Functional states of kinetochores revealed by laser microsurgery and fluorescent speckle microscopy

LaFountain, James R.; Cohan, Christopher S.; Oldenbourg, Rudolf

doi:10.1091/mbc.e11-06-0494

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The photogenic nature of these cell preparations has lead to an instructive series of cell‐division movies, often used for educational purposes and available in the Cell Image Library (http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/) created and maintained by the American Society for Cell Biology. Combined with laser microsurgery and fluorescent speckle microscopy, time‐lapse series of LC‐PolScope images of crane fly spermatocytes have also led to important insights into mechanisms that contribute to the alignment of chromosomes at the metaphase plate (LaFountain et al, ; LaFountain and Oldenbourg, ) and to the modulation of kinetochore tension during meta‐ and anaphase (LaFountain et al, ). Yet, even though the birefringence of the spindle has long been studied using the traditional polarizing microscope and was instrumental in establishing the dynamic nature of its microtubule filaments (see above), the origin of birefringence of other cellular structures, like those highlighted in Regions 1 and 3 of Figure , is less well understood.…”

Section: Lc‐polscopementioning

confidence: 99%

Polarized light microscopy in reproductive and developmental biology

Koike-Tani

Tani

Mehta

et al. 2013

Molecular Reproduction Devel

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SUMMARY The polarized light microscope reveals orientational order in native molecular structures inside living cells, tissues, and whole organisms. It is a powerful tool used to monitor and analyze the early developmental stages of organisms that lend themselves to microscopic observations. In this article, we briefly discuss the components specific to a traditional polarizing microscope and some historically important observations on: chromosome packing in the sperm head, the first zygote division of the sea urchin, and differentiation initiated by the first asymmetric cell division in the sand dollar. We then introduce the LC-PolScope and describe its use for measuring birefringence and polarized fluorescence in living cells and tissues. Applications range from the enucleation of mouse oocytes to analyzing the polarized fluorescence of the water strider acrosome. We end with new results on the birefringence of the developing chick brain, which we analyzed between developmental stages of days 12–20.

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Section: Lc‐polscopementioning

confidence: 99%

Polarized light microscopy in reproductive and developmental biology

Koike-Tani

Tani

Mehta

et al. 2013

Molecular Reproduction Devel

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“…The design of the laser optical pathway and the triggering of laser pulses were detailed in an earlier report (LaFountain et al ., 2011). The shape of the laser beam in the specimen plane was chosen to be either a spot or a line.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pac-man motility of kinetochores unleashed by laser microsurgery

LaFountain

Cohan

Oldenbourg

2012

MBoC

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“…4B and C), including the monitoring of microtubule numbers in kinetochore fibers in maloriented bivalents (LaFountain and Oldenbourg, 2004). They combined laser microsurgery with LC-PolScope observations to reveal the functional states of kinetochores and the maturation of kinetochore fibers during stages of cell division (LaFountain et al , 2011, LaFountain and Oldenbourg, 2014). Through the interdisciplinary collaboration with David Keefe, MD, the LC-PolScope also became a valuable tool in In-Vitro Fertilization clinics and stem cell laboratories around the world (Byrne et al , 2007, Liu et al , 2000).…”

Section: Enhancing Polarized Light Microscopy Using Liquid Crystal Dementioning

confidence: 99%

Living Cells and Dynamic Molecules Observed with the Polarized Light Microscope: the Legacy of Shinya Inoué

Tani

Shribak

Oldenbourg

2016

The Biological Bulletin

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In 1948, Shinya Inoué arrived in the United States for graduate studies at Princeton. A year later he came to Woods Hole, starting a long tradition of summer research at MBL, which quickly became Inoué’s scientific home. Primed by his Japanese mentor Katsuma Dan, Inoué followed Dan’s mantra to work with healthy living cells, on a fundamental problem (mitosis), with a unique tool set that he refined for precise and quantitative observations (polarized light microscopy), and a fresh and brilliant mind that was unafraid of challenging current dogma. Building on this potent combination, Inoué contributed landmark observations and concepts in cell biology, including the notion of dynamic fine structures inside living cells in which molecular assemblies such as mitotic spindle fibers exist in a delicate equilibrium with their molecular building blocks suspended in the cytoplasm. In the late 1970s and 80s, Inoué and others at the MBL were instrumental in conceiving of video microscopy, a groundbreaking technique that married light microscopy and electronic imaging and ushered in a revolution in how we know and what we know about living cells and the molecular mechanisms of life. This article recounts some of Inoué’s accomplishments and how his legacy has shaped current activities in polarized light imaging at the MBL.

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Functional states of kinetochores revealed by laser microsurgery and fluorescent speckle microscopy

Cited by 11 publications

References 21 publications

Polarized light microscopy in reproductive and developmental biology

Polarized light microscopy in reproductive and developmental biology

Pac-man motility of kinetochores unleashed by laser microsurgery

Living Cells and Dynamic Molecules Observed with the Polarized Light Microscope: the Legacy of Shinya Inoué

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