Spatial organization of microtubules in various types of cells in the embryonic tectal plate of mouse using immunofluorescence after PEG embedding.

The spatial organization of microtubules in mitotic as well as in interphase cells and in axons has been investigated in situ in the embryonic nervous system of mice using high molecular weight polyethylene glycol-embedded semithin sections and immunofluorescence with a tubulin-specific polyclonal antibody. In situ, the overall process of mitosis appears nearly identical to that described in cell culture. All types of mitotic microtubules (kinetochore, interpolar and asterial) can be visualized at the different stages. The slight differences from observations in cell culture are explained by differences in cell interactions. In bipolar neuroepithelial cells, interphasic microtubules appear in the form of a framework surrounding the nucleus during its to-and-fro movements and which follows the modifications in shape of the cell processes. These microtubules seem to play an active role in the mechanism, indicating the modifications in length of the apical process. In the differentiating young neuron, tubulin increases in amount to be involved in the elongation of axonal microtubules. This increase seems to be independent of the presence of axons in the environment. Axonal microtubules are independent of a microtubule-organizing center localized in the perikaryon.