IS THE COILED BODY INVOLVED IN NUCLEOLAR FUNCTIONS

Coiled bodies (CBs) are structural constituents observed in nuclei of most eukaryotic cells. They usually occur in the nucleoplasm as well a s in contact with the nucleolar surface. In this work we studied the h epatocyte nuclei of hibernating dormice in order to investigate possib le modifications of CBs along the seasonal cycle. CBs were abundant du ring hibernation and rapidly disappeared upon arousal from hibernation . Moreover, CBs were frequently found to be integrated into the nucleo lar body. Immunocytochemical analyses showed that CBs contain nucleopl asmic as well as nucleolar RNA-processing factors, suggesting an ''amb iguous'' role for this organelle in the nuclear functions. (C) 1994 Ac ademic Press, Inc.