Kinetics of the regeneration of sea-urchin cilia. II. Regeneration of animalized cilia.

The kinetics of the regeneration of cilia of Arbacia punctulata animalized by treatment with trypsin have been examined. The cilia regenerate with biphasic kinetics: an initial linear phase which changes abruptly to a second, slower linear rate. Inhibition of protein synthesis with 10 microM emetine has little effect on the first phase but totally abolishes the second, suggesting that the first phase represents the utilization of a pre-existing precursor pool while the second reflects de novo protein synthesis. However, cilia will regenerate again following a second deciliation in the presence of emetine, to half the plateau value of the first regeneration, indicating that only a fraction of the pool of the limiting precursor can be assembled into the regenerating cilium. It is proposed that a residual pool of this precursor is required to maintain the assembly-disassembly equilibrium in favour of the assembled organelle.