Cataphoresis of proteids in the living cell

Abstract

In cells of the newt, the frog, the onion and the hyacinth, on the passage of an electric current, the basic-staining proteids move toward the anode and the acid-staining toward the cathode. These substances do not pass through the cell or nuclear membranes, but the nuclear membrane is often pushed out toward the anode by the pressure of the (basic-staining) chromatin.

During the process of mitosis, however, the above rules do not hold. As the process of mitosis advances, more current is required to move the chromatin, and more acid-staining proteid is carried along with it. After the mitotic spindle is formed, it (including the chromosomes) is carried toward the anode without alternation of its axial orientation.

These facts disprove the hypothesis that the chromosomes are drawn to the poles of the spindle by electrostatic stress, the poles and chromosomes being of opposite sign, for if this were true, the poles of the spindle would not move toward the anode with the chromosomes, but would move toward the cathode.