Quantitative fluorescence techniques for the determination of local microtubule polymerization equilibria in cultured neurons.

The local control of intracellular microtubule polymerization equilibria has been hypothesized to be an important factor in the determination of neurite extension and other examples of cellular asymmetry. Provided that the quantum yield of the fluorophore remains constant, the combination of fluorescent analogue cytochemistry, differential extraction protocols, and quantitative video microscopy makes it possible to measure local fractions of cytoskeletal protein in polymer, even when it is impossible to resolve individual fibrils of the polymer. We have developed appropriate quantitative video microscopic techniques for measuring the fluorescence of a fluorescent analogue-injected neurite before and after extraction under microtubule-stabilizing conditions. We have used these methods to demonstrate that tetramethylrhodamine-n-hydroxysuccinimide tubulin is an appropriate fluorescent analogue, allowing us to measure fractions of tubulin in polymer locally within PC12 neurites. As would be expected, the fraction of tubulin fluorescent analogue in polymer approaches 1.0 in neurites exposed to the microtubule-stabilizing drug taxol and is close to 0 in neurites injected and extracted in the cold, or extracted under microtubule-destabilizing conditions. We have, therefore, developed a tool that allows us to measure microtubule polymerization equilibria out the neurites of cells in culture, which will allow us to test hypotheses that factors which affect neurite outgrowth do so by means of effects on microtubule polymerization equilibria.