Abstract
Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of cytoskeletal elements and calcium in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) prior and after the lysosomal enzyme release by ultrastructural means. PMNs are dramatically altered when exposed to chemotactic stimuli in the absence of cytochalasin B. Seconds after exposure to such stimuli, the PMN becomes polarized. The cytocenter—in which are found all the cell's visible microtubules and the bulk of its granule population—appears to constrict, moving the granules closer to each other and to the centrioles. Morphometric methods of analysis showed that microtubules are present in greater numbers in cells stimulated to secrete than in resting cells. The chapter discusses the effects of cyclic nucleotides and colchicine and the role of calcium in lysosomal enzyme release. Electron microscopic stereology demonstrates that lysosomal enzyme release in response to receptor-ligand interactions is associated with the assembly of microtubules. Colchicine concentrations that affect microtubule assembly also inhibit lysosomal enzyme release in a dose-related fashion, but concentrations that cause the virtual disappearance of microtubules inhibit enzyme release by no more than 40%.
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