Dynamic structure factor for a two-component model plasma.

Analytical results for the structure factor of a two-component model plasma that describe an electron-ion plasma with modified interaction are derived from a Green function approach in different approximations. The random-phase approximation is improved by including the dynamic collision frequency, and results for the long-wavelength limit are extended to arbitrary wave numbers using the Mermin ansatz. After taking the classical limit of the resulting expressions, they are compared with molecular dynamics simulation results for the classical two-component model plasma.

Structure and cytoskeletal organization of migratory mesoderm cells from the Xenopus gastrula.

Prospective mesoderm cells from the Xenopus gastrula exhibit interesting motile behavior, e.g., a transition from a nonmigratory state to an active translocation that can be induced experimentally, and directional substrate-guided locomotion. We examine the cytoskeletal organization of these embryonic cells. We show that the large, globular cells are enclosed in a triple shell consisting of an actomyosin cortex, a peripheral cytokeratin layer, and a peculiar microtubule basket that surrounds the cell body and constrains the distribution of large inclusions such as yolk platelets. Consistent with the migratory phenotype of these cells, no stress fibers or focal contacts are present. Mesoderm cells possess typical lamellipodia with fine protruding filopodia. The leading edge of the lamellar part exposes binding sites for the fodrin SH3 domain. Lamellipodia are connected to the cell body through actin filament bundles of the upper cell cortex. Myosin II is present in the cell body and extends to varying degrees into lamellipodia. We present indirect evidence that myosin II is located in the upper part of lamellipodia and propose a model that involves myosin II in a dynamic linkage between lamellipodium and the cortex of the cell body.

Mesoderm migration in the Xenopus gastrula.

During Xenopus gastrulation, the mesoderm involutes at the blastopore lip and moves on the inner surface of the BCR toward the animal pole of the embryo. Active cell migration is involved in this mesoderm translocation. In vitro, mesoderm cells migrate non-persistently and intermittently by extending and retracting multiple lamellipodia, which pull the cell body in their direction. Lamellipodia formation is induced by FN. FN fibrils are present on the BCR as part of the in vivo substrate of mesoderm migration. Mesoderm cells can attach to the BCR independently of FN, but interaction with FN is required for lamellipodia extension and cell migration on the BCR. In contrast to preinvolution mesoderm, involuted migrating mesoderm always stays on the surface of the BCR cell layer: migrating mesoderm cells do not mix with BCR cells, and a stable interface between tissues is maintained. A corresponding change in cell sorting behavior occurs during mesoderm involution. In Xenopus, the mesoderm moves as a multilayered coherent cell mass held together by cadherin-mediated cell adhesion. Aggregate formation changes mesoderm cell behavior, rendering it more continuous, persistent and directional, i.e. more efficient. The mesoderm possesses an intrinsic tissue polarity which biases the direction of its movement. In addition, the fibrillar FN matrix of the BCR contains guidance cues which also direct the mesoderm toward the animal pole. Haptotaxis is most likely not involved in this substrate-dependent guidance of the mesoderm, but intact FN fibrils seem to be required. A polarity of the BCR cell layer which underlies this anisotropy of the BCR matrix develops under the influence of the marginal zone in the late blastula. Although in other amphibian species, gastrulation depends critically on mesoderm cell migration, in Xenopus, convergent extension of the axial mesoderm seems to provide the main driving force for gastrulation.

Cell interaction and its role in mesoderm cell migration during Xenopus gastrulation.

In the Xenopus gastrula, the mesoderm moves as a coherent cell aggregate across the blastocoel roof toward the animal pole. We show that the cohesion of the mesoderm is not only mechanically necessary, but that aggregate formation has profound effects on the migratory behavior of mesoderm cells. Whereas isolated mesoderm cells are bi- or multipolar, move stepwise and change their direction of movement frequently, aggregated mesoderm cells migrating on their in vivo substrate appear unipolar and move continuously and persistently. Moreover, only mesoderm cell aggregates, but not single cells, can follow guidance cues present in the extracellular matrix of the blastocoel roof substrate. Thus, the cohesion of the mesodermal cell mass is an essential feature of mesoderm migration during Xenopus gastrulation. We show that the Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecule U-cadherin is involved in mediating this cohesion.

Motile behavior and protrusive activity of migratory mesoderm cells from the Xenopus gastrula.

During Xenopus gastrulation, the mesoderm migrates across a fibronectin (FN)-containing substrate, the inner surface of the blastocoel roof (BCR). A possible role for FN is to promote the extension of cytoplasmic processes which serve as locomotory organelles for mesoderm cells. To test this idea, the interaction of prospective head mesoderm (HM) cells with FN was examined in vitro. Nonattached HM cells extend filiform processes from an active region of the cell surface. This spontaneous activity is modulated by cell attachment to FN. Additional active regions appear, and cytoplasmic lamellae extend from these sites, leading to cell spreading and translocation. Thus, although FN seems not to induce processes de novo, it modulates a spontaneous protrusive activity to yield the extension of lamellae along the substrate surface. As putative locomotory organelles, HM cell protrusions were characterized functionally. They adhere rapidly and selectively to in situ substrates, preferentially to FN, and retract upon attachment. During translocation, the passive cell body is moved by the activity of the protrusions. Lamellae continuously extend, retract, or split into parts. This leads to an intermittent, nonpersistent mode of translocation. The polarity of HM cells, as expressed in the arrangement of protrusions, bears no constant relationship to the orientation of the cell body, and a cell can change its direction of movement without a corresponding rotation of the cell body. This may be relevant with respect to the mechanism by which mesoderm cells translate guidance cues of the BCR into a polarized, oriented cell structure during directional migration in situ.