Immunocytochemistry of Paramecium Cytoskeletal Structures
- Janine Beisson1,
- Mireille Bétermier1,
- Marie-Hélène Bré2,
- Jean Cohen1,
- Sandra Duharcourt3,
- Laurent Duret4,
- Ching Kung5,
- Sophie Malinsky3,
- Eric Meyer3,7,
- John R. Preer Jr6 and
- Linda Sperling1
- 1 Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, FRE3144, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- 2 Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire 4, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 8080, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
- 3 Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 8541, École Normale Supérieure, F-75230 Paris, France
- 4 Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5558, Université Lyon 1, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
- 5 Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Department of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53706, USA
- 6 Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-3700, USA
- ↵7Corresponding author (emeyer{at}biologie.ens.fr).
INTRODUCTION
Paramecium has a highly complex cellular structure. The cytoskeleton of these organisms interacts with cilia at the cell surface to control cell movement, feeding, and environmental responses. Basal bodies anchored in the cortex organize the cytoskeleton and determine cell shape, and a conspicuous cytoskeletal network, the infraciliary lattice, underlies the cell surface and plays an important role in cellular Ca2+ homeostasis. This protocol describes methods to visualize the cytoskeleton, especially cortical structures. It is not directly applicable for visualization of membrane proteins.
