The response of the centrosome to heat shock and related stresses in a Drosophila cell line.

The centrosome of Drosophila melanogaster cells cultured in vitro has been followed by immunofluorescence techniques with the Bx63 antibody of Frasch and Saumweber. After a heat shock, the centrosome labelling becomes very small and finally disappears after 30 min. Other heat-shock protein (hsp) inducers such as ethanol, arsenite and ecdysterone lead to the same disappearance. Moreover, the functional ability of centrosomes to nucleate microtubule assembly is inhibited by these treatments, particularly by heat shock, ethanol and ecdysterone. Two other hsp inducers, cadmium chloride and hydrogen peroxide, do not affect the centrosome seriously. With the exception of cadmium, the rapidity and the intensity of hsp induction are in good agreement with the kinetics of alteration of the organelle. We propose that a close link exists between the heat-shock response and the centrosome and that the physiological induction of hsps could be reinterpreted in terms of cell division control.