The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol 97, 858-865, Copyright © 1983 by The Rockefeller University Press
Cell configuration-related control of vimentin biosynthesis and phosphorylation in cultured mammalian cells
A Ben-Ze'ev
The cell configuration-related control of a cytoskeletal protein (vimentin)
expression was examined by varying cell shape between flat and spherical.
Cultivation of cells in monolayer or in a spherical configuration on
poly-2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate-coated plates revealed a preferential down
regulation of vimentin synthesis during suspension culture. The
mechanism(s) regulating the decrease in the expression of vimentin in
spherical cells appears to be at the level of translation, because mRNAs
extracted from monolayer and suspension-cultured cells were equally active
in directing vimentin synthesis in the rabbit reticulocyte cell-free
system. When after prolonged suspension culture, the cells were allowed to
reattach and spread, vimentin synthesis recovered rapidly to the control
monolayer rate. The phosphorylation of vimentin was also reduced
dramatically during suspension culture. However, unlike the rapid recovery
of vimentin biosynthesis upon reattachment (less than 6 h), the recovery in
the rate of vimentin phosphorylation was much slower (greater than 20 h)
and paralleled the recovery to the monolayer growth rate. Although the
control of vimentin biosynthesis in suspension culture is a cell
configuration-related process, the decrease in the rate of vimentin
phosphorylation in suspension culture appears to be the result of the
slower growth rate and may reflect the reported correlation between the
rate of vimentin phosphorylation and the accumulation of cells in mitosis.
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