Originally published as JHC exPRESS on September 15, 2008. doi:10.1369/jhc.2008.952002
Volume 56 (12): 1113-1119, 2008 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Class III β-Tubulin Is a Component of the Mitotic Spindle in Multiple Cell Types
Institute of Biomedicine, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy (E-MJ,JP) and Department of Dermatology (JP,SP), University of Turku, Turku, Finland Correspondence to: Juha Peltonen, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Institute of Biomedicine, University of Turku, Kiinamyllynkatu 10, 20520 Turku, Finland. E-mail: juha.peltonen{at}utu.fi
The findings of this study show that Class III β-tubulin is a component of the mitotic spindle in multiple cell types. Class III β-tubulin has been widely used as a neuron-specific marker, but it has been detected also in association with breast and pancreatic cancers. In this study, we describe a novel finding of Class III β-tubulin in a subpopulation of cells in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor. The findings of this study also show that Class III β-tubulin is expressed by normal mesenchymal and epithelial cells (fibroblasts and keratinocytes), two transitional cell carcinoma cell lines, and neurofibroma Schwann cells, as shown by immunolabeling and Western transfer analysis using two different Tuj-1 antibodies that are specific for Class III β-tubulin. The corresponding mRNA was detected using RT-PCR and whole human genome microarrays. Both antibodies localized Class III β-tubulin to the mitotic spindle and showed a colocalization with -tubulin. The immunoreaction became visible in early prophase, and the most intense immunoreaction was detected during metaphase and anaphase when microtubules were connected to the kinetochores on chromosomes. Class III β-tubulin–specific immunoreaction lasted to the point when the midbody of cytokinesis became detectable. (J Histochem Cytochem 56:1113–1119, 2008)
Key Words: Class III β-tubulin malignancy mitosis malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor neurofibromas TUBB3 Tuj1
MICROTUBULES are hollow tubes that take part in various modes of cellular movement and in the maintenance and changing of cell morphology in an interphase cell. The cellular movements include molecular trafficking along microtubules through dynein and kinesin-type ATPases, movement of cilia and flagella, and translocation of chromosomes during the formation and disassembly of the mitotic spindle (Honore et al. 2005 - and β-tubulins. During the formation of microtubules, the 50-kDa - and β-tubulins form heterodimers, which in turn constitute the building blocks of tubules.
In humans, seven β-tubulin isotypes exist with different tissue distributions (Ludueña 1998 In this study, we first analyzed malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) of patients with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) with respect to Class III β-tubulin expression to seek informative biomarkers for these malignant tumors. High magnification showed a positive immunoreaction for Class III β-tubulin in dividing tumor cells. Confocal microscopy suggested localization of Class III β-tubulin in the mitotic spindle. To study the expression of Class III β-tubulin in mitotic cells in more detail, we analyzed normal human skin fibroblasts, keratinocytes, neurofibroma Schwann cells, and two transitional cell carcinoma cell lines in vitro and showed that Class III β-tubulin is a component of the mitotic spindle also in non-neuronal cells.
Tissue Samples and Cell Lines All human tissue material was obtained from Turku University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland, with the permission of the Ethical Committee of the Hospital District of Southwest Finland and with appropriate written consent from the patients. Normal human skin samples were obtained from plastic surgeries of healthy persons, the MPNSTs and neurofibromas were obtained from the Department of Pathology, fresh neurofibroma tissue for culturing of Schwann cells was from the Department of Dermatology, and the great auricular nerve was provided by the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. 5637 and T24 human urinary bladder cancer cell lines were purchased from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC; Rockville, MD). Cell line 5637 represents Grade 2 and T24 represents Grade 3 carcinomas. Red blood cells were obtained from a voluntary healthy female.
Cell Cultures
Fibroblast cultures were initiated from skin samples obtained from healthy volunteers (Ylä-Outinen et al. 1998
Neurofibroma-derived Schwann cell cultures were initiated as described (Rosenbaum et al. 2000
Antibodies
Immunolabeling of Paraffin-embedded Tissues
Indirect Immunofluorescence of Cultured Cells
Microscopy
Western Transfer Analysis
RT-PCR
Detection of Hybridization Signal in Whole Human Genome Microarray
Class III β-Tubulin Is Expressed in MPNST Class III β-tubulin has been detected in selected carcinomas, and expression of Class III β-tubulin has been associated with high grade of these malignancies. A novel finding of this study was detection of Class III β-tubulin in an MPNST (Figure 1 ). Examination of this MPNST with higher resolution showed Class III β-tubulin in a subpopulation of cells. Furthermore, confocal laser scanning microscopy showed a fibrillar Class III β-tubulin–specific immunoreaction in association with mitotic spindles. In benign neurofibromas with no mitoses, antibodies specific for Class III β-tubulin showed a positive immunoreaction exclusively in axons (data not shown).
Class III β-Tubulin Is Expressed Throughout Mitosis in Various Cell Types Double immunolabeling of normal human keratinocytes and two transitional cell carcinoma cell lines showed colocalization of -tubulin and Class III β-tubulin in mitotic spindle (Figure 2
). Further analyses on the different phases of mitosis showed that Class III β-tubulin became detectable in microtubules connecting centrosomes in early prophase (Figure 3
). The most intense immunoreaction with antibodies specific for Class III β-tubulin was detected during metaphase and anaphase when microtubules were attached to centrosomes and kinetochores. Specific immunoreaction lasted to the point when the midbody of cytokinesis became detectable (Figure 3).
The presence of Class III β-tubulin in normal human skin fibroblasts, keratinocytes, neurofibroma Schwann cells, and two transitional cell carcinoma cell lines was shown also by Western transfer analysis using two different antibodies specific for Class III β-tubulin. Both antibodies showed an expected 50-kDa band that corresponds to that described for Class III β-tubulin (Figure 4A
). Normal peripheral nerve and red blood cells were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. In further analyses, normal human fibroblasts were cultured in medium with 1% or 5% FBS for varying time periods. Medium supplemented with 1% FBS was chosen to expose the cells to the condition that provides low level of mitotic stimulus, whereas 5% FBS represented a clearly higher concentration but within the same order of magnitude. At all time points, the levels of Class III β-tubulin were higher in cultures maintained in medium with 5% FBS compared with those maintained in medium with 1% FBS (Figure 4B). At time point 4 hr, the Class III β-tubulin levels were lower than at the 2- or 24-hr time points. These data suggest that the expression of Class III β-tubulin can be regulated, and it thus cannot be considered as a housekeeping gene.
To verify the presence of Class III β-tubulin mRNA in cultured fibroblasts and keratinocytes, total RNA was isolated and subjected to RT-PCR analysis. RNA extract from the human peripheral nerve was used as a positive control. The results showed a single band of predicted size apparently representative of Class III β-tubulin mRNA (Figure 4C). Furthermore, Class III β-tubulin (TUBB3, NM_006086) expression by normal human epidermal keratinocytes was detected in the Agilent whole human genome microarray platform. This study was originally designed to analyze differentiating keratinocytes, and the bulk of this material will be reported independently.
Class III β-tubulin has been considered one of the first cytoskeletal proteins with neuron specificity, and it has been detected in a wide variety of neural tissues. In agreement with previous findings, we found Class III β-tubulin exclusively in axons of benign tissues, normal skin, and cutaneous neurofibromas. Previous studies have detected Class III β-tubulin in human malignancies with neuroepithelial and non-neuronal origins. This study is the first to report the expression of Class III β-tubulin in MPNSTs. Surprisingly, cultured normal human mesenchymal and epithelial cells also expressed Class III β-tubulin.
When seeking informative biomarkers for MPNSTs, we found that Class III β-tubulin–specific antibody labels a subpopulation of tumor cells. A more detailed analysis showed a positive immunoreaction for Class III β-tubulin in the mitotic spindle of dividing MPNST cells. To further study the unexpected association of Class III β-tubulin and the mitotic spindle of non-neuronal cells, we cultured normal human skin fibroblasts representing mesenchymal cells, and keratinocytes and two carcinoma cell lines representing epithelial cells of different non-neural origins. The presence of Class III β-tubulin in all cell types was shown by Western transfer analysis using two different antibodies specific for Class III β-tubulin, both recognizing the C-terminal domain of human Class III β-tubulin. Furthermore, we verified the presence of Class III β-tubulin mRNA in cultured cells by RT-PCR using Class III β-tubulin–specific primers. Class III β-tubulin expression by keratinocytes was also detected in whole human genome microarrays. Immunolabeling showed that Class III β-tubulin is present in mitotic cells and that it is detectable in all phases of mitosis. Double immunolabeling showed colocalization of In summary, we suggest that the positivity for Class III β-tubulin in malignant tumors described earlier may be explained, at least in part, by the high rate of cell divisions in malignant tissues. We can only speculate that the presence of Class III β-tubulin may relate to the intense cellular movement taking place during mitosis. An analogous situation may be operative in the fast axonal trafficking that transports molecules and organelles for very long distances on a cellular scale.
This study was financially supported by grants from the Academy of Finland, University of Turku, Finland, the Turku University Foundation, the Finnish Medical Foundation, the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, and Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District of Finland.
Received for publication May 30, 2008; accepted August 28, 2008
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