Time-lapse cinematographic studies on the inhibition of cell motility by puromycin in cultured nervous tissue

Abstract

Samples of mouse cerebellar cortex were cultivated in Maximow slides and Rose chambers with TC medium 1066 (Difco) and investigated by cinematographic techniques. The blockade of protein synthesis by puromycin produces different effects on cell motility depending on the cellular type. The mesenchymal cells show, for example, a reversible inhibition of their locomotion and their ruffling membrane activity under the influence of a given concentration of puromycin. The same dose of puromycin inhibits the pulsating activity of glial cells gradually, followed by total paralysis. This effect on glial cells is not reversible. The effects of the same puromycin dose on neurons are hardly recognizable with the technique used. The different responses by glia cells, neurons and mesenchymal cells to protein synthesis inhibition by puromycin may possibly be due to differences in protein turnover by these cells. These results suggest that there may exist a direct relation between protein synthesis and cell motility.