Perinuclear microtubules in postnatal rat heart

Cytoplasmic microtubules can be divided into two subpopulations: 1) those adjacent to the nucleus (perinuclear), and 2) those distributed between the myofilament bundles (nonperinuclear). Previous observations (Cartwright and Goldstein, '83) indicate total cytoplasmic microtubule numeric density increases to a maximum at 5-9 days and decreases to the steady value of the adult muscle. We have examined the numeric density (mean numbers of microtubule profiles per micron2 cross-sectional area) of the perinuclear subpopulation and compared it to the numeric density of the total cytoplasmic microtubule population in postnatally developing rat papillary muscle ages 1, 3, 5, 9, 21, and 42 days, and adult. The perinuclear region was defined as the area around the nucleus which extends to the 0.273 micron from the nuclear envelope. The density of perinuclear microtubules did not change with postnatal development. Our study suggests that perinuclear microtubules are a separate and relatively stable subpopulation of the total population of cytoplasmic microtubules and may serve a function different from that of the more variable nonperinuclear microtubules.