Studies on the role of Ca++ in cell division with the use of fluorescent probes and quantitative video intensification microscopy.

It is clear that QVIM systems, when combined with appropriate fluorescent probes can be utilized to perform quantitative cytochemical studies on living and fixed cells. They also have the potential to facilitate studies of substances which like Ca++ are not easily studied by other means. The preliminary studies we have described support the idea that calcium ions and calcium transport enzymes may indeed play important roles in cell division and indicate that the tools we have at hand should help us further our understanding of the mitotic process.