We assessed FM1-43 [ N -(3-triethylammoniumpropyl)-4-(4-[dibutylamino]styryl)pyridinium dibromide] as a fluorescent endocytosis marker in intact, walled plant cells. At 4 ؇ C, FM1-43 stained the plasma membrane, and after 30 to 120 min of incubation at 26 ؇ C, FM1-43 labeled cytoplasmic vesicles and then the vacuole. Fluorimetric quantitation demonstrated dye uptake temperature sensitivity ( ف 65% reduction at 16 ؇ C, Ͼ 90% at 4 ؇ C). FM1-43 uptake in suspension cells was stimulated more than twofold by brefeldin A and inhibited ف 0.4-fold by wortmannin. FM1-43 delivery to the vacuole was largely inhibited by brefeldin A, although overall uptake was stimulated, and brefeldin A treatment caused the accumulation of large prevacuolar endosomal vesicles heavily labeled with FM1-43. Three-dimensional time lapse imaging revealed that FM1-43-labeled vacuoles and vesicles are highly dynamic. Thus, FM1-43 serves as a fluorescent marker for imaging and quantifying membrane endocytosis in intact plant cells.
INTRODUCTIONEndocytosis in animal cells begins with the budding of invaginated coated pits from the plasma membrane into coated vesicles, which then uncoat and fuse with the endocytic organelles (Gruenberg et al., 1989;Gruenberg and Maxfield, 1995). By this action, both membrane proteins and fluid phase molecules are sequestered from the cell exterior into intracellular organelles, from where they can recycle to the plasma membrane or be transported to other destinations, such as the lysosomes. Thus, endocytosis serves to balance membrane secretion and to remove, transport, or degrade receptor ligand complexes from the cell surface (Goldstein et al., 1985). Although clathrin coatdependent endocytosis is involved in receptor internalization, clathrin-independent endocytosis pathways also contribute to internalization. These include uptake via nonclathrin-coated caveolae (Anderson, 1998), macropinocytosis (Swanson, 1989;Hewlett et al., 1994), and phagocytosis (Aderem and Underhill, 1999).Our understanding of animal cell endocytosis was advanced by the use of fluorescent and electron-opaque markers that can be internalized Maxfield, 1988, 1989;Griffiths et al., 1989). The use of fluid phase markers has permitted the development of assays that reconstitute endocytic vesicle fusion (Braell, 1987(Braell, , 1992Gruenberg et al., 1989;Emans et al., 1995;Emans and Verkman, 1996) and led to the identification of many proteins that catalyze and control fusion, such as the small GTPase rab5 (Gorvel et al., 1991) and its effector proteins (Christoforidis et al., 1999a(Christoforidis et al., , 1999bMcBride et al., 1999).In plants, there is evidence that endocytosis is likely to occur (Low and Chandra, 1994; for review, see Battey et al., 1999;Marcote et al., 2000). Endocytosis is postulated to counterbalance membrane secretion (Samuels and Bialputra, 1990) and permit cell volume to respond to changes in osmolality (Thiel et al., 1998;Kubitscheck et al., 2000). However, the study of plant cell endocytosis has been hampered by t...