Members of the Levy and Gatlin labs as well as colleagues in the Department of Molecular Biology offered helpful advice and discussions. Rebecca Heald provided support in the early stages of developing this protocol. This work was supported by the NIH/NIGMS (R15GM106318) and the American Cancer Society (RSG-15-035-01-DDC).

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The authors have nothing to disclose.

Here is presented a novel method to study mechanisms of nuclear size regulation during X. laevis development. Developmental progression is associated with dramatic changes in cell physiology, metabolism, division rates, and migration, as well as alterations in the sizes of cells and intracellular structures. These varied processes are complex and essential, so it is difficult to study just one of these aspects of development in an in vivo setting. The X. laevis embryo extract and nuclear shrink...

Los tamaños de los orgánulos celulares típicamente escala con el tamaño de la célula, y esto ha sido quizás mejor documentado para el escalado de tamaño nuclear con tamaño de celda 1-10. Esto es particularmente cierto durante la embriogénesis y la diferenciación celular, cuando reducciones dramáticas en tanto celular y tamaño nuclear se observan a menudo 11,12. Además, alterado tamaño nuclear es un parámetro clave en el diagnóstico de cáncer y el pronóstico 13-17. Mecanismos que contribuyen a la regulación del tamaño nuclear son en gran parte desconocidos, en parte debido a la complejidad y la naturaleza esencial de la estructura y la función nuclear. El método aquí descrito se desarrolló como un ensayo in vitro para la escala del tamaño nuclear que es susceptible a la manipulación bioquímica y la elucidación de los mecanismos de regulación del tamaño nuclear. Xenopus laevis extracto de huevo es un sistema bien establecido para recapitular y estudiar procesos celulares complejos en un in vitro </em&gt; Contexto. Estos extractos han revelado nueva información fundamental acerca de varios procesos celulares, incluyendo el montaje y la función del huso mitótico, retículo endoplasmático, y el núcleo 18-22. Una ventaja clave del sistema es que el extracto de X. extractos de huevo laevis representan un citoplasma casi sin diluir cuya composición puede ser alterado fácilmente, por ejemplo mediante la adición de proteínas o immunodepletion recombinantes. Además, uno es capaz de manipular los procesos esenciales mediante el empleo de tratamientos que de otro modo podrían ser letales en un contexto in vivo. Las modificaciones del procedimiento de extracto de huevo permiten para el aislamiento de extractos de X. laevis embriones en lugar de huevos, y estos extractos de embriones son igualmente susceptibles de manipulación bioquímica 23. Durante X. laevis desarrollo, el embrión fertilizado de una sola célula (~ 1 mm de diámetro) se somete a una serie de doce divisiones celulares rápidas (etapas 1-8) para generar varios miles de 50 μm de diámetro y células más pequeñas, llegando a una etapa de desarrollo denominan la transición midblastula (MBT) o 24-26 de la etapa 8. El MBT se caracteriza por el inicio de la transcripción cigóticos, la migración celular, divisiones celulares asíncronos, la adquisición de fases Gap, y el establecimiento de tamaños de estado estable nucleares en lugar de la expansión nuclear continua como en el embrión de pre-MBT. Desde la etapa 4 a la gastrulación (etapas 10,5-12), el volumen de los núcleos individuales se reduce en más de 10 veces 11. Aquí, el objetivo es identificar los mecanismos responsables de estas reducciones en el tamaño nuclear durante la progresión del desarrollo. El enfoque es montar primero núcleos en X. laevis huevo y el extracto de aislar esos núcleos desde el citoplasma del huevo / extracto. Estos núcleos se resuspendieron a continuación en el citoplasma de embriones en estadio de gástrula tardía. Después de un período de incubación, los núcleos de extracto de huevo se hacen más pequeños a finales de extracto de la etapa embrionaria. Pensamos que este would ser un ensayo útil para la identificación de los componentes citoplasmáticos presentes en los embriones en etapas avanzadas que contribuyen al desarrollo de escala del tamaño nuclear. Utilizando este ensayo, junto con la validación in vivo, hemos demostrado que la proteína quinasa C (PKC) contribuye a la reducción del desarrollo en el tamaño nuclear en X. laevis 23.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Alexa Fluor 568 Donkey anti-mouse IgG</td>
			<td>Molecular Probes</td>
			<td>A10037</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>ATP disodium salt</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>A2383</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Benzocaine</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>E1501</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bovine Serum Albumin</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>A3059</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>CaCl2</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>C3306</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Centrifuge</td>
			<td>Beckman</td>
			<td>J2-21M</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Centrifuge rotor</td>
			<td>Beckman</td>
			<td>JS 13.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>chymostatin</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>C7268</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>creatine phosphate disodium</td>
			<td>Calbiochem</td>
			<td>2380</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>cycloheximide</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>C6255</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>cytochalasin D</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>C8273</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>disposable wipes (kimwipes)</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>Z188956</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-cysteine</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>W326306</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>EGTA</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>E4378</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Formaldehyde</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>F8775</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glass crystallizing dish (150x75 mm)</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>89090-662</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glycerol</td>
			<td>Macron</td>
			<td>5094-16</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HEPES</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>H4034</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hoechst - bisBenzimide H 33342 trihydrochloride</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>B2261</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HCG - Human Chorionic Gonadotropin&#160;</td>
			<td>Prospec</td>
			<td>hor-250-c</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L15 Media</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>L4386</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>leupeptin</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>L2884</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lysolecithin</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>L1381</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>mAb414</td>
			<td>Abcam</td>
			<td>ab24609</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MgCl2</td>
			<td>EMD</td>
			<td>MX0045-2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MgSO4</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>M9397</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Maltose</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>M5885</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NP40</td>
			<td>BDH</td>
			<td>56009</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Paraformaldehyde</td>
			<td>Electron Microscopy Sciences</td>
			<td>15710</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Penicillin + Streptomycin</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>Pp0781</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pepstatin</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5318</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PIPES</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>P6757</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Plastic paraffin film (parafilm)</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>P7793</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KCl</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>P9541</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KH2PO4</td>
			<td>Mallinckrodt</td>
			<td>70100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>KOH</td>
			<td>Baker</td>
			<td>5 3140</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PMSG - Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin</td>
			<td>Prospec</td>
			<td>hor-272-a</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaCl</td>
			<td>Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td>S3014</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaHCO3</td>
			<td>Fisher</td>
			<td>BP328</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaHPO4</td>
			<td>EMD</td>
			<td>SX0720-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>NaOH</td>
			<td>EMD</td>
			<td>SX0590</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pestle</td>
			<td>Thomas Scientific</td>
			<td>3411D56</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Round bottom glass tubes, 15 ml</td>
			<td>Corex</td>
			<td>8441</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Secondary antibody (Alexa Fluor 568 donkey anti-mouse IgG)</td>
			<td>ThermoFisher</td>
			<td>A10037</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>sucrose</td>
			<td>Calbiochem</td>
			<td>8550</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>thermal cycler</td>
			<td>Bio-Rad</td>
			<td>T100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultracentrifuge</td>
			<td>Beckman</td>
			<td>L8-80M</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultracentrifuge rotor</td>
			<td>Beckman</td>
			<td>SW 50.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Vectashield (anti-fade mounting medium)</td>
			<td>Vector</td>
			<td>H-1000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

a cell-free assay using xenopus laevis embryo extracts to study mechanisms of nuclear size regulation

Una pregunta fundamental en biología celular es cómo se regulan los tamaños de células y orgánulos. Durante mucho tiempo se ha reconocido que el tamaño del núcleo escalas generalmente con el tamaño de la celda, en particular durante la embriogénesis cuando se producen reducciones dramáticas en tanto celular y tamaños nucleares. Mecanismos de regulación del tamaño nuclear son en gran parte desconocida y puede ser relevante para el cáncer, donde el tamaño nuclear alterada es un parámetro clave de diagnóstico y pronóstico. En vivo para la identificación de los reguladores nucleares de tamaño se complica por la naturaleza esencial y compleja de la función nuclear. El enfoque in vitro descrito aquí para estudiar el control del tamaño nuclear se aprovecha de las reducciones normales en tamaño nuclear que se producen durante el desarrollo de Xenopus laevis. En primer lugar, los núcleos se ensamblan en X. laevis extracto de huevo. A continuación, estos núcleos se aíslan y se resuspendieron en el citoplasma de embriones de etapa tardía. Después de un 30 - 90 min período de incubación, la superficie nucleardisminuye en 20 a 60%, proporcionando un ensayo útil para identificar los componentes citoplasmáticos presentes en embriones de etapa tardía que contribuyen al desarrollo de escala tamaño nuclear. Una ventaja importante de este enfoque es la facilidad relativa con la que los extractos de huevo y embrión puede ser bioquímicamente manipulados, lo que permite la identificación de nuevas proteínas y actividades que regulan el tamaño nuclear. Como con cualquier enfoque en vitro, la validación de los resultados en un sistema in vivo es importante, y la microinyección de X. laevis embriones es particularmente apropiado para estos estudios.

Asamblea de los núcleos en extracto de huevo Los primeros pasos de este protocolo son para preparar X. extracto de huevo laevis (Protocolo 1) y núcleos de los espermatozoides demembranated (Protocolo 2). Estos reactivos se utilizan para ensamblar núcleos de novo (Protocolo 3). La figura 1 muestra algunos datos representativos. La adición de calcio conduce el extr...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about A Cell-Free Assay Using Xenopus laevis Embryo Extracts to Study Mechanisms of Nuclear Size Regulation at JoVE.com

A Cell-Free Assay Using Xenopus laevis Embryo Extracts to Study Mechanisms of Nuclear Size Regulation

Mechanisms of cellular and intra-cellular scaling remain elusive. The use of Xenopus embryo extracts has become increasingly common to elucidate mechanisms of organelle size regulation. This method describes embryo extract preparation and a novel nuclear scaling assay through which mechanisms of nuclear size regulation can be identified.

Un ensayo libre de células Utilizando<em&gt; Xenopus laevis</em&gt; Embrión Extrae para estudiar los mecanismos de regulación del tamaño nuclear

A fundamental question in cell biology is how cell and organelle sizes are regulated. It has long been recognized that the size of the nucleus generally ...

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Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

A Cell-Free Assay Using Xenopus laevis Embryo Extracts to Study Mechanisms of Nuclear Size Regulation

8.2K vistas.  University of Wyoming. Mechanisms of cellular and intra-cellular scaling remain elusive. The use of Xenopus embryo extracts has become increasingly common to elucidate mechanisms of organelle size regulation. This method describes embryo extract preparation and a novel nuclear scaling assay through which mechanisms of nuclear size regulation can be identified.

Video: A Cell-Free Assay Using Xenopus laevis Embryo Extracts to Study Mechanisms of Nuclear Size Regulation

Plastic Embedding and Sectioning of Xenopus laevis Embryos

Plastic sections maintain true tissue morphology in thin sections of tissue that can be immunostained with fluorescent secondary antibodies, making this method more useful than paraffin-embedded or frozen sections for many types of tissue. The method for staining, plastic embedding, and sectioning is demonstrated in this video.

Plástico inclusión y corte de Xenopus laevis embriones

Investigación

Biología

Obtaining Eggs from Xenopus laevis Females

The eggs of Xenopus laevis intact, lysed, and/or fractionated are useful for a wide variety of experiments. This protocol shows how to induce egg laying, collect and dejelly the eggs, and sort the eggs to remove any damaged eggs.

The eggs of Xenopus laevis intact, lysed, and/or fractionated are useful for a wide variety of experiments. This protocol shows how to induce egg laying, collect and dejelly the eggs, and sort the eggs to remove any damaged eggs.

La obtención de huevos de Xenopus laevis mujeres

The eggs of Xenopus laevis intact, lysed, and/or fractionated are useful for a wide variety of experiments. This protocol shows how to induce egg laying, ...

Preparation and Fractionation of Xenopus laevis Egg Extracts

Crude and fractionated Xenopus egg extracts can be used to provide ingredients for reconstituting cellular processes for morphological and biochemical analysis. Egg lysis and differential centrifugation are used to prepare the crude extract which in turn in used to prepare fractionated extracts and light membrane preparations.

Crude and fractionated Xenopus egg extracts can be used to provide ingredients for reconstituting cellular processes for morphological and biochemical analysis. Egg lysis and differential centrifugation are used to prepare the crude extract which in turn in used to prepare fractionated extracts and light membrane preparations.

Preparación y fraccionamiento de los extractos de huevo Xenopus laevis

Crude and fractionated Xenopus egg extracts can be used to provide ingredients for reconstituting cellular processes for morphological and biochemical ...

In Vitro Nuclear Assembly Using Fractionated Xenopus Egg Extracts

Nuclear membrane assembly is an essential step in the cell division cycle; this process can be replicated in the test tube by combining Xenopus sperm chromatin, cytosol, and light membrane fractions. Complete nuclei are formed, including nuclear membranes with pore complexes, and these reconstituted nuclei are capable of normal nuclear processes.

Nuclear membrane assembly is an essential step in the cell division cycle; this process can be replicated in the test tube by combining Xenopus sperm chromatin, cytosol, and light membrane fractions. Complete nuclei are formed, including nuclear membranes with pore complexes, and these reconstituted nuclei are capable of normal nuclear processes.

En la Asamblea Vitro nucleares utilizando fraccionado extractos de huevo Xenopus

Nuclear membrane assembly is an essential step in the cell division cycle; this process can be replicated in the test tube by combining Xenopus sperm ...

Microinjection of Xenopus Laevis Oocytes

Microinjection of Xenopus laevis oocytes followed by thin-sectioning electron microscopy (EM) is an excellent system for studying nucleocytoplasmic transport. Because of its large nucleus and high density of nuclear pore complexes (NPCs), nuclear transport can be easily visualized in the Xenopus oocyte. Much insight into the mechanisms of nuclear import and export has been gained through use of this system (reviewed by Pant&eacute;, 2006). In addition, we have used microinjection of Xenopus oocytes to dissect the nuclear import pathways of several viruses that replicate in the host nucleus. 
Here we demonstrate the cytoplasmic microinjection of Xenopus oocytes with a nuclear import substrate. We also show preparation of the injected oocytes for visualization by thin-sectioning EM, including dissection, dehydration, and embedding of the oocytes into an epoxy embedding resin. Finally, we provide representative results for oocytes that have been microinjected with the capsid of the baculovirus Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) or the parvovirus Minute Virus of Mice (MVM), and discuss potential applications of the technique.

Here we demonstrate cytoplasmic microinjection of Xenopus laevis oocytes with a nuclear import substrate, as well as preparation of the injected oocytes for visualization by thin-sectioning electron microscopy.

Microinyección de oocitos de Xenopus laevis

Microinjection of Xenopus laevis oocytes followed by thin-sectioning electron microscopy (EM) is an excellent system for studying nucleocytoplasmic ...

Tissue Determination Using the Animal Cap Transplant (ACT) Assay in Xenopus laevis

Many proteins play a dual role in embryonic development. Those that regulate cell fate determination in a specific tissue can also affect the development of a larger region of the embryo. This makes defining its role in a particular tissue difficult to analyze. For example, noggin overexpression in Xenopus laevis embryos causes the expansion of the entire anterior region, including the eye1,2. From this result, it is not known if Noggin plays a direct role in eye determination or that by causing an expansion of neural tissue, Noggin indirectly affects eye formation. Having this complex phenotype makes studying its eye-specific role in cell fate determination difficult to analyze. We have developed an assay that overcomes this problem. Taking advantage of the pluripotent nature of the Xenopus laevis animal cap 3, we have developed an assay to test the ability of gene product(s), like noggin or the eye field transcription factors (EFTFs), to transform caps into particular tissue or cell types by transplanting this tissue onto the side of the embryo 4. While we have found either Noggin protein treatment or a collection of transcription factors can determine retinal cell fate in animal caps, this procedure could be used to identify gene product(s) involved in specifying other tissues as well.

Tissue Determination Using the Animal Cap Transplant ACT Assay in Xenopus laevis

Animal caps overexpressing gene product(s) are transplanted to the flank of developing Xenopus laevis embryos in order to establish whether tissue is determined.

Determinación del tejido Con el trasplante de Cap Animal (ACT) en el ensayo Xenopus laevis</em

Many proteins play a dual role in embryonic development. Those that regulate cell fate determination in a specific tissue can also affect the development ...

Production of Transgenic Xenopus laevis by Restriction Enzyme Mediated Integration and Nuclear Transplantation

Stable integration of cloned gene products into the Xenopus genome is necessary to control the time and place of expression, to express genes at later stages of embryonic development, and to define how enhancers and promoters regulate gene expression within the embryo. The protocol demonstrated here can be used to efficiently produce transgenic Xenopus laevis embryos. This transgenesis approach involves three parts: 1. Sperm nuclei are isolated from adult X. laevis testis by treatment with lysolecithin, which permeabilizes the sperm plasma membrane. 2. Egg extract is prepared by low speed centrifugation, addition of calcium to cause the extract to progress to interphase of the cell cycle, and a high-speed centrifugation to isolate interphase cytosol. 3. Nuclear transplantation: the nuclei and extract are combined with the linearized plasmid DNA to be introduced as the transgene and a small amount of restriction enzyme. During a short reaction, egg extract partially decondenses the sperm chromatin and the restriction enzyme generates chromosomal breaks that promote recombination of the transgene into the genome. The treated sperm nuclei are then transplanted into unfertilized eggs. Integration of the transgene usually occurs prior to the first embryonic cleavage such that the resulting embryos are not chimeric. These embryos can be analyzed without any need to breed to the next generation, allowing for efficient and rapid generation of transgenic embryos for analyses of promoter and gene function. Adult X. laevis resulting from this procedure also propagate the transgene through the germline and can be used to generate lines of transgenic animals for multiple purposes.

Production of Transgenic Xenopus laevis by Restriction Enzyme Mediated Integration and Nuclear Transplantation

This video protocol demonstrates a method for generating transgenic Xenopus laevis by introduction of transgenes into sperm nuclei followed by nuclear transplantation into unfertilized eggs.

La producción de transgénicos Xenopus laevis Integración mediada por la enzima de restricción y transferencia nuclear

Stable integration of cloned gene products into the Xenopus genome is necessary to control the time and place of expression, to express genes at later ...

Study of the DNA Damage Checkpoint using Xenopus Egg Extracts

On a daily basis, cells are subjected to a variety of endogenous and environmental insults. To combat these insults, cells have evolved DNA damage checkpoint signaling as a surveillance mechanism to sense DNA damage and direct cellular responses to DNA damage. There are several groups of proteins called sensors, transducers and effectors involved in DNA damage checkpoint signaling (Figure 1). In this complex signaling pathway, ATR (ATM and Rad3-related) is one of the major kinases that can respond to DNA damage and replication stress. Activated ATR can phosphorylate its downstream substrates such as Chk1 (Checkpoint kinase 1). Consequently, phosphorylated and activated Chk1 leads to many downstream effects in the DNA damage checkpoint including cell cycle arrest, transcription activation, DNA damage repair, and apoptosis or senescence (Figure 1). When DNA is damaged, failing to activate the DNA damage checkpoint results in unrepaired damage and, subsequently, genomic instability. The study of the DNA damage checkpoint will elucidate how cells maintain genomic integrity and provide a better understanding of how human diseases, such as cancer, develop.
Xenopus laevis egg extracts are emerging as a powerful cell-free extract model system in DNA damage checkpoint research. Low-speed extract (LSE) was initially described by the Masui group1. The addition of demembranated sperm chromatin to LSE results in nuclei formation where DNA is replicated in a semiconservative fashion once per cell cycle.
The ATR/Chk1-mediated checkpoint signaling pathway is triggered by DNA damage or replication stress 2. Two methods are currently used to induce the DNA damage checkpoint: DNA damaging approaches and DNA damage-mimicking structures 3. DNA damage can be induced by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, &gamma;-irradiation, methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), mitomycin C (MMC), 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4-NQO), or aphidicolin3, 4. MMS is an alkylating agent that inhibits DNA replication and activates the ATR/Chk1-mediated DNA damage checkpoint 4-7. UV irradiation also triggers the ATR/Chk1-dependent DNA damage checkpoint 8. The DNA damage-mimicking structure AT70 is an annealed complex of two oligonucleotides poly-(dA)70 and poly-(dT)70. The AT70 system was developed in Bill Dunphy's laboratory and is widely used to induce ATR/Chk1 checkpoint signaling 9-12.
Here, we describe protocols (1) to prepare cell-free egg extracts (LSE), (2) to treat Xenopus sperm chromatin with two different DNA damaging approaches (MMS and UV), (3) to prepare the DNA damage-mimicking structure AT70, and (4) to trigger the ATR/Chk1-mediated DNA damage checkpoint in LSE with damaged sperm chromatin or a DNA damage-mimicking structure.

Study of the DNA Damage Checkpoint using Xenopus Egg Extracts

Xenopus egg extract is a useful model system to investigate the DNA damage checkpoint. This protocol is for the preparation of Xenopus egg extracts and DNA damage checkpoint inducing reagents. These techniques are adaptable to a variety of DNA damaging approaches in the study of the DNA damage checkpoint signaling.

Estudio del Checkpoint Daño del ADN utilizando<em&gt; Xenopus</em&gt; Extractos de huevo

On a daily basis, cells are subjected to a variety of endogenous and environmental insults. To combat these insults, cells have evolved DNA damage ...

Production of Xenopus tropicalis Egg Extracts to Identify Microtubule-associated RNAs

Many organisms localize mRNAs to specific subcellular destinations to spatially and temporally control gene expression. Recent studies have demonstrated that the majority of the transcriptome is localized to a nonrandom position in cells and embryos. One approach to identify localized mRNAs is to biochemically purify a cellular structure of interest and to identify all associated transcripts. Using recently developed high-throughput sequencing technologies it is now straightforward to identify all RNAs associated with a subcellular structure. To facilitate transcript identification it is necessary to work with an organism with a fully sequenced genome. One attractive system for the biochemical purification of subcellular structures are egg extracts produced from the frog Xenopus laevis. However, X. laevis currently does not have a fully sequenced genome, which hampers transcript identification. In this article we describe a method to produce egg extracts from a related frog, X. tropicalis, that has a fully sequenced genome. We provide details for microtubule polymerization, purification and transcript isolation. While this article describes a specific method for identification of microtubule-associated transcripts, we believe that it will be easily applied to other subcellular structures and will provide a powerful method for identification of localized RNAs.

Production of Xenopus tropicalis Egg Extracts to Identify Microtubule-associated RNAs

We describe the collection of unfertilized Xenopus tropicalis eggs and production of a meiosis II-arrested egg extract. This egg extract can be used to purify microtubules and microtubule-associated RNAs.

Producción de<em&gt; Xenopus tropicalis</em&gt; Huevos Extrae para identificar los ARN asociada a los microtúbulos

Many  organisms localize mRNAs to specific subcellular destinations to spatially and  temporally control gene expression. Recent studies have demonstrated ...

Facial Transplants in Xenopus laevis Embryos

Craniofacial birth defects occur in 1 out of every 700 live births, but etiology is rarely known due to limited understanding of craniofacial development. To identify where signaling pathways and tissues act during patterning of the developing face, a 'face transplant' technique has been developed in embryos of the frog Xenopus laevis. A region of presumptive facial tissue (the "Extreme Anterior Domain" (EAD)) is removed from a donor embryo at tailbud stage, and transplanted to a host embryo of the same stage, from which the equivalent region has been removed. This can be used to generate a chimeric face where the host or donor tissue has a loss or gain of function in a gene, and/or includes a lineage label. After healing, the outcome of development is monitored, and indicates roles of the signaling pathway within the donor or surrounding host tissues. Xenopus is a valuable model for face development, as the facial region is large and readily accessible for micromanipulation. Many embryos can be assayed, over a short time period since development occurs rapidly. Findings in the frog are relevant to human development, since craniofacial processes appear conserved between Xenopus and mammals.

Facial Transplants in Xenopus laevis Embryos

A technique for transplanting "Extreme Anterior Domain" facial tissue between Xenopus laevis embryos has been developed. Tissue can be moved from one gene expression background into another, allowing the study of local requirements for craniofacial development and for signaling interactions between facial regions.

Los trasplantes faciales en<em&gt; Xenopus laevis</em&gt; Los embriones

Craniofacial birth defects occur in 1 out of every 700 live births, but etiology is rarely known due to limited understanding of craniofacial development. ...

Un ensayo libre de células Utilizando

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Capítulos en este video

Plástico inclusión y corte de Xenopus laevis embriones

La obtención de huevos de Xenopus laevis mujeres

Preparación y fraccionamiento de los extractos de huevo Xenopus laevis

En la Asamblea Vitro nucleares utilizando fraccionado extractos de huevo Xenopus

Microinyección de oocitos de Xenopus laevis

Determinación del tejido Con el trasplante de Cap Animal (ACT) en el ensayo Xenopus laevis

La producción de transgénicos Xenopus laevis Integración mediada por la enzima de restricción y transferencia nuclear

Estudio del Checkpoint Daño del ADN utilizando

Producción de

Los trasplantes faciales en