We have probed single kinetochore microtubule (k-MT) dynamics in budding yeast in the G1 phase of the cell cycle by automated tracking of a green fluorescent protein tag placed proximal to the centromere on chromosome IV and of a green fluorescent protein tag fused to the spindle pole body protein Spc42p. Our method reliably distinguishes between different dynamics in wild-type and mutant strains and under different experimental conditions. Using our methods we established that in budding yeast, unlike in metazoans, chromosomes make dynamic attachments to microtubules in G1. This makes it possible to interpret measurements of centromere tag dynamics as reflecting k-MT dynamics. We have examined the sensitivity of our assay by studying the effect of temperature, exposure to benomyl, and a tubulin mutation on k-MT dynamics. We have found that lowering the temperature and exposing cells to benomyl attenuate k-MT dynamics in a similar manner. We further observe that, in contrast to previous reports, the mutant tub2-150 forms k-MTs that depolymerize faster than wild type. Based on these findings, we propose high-resolution light microscopy of centromere dynamics in G1 yeast cells as a sensitive assay for the regulation of single k-MT dynamics.

vation of cardiac mast cells has been shown to alter parasympathetic neuronal function via the activation of histamine receptors. The present study examined the ability of prostaglandins to alter the activity of guinea pig intracardiac neurons. Intracellular voltage recordings from whole mounts of the cardiac plexus showed that antigen-mediated mast cell degranulation produces an attenuation of the afterhyperpolarization (AHP), which was prevented by the phospholipase A2 inhibitor 5,8,11,14-eicosatetraynoic acid. Exogenous application of either PGD2 or PGE2 produced a biphasic change in the membrane potential and an inhibition of both AHP amplitude and duration. Examination of prostanoid receptors using bath perfusions (1 M PGE2 and PGD2), specific agonists (BW245C, sulprostone, and butaprost), and antagonists (AH6809 and SC19220) found evidence for both the PGE2-specific EP2 and EP3 receptors, but not for EP1 or the PGD2-specific prostanoid (DP) receptors. Sulprostone was able to mimic the PGE2 responses in some cells, but not in all PGE2-sensitive cells. Butaprost was able to mimic the PGinduced hyperpolarization in some cells, but did not alter the AHP. Inhibition of specific potassium channels with either TEA, charybdotoxin, or apamin showed that neither TEA nor charybdotoxin could prevent the PGE2-induced AHP attenuation. Apamin alone inhibited AHP duration, with PGs having no further effect in these cells. These results demonstrate that guinea pig intracardiac neurons can be modulated by PG, most likely through either EP2, EP3, or potentially EP4 receptors, and this response is due, at least in part, to a reduction in small-conductance KCa currents.

To elucidate the regulation of kinetochore microtubules (kMTs) by kinetochore proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we need tools to characterize and compare stochastic kMT dynamics. Here we show that autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models, combined with a statistical framework for testing the significance of differences between ARMA model parameters, provide a sensitive method for identifying the subtle changes in kMT dynamics associated with kinetochore protein mutations. Applying ARMA analysis to G1 kMT dynamics, we found that 1), kMT dynamics in the kinetochore protein mutants okp1-5 and kip3Delta are different from those in wild-type, demonstrating the regulation of kMTs by kinetochore proteins; 2), the kinase Ipl1p regulates kMT dynamics also in G1; and 3), the mutant dam1-1 exhibits three different phenotypes, indicating the central role of Dam1p in maintaining the attachment of kMTs and regulating their dynamics. We also confirmed that kMT dynamics vary with temperature, and are most likely differentially regulated at 37 degrees C. Therefore, when elucidating the role of a protein in kMT regulation using a temperature-sensitive mutant, dynamics in the mutant at its nonpermissive temperature must be compared to those in wild-type at the same temperature, not to those in the mutant at its permissive temperature.