Abstract
The relation of cytoskeletal elements to the lysosomal wrapping mechanism (LWM) was investigated by using so-called tubulolytic agents (colchicine, vinblastine or nocodazole), a microfilament destabilizer (cytochalasin B) and a microfilament stabilizer (phalloidin) during autophagy in mouse subcutaneous histiocytes, which was induced by a subcutaneous injection of ovalbumin.
Pretreatment with the tubulolytic agents not only did not inhibit an occurrence of the LWM following ovalbumin injection, but induced the LWM even without ovalbumin injection. On the other hand, pretreatment with the destabilizer or the stabilizer of microfilaments prevented the occurrence of LWM induced by ovalbumin. The direct morphological connection between actin-like microfilaments and lysosomes performing the LWM was observed in histiocytes in specimens treated with sodium dodecyl sulfate or saponin. These results suggest that depolymerization or disorganization of microtubules induces or favors the occurrence of LWM, and that the presence of intact microfilaments, but not microtubules, is necessary for the occurrence of the LWM induced by ovalbumin.
