Cationic lipid transfection induces nuclear actin filaments.

Cationic lipids are widely used for gene delivery. Here, we report the transient formation of nuclear actin filaments in mammalian cells transfected with commercially available transfection reagents regardless of the proteins transfected. Readily detectable with phalloidin, nuclear actin ranges from short filaments to a fully developed network.

Nuclear actin filaments - a historical perspective.

The view on nuclear filaments formed by non-skeletal β-actin has significantly changed over the decades. Initially, filamentous actin was observed in amphibian oocyte nuclei and only under specific cell stress conditions in mammalian cell nuclei. Improved labeling and imaging technologies have permitted insights into a transient but microscopically apparent filament network that is relevant for chromatin organization, biomechanics of the mammalian cell nucleus, gene expression, and DNA damage repair.

Differential Intracellular Protein Distribution in Cancer and Normal Cells-Beta-Catenin and CapG in Gynecologic Malignancies.

It is well-established that cancer and normal cells can be differentiated based on the altered and of specific proteins. There are only a few examples, however, showing that cancer and normal cells can be differentiated based on the altered of proteins within intracellular compartments. Here, we review available data on shifts in the intracellular distribution of two proteins, the membrane associated beta-catenin and the actin-binding protein CapG.

Assessing Protein Interactions in Live-Cells with FRET-Sensitized Emission.

Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) is the radiationless transfer of energy from an excited donor to an acceptor molecule and depends upon the distance and orientation of the molecules as well as the extent of overlap between the donor emission and acceptor absorption spectra. FRET permits to study the interaction of proteins in the living cell over time and in different subcellular compartments. Different intensity-based algorithms to measure FRET using microscopy have been described in the literature.