Deamplification of Supernumerary
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DEAMPLIFICATION OF SUPERNUMERARY CENTROSOMES BY CENTROSOMAL CLUSTERING By Ezekiel Thomas A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Wilkes Honors College In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences With a Concentration in Biology Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Jupiter, Florida May 2012 Deamplification of Supernumerary Centrosomes by Centrosomal Clustering By Ezekiel Thomas This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s thesis advisor, Dr. Nicholas Quintyne, and has been approved by the members of the supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of The Honors College and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: ________________________ ________________________ Dr. Nicholas Quintyne Date ________________________ ________________________ Dr. Michelle Ivey Date ________________________ ________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Buller Date Dean, Wilkes Honors College ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Quintyne for his mentoring, guidance, and patience; April Schimmel for maintaining the lab and purchasing numerous antibodies; and Dr. Ivey for her assistance as my second reader. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support. iii Abstract Author: Ezekiel Thomas Title: Deamplification of Supernumerary Centrosomes by Centrosomal Clustering Institution: Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Nicholas Quintyne Degree: Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Concentration: Biology Year: 2012 Supernumerary centrosomes can arise in a cell through a variety of methods. The presence of supernumerary centrosomes has been observed in nearly all types of cancer and promotes chromosomal instability, with rates of incident increasing as the cancer progresses. An oral squamous cell carcinoma line was treated with hydroxyurea to induce supernumerary centrosomes in the cells. NuMA was then knocked down using shRNA to promote centrosomal clustering and bipolar mitotic division in cells with supernumerary centrosomes. Immunofluorescence with an antibody against SAS 6 accurately stained the centrioles for observation. The cells exhibiting supernumerary centrosomes undergoing bipolar mitotic division were studied to look for a possible pattern in centrosomal clustering where the majority of centrosomes are at one pole with a single centrosome at the other pole. Initial results suggest the presence of such a mechanism, which would describe a previously unknown mechanism for cells to deamplify supernumerary centrosomes by centrosomal clustering. iv Table of Contents List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 The Centrosome: Function, Structure, and Lifecycle ............................................. 1 Development of Supernumerary Centrosomes ....................................................... 2 Supernumerary Centrosomes and Multipolarity ..................................................... 3 Centrosomal Deamplification ................................................................................. 4 Mechanisms for Centrosomal Clustering ................................................................6 Materials and Methods ........................................................................................................ 8 Cell Culture ............................................................................................................. 8 Immunofluorescence ............................................................................................... 8 Antibodies ............................................................................................................... 9 Transfection .......................................................................................................... 10 Drug Treatments ................................................................................................... 11 Microscopy ........................................................................................................... 11 Results ............................................................................................................................... 12 Induction of Supernumerary Centrosomes ........................................................... 12 Immunofluorescent Methods for Centriole Observation ...................................... 14 Induction of Centrosomal Clustering .................................................................... 17 Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 18 Colcemid and Hydroxyurea Treatments ............................................................... 19 Immunofluorescent Staining of Centrioles During Mitosis .................................. 20 A Mechanism Promoting Preferential Clustering ................................................. 21 Continuing Research ............................................................................................. 22 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 22 References ......................................................................................................................... 24 v List of Tables Table 1. Summary of 1° antibodies and successful methods for staining centrioles ........ 14 vi List of Figures Figure 1. Methods of dealing with supernumerary centrosomes ........................................ 6 Figure 2. Treatment to induce supernumerary centrosomes ............................................. 13 Figure 3. Microtubule differences in hydroxyurea and colcemid treated cells ................. 14 Figure 4. Staining of cells using SAS 6 antibody ............................................................. 16 Figure 5. Staining of cells using CEP 250 antibody ......................................................... 17 Figure 6. Preferential centrosomal clustering ................................................................... 18 vii I. Introduction The Centrosome: Function, Structure, and Lifecycle The centrosome is the cellular organelle that acts as the microtubule organizing center (MTOC) in most types of cells (Doxsey, 2001). Through the regulation of microtubules (MTs), the centrosome controls cell shape, cell motility, intracellular transport, and the positioning of organelles. The centrosome also plays a key role during division and is responsible for the formation of the spindle poles, which are vital to proper chromosomal segregation and cleavage plane localization (Nigg, 2002). The structure of the centrosome is divided into two main components, the centrioles and the pericentriolar material (PCM). The centrioles are two barrel-shaped objects aligned at right angles to each other and function to anchor the MTs and recruit the PCM. There is an older centriole having more associated proteins (the "mother centriole") and a newer centriole that doesn't have as many associated proteins (the "daughter centriole"). The PCM contains a variety of proteins, most notably the γ-tubulin ring complex, which acts as a template for new MTs and serves as a site of MT nucleation (Doxsey, 2001). The centrosome cycle is closely related to the chromosomal duplication cycle, and can be divided into five main steps: centriole disorientation, centriole duplication, centriole elongation, centrosome maturation, and centrosome separation (Nigg, 2002). The process begins in late G1 of the cell cycle once the cell has committed to division, and starts with the loss of orientation between the two centrioles. As the cell progresses into S phase where DNA synthesis occurs, the centrioles undergo duplication as well in a semi-conservative fashion from the perspective of the centrosome, while additional 1 pericentriolar material is also recruited (Balczon et al., 1999). This process continues into G2 with centriole elongation. In G2, as elongation continues, centrosome maturation begins to occur with the new daughter centrosome recruiting associated proteins. This process does not fully complete until the following cell cycle, resulting in a mother centrosome that contains the mother centriole, and a daughter centrosome that contains the previously daughter centriole (Nigg and Stearns, 2011). Up through G2 in the cell cycle both pairs of centrioles continue to act as one centrosome to allow for proper MT organization. Once the cell enters mitosis, centrosome separation occurs to allow for the formation of separate spindle poles. Each daughter cell then inherits one functional centrosome. Development of Supernumerary Centrosomes When errors occur in the centrosome cycle, supernumerary centrosomes can develop in cells. There are four accepted models for the origin of supernumerary centrosomes (Nigg, 2002): 1) Overduplication of centrosomes can occur if there is a disconnect between centrosome duplication and chromosomal duplication during S phase of the cell cycle. Chromosomal damage can result in a halt of progression