Effect of vinblastine and cytochalasin B on the cytoskeletal domains in 3T3 cells.

Normal 3T3 cells were exposed to vinblastine and cytochalasin B in an attempt to correlate the morphological changes of the cell surface as seen in the scanning electron microscope with ultrastructural changes of the cytoskeletal elements as seen in critical-point-dried cells in the transmission electron microscope. Special attention was given to the changes in the cytoplasmic domains distinguished in a previous paper. Cytochalasin B primarily affects the ultrastructure of the cytocortical domain by inducing the formation of condensation foci on the cytoplasmic material. Vinblastine not only induces the depolymerization of microtubules and the perinuclear concentration of intermediate filaments, but it also causes the disappearance of stress fibres from the cortical cytoplasm and the widening of the cytocortex at the expense of the endoplasmic domain. These results support the hypothesis that the differentiation in ultrastructural domains is dependent on the spreading of the cells and their adhesion to substrate.