known to be multiple; 3) the cytoplasmic vacuolations around them reflect a collapse and retraction of intermediate filaments (IFs), indicating substantial ongoing MT depolymerization with disruption of MT-IF interactions; 4) ABs are products of unusual MTOC dynamics characterized by simultaneous MT assembly and depolymerization; such a phenomenon, termed "microtubule catastrophe", has been recognized in vitro with centrosome-nucleated MT assemblies under conditions of low tubulin concentrations.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Oct
pubmed:issn
0213-3911
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
9
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
633-42
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1994
pubmed:articleTitle
Asteroid bodies: products of unusual microtubule dynamics in monocyte-derived giant cells. An immunohistochemical study.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Pathology, Harlem Hospital Division of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article