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The detection of a contractile apparatus in murine multinucleate giant cells
Author(s) -
Papadimitriou J. M.,
Rigby P. J.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.1711290207
Subject(s) - queen (butterfly) , multinucleate , citation , library science , medicine , computer science , pathology , biology , hymenoptera , botany
Cinemicrographic investigations have shown multinucleate giant cells to be motile and contractile while immunofluorescent and biochemical studies have demonstrated the presence of actin-like proteins. These contractile proteins are concentrated in the centrospheric and perinuclear regions, while a more streaky distribution is present in the more peripheral parts of the polykaryon. This distribution corresponds with that of cytoplasmic filaments measuring 6-7 nm as seen by electron microscopy. The presence of similar proteins in macrophages, the precursor cells of multinucleate giant cells, indicates that these contractile proteins continue to be produced after macrophage fusion and that they are reorganised within the structural arrangements of the syncytium.