Published 10 November 2003. doi:10.1083/jcb.200304035
© The Rockefeller University Press,
0021-9525/2003/11/451 $8.00
The Journal of Cell Biology, Volume 163, Number 3, 451-456
Morphologically distinct microtubule ends in the mitotic centrosome of Caenorhabditis elegans
Eileen T. O'Toole1,
Kent L. McDonald2,
Jana Mäntler3,
J. Richard McIntosh1,
Anthony A. Hyman3 and
Thomas Müller-Reichert3
1 Boulder Laboratory for 3-D Electron Microscopy of Cells, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309
2 Electron Microscope Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
3 Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, D-01307 Dresden, Germany
Address correspondence to T. Müller-Reichert, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstr. 108, D-01307 Dresden, Germany. Tel.: 49-351-210-1763. Fax: 49-351-210-2000. email: mueller-reichert{at}mpi-cbg.de
During mitosis, the connections of microtubules (MTs) to centrosomes and kinetochores are dynamic. From in vitro studies, it is known that the dynamic behavior of MTs is related to the structure of their ends, but we know little about the structure of MT ends in spindles. Here, we use high-voltage electron tomography to study the centrosome- and kinetochore-associated ends of spindle MTs in embryonic cells of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Centrosome-associated MT ends are either closed or open. Closed MT ends are more numerous and are uniformly distributed around the centrosome, but open ends are found preferentially on kinetochore-attached MTs. These results have structural implications for models of MT interactions with centrosomes.
Key Words: Caenorhabditis elegans; centrosome; electron tomography; mitosis; 3-D reconstruction
The online version of this article includes supplemental material.
Abbreviations used in this paper: 3-D, three-dimensional; KMT, kinetochore MT; MT, microtubule; PCM, pericentriolar material.

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