Effect of Some Chemicals,Which Affect Smooth Muscle Contraction,on Ciliary Activity in Paramecium .

Abstract

Mast and Nadler, 1 Merton, 2 Oliphant 3 and others have shown that monovalent cation salts and hydrates induce reversal in the direction of the effective beat of the cilia in protozoa while, with few exceptions, bi- and tri-valent cation salts and hydrates do not. Similar observations have been made regarding ciliary reversal in the metazoa, and the reproductive cells of plants and animals have been observed to swim backward. Alverdes, 4 Worley 5 and others have also shown that in fragments of ciliated protozoa the cilia continue to beat as long as they are connected with a fragment of cytoplasm. Such ciliated fragments have also been observed to reverse direction of ciliary beat in response to environmental change and this suggests that cilia here are automatic in their activity and that alterations in ciliary behavior are of an extraneous nature. Furthermore it is now generally agreed that the fundamental phenomena of protoplasmic contractility are essentially alike for pseudo-podial movement, ciliary activity and muscular contraction, and that a theory which will adequately explain one will doubtless be applicable to the others.^6-8 However the demonstration of similarity between various forms of cellular movement is by no means complete.

From these observations and assumptions it would be expected that substances which profoundly affect cellular movement in populations of smooth muscle cells would also profoundly affect ciliary activity, possibly inducing ciliary reversal. It is the object of this investigation to explore the possibility of such a similarity in behavior of ciliated and smooth muscle cells in response to chemical agents in the environment, with a view to contributing to the analysis of chemical and physical factors involved in protoplasmic contractility.