The effect of the heat shock response on ultrastructure of the centrosome of Drosophila cultured cells in interphase: possible relation with changes in the chemical state of calcium.

Previous observations have shown that the heat shock response affects the centrosome function. We compared the ultrastructural organization of the centrosome in control (23 degrees C) and heat-shocked (37 degrees C, 50 min) interphase Drosophila cells to detect the nature of the lesions that could alter this organelle. The centrosome apparatus showed only minor modifications after the stress and the architecture of the centrioles appeared unaffected. The main difference concerned the organization of pericentriolar material which appeared more condensed and clotted. In extreme cases this material seemed to collapse on the centrioles. Recent reports proposed that Ca2+ concentrations could modify the distribution of pericentriolar material. In this study, we measured the changes in total and bound calcium in control or heat-shocked cell samples. The hyperthermia stress induced an increase of about 80% in global calcium. However, there was a decrease of about 50% in bound calcium. A heat shock stress seemed therefore to promote a change from the bound to the free state for a noticeable proportion of the element. As a preliminary hypothesis, these changes in the chemical state of calcium could be related to alterations in the pericentriolar material and thus with the functional inactivation of the centrosome. This view is also supported by calcium analysis on early Drosophila embryos. Contrary to cultured cells, Drosophila embryos did not present a stress inactivation of centrosomes. Equally, a heat shock did not disturb the bound calcium level in embryos.

Detoxification of cadmium. Ultrastructural study and electron-probe microanalysis of the midgut in a cadmium-resistant strain of Drosophila melanogaster.

The midgut of a cadmium-resistant strain of Drosophila melanogaster has been studied at the ultrastructural level and by electron-probe microanalysis (EPMA). Chronic exposure to cadmium leads to a concentration of the metal in a lysosomal system developed in both anterior and posterior segments of the midgut, where it coexists with copper and sulfur. This mechanism apparently ensures a permanent cadmium detoxification and prevents cellular injury. Wild-type flies fed on a cadmium-contaminated medium manifest the same detoxification process. As a result of contamination, copper is stored along the entire length of the midgut, including a part of the middle-midgut previously named 'copper-accumulating region'. Our data demonstrate that the midgut, particularly the posterior segment, is an accumulative organ for both cadmium and copper. The involvement of the metallothionein system in the detoxification process is discussed.