Cortical Isolation from Xenopus laevis Oocytes and Eggs
This protocol was adapted from “Microdissection,” Chapter 10, in Early Development of Xenopus laevis, by Hazel L. Sive, Robert M. Grainger, and Richard M. Harland. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2000.INTRODUCTION
In Xenopus laevis, the cortex is the layer of gelatinous cytoplasm that lies just below the plasma membrane of the egg. Rotation of the cortex relative to the deeper cytoplasm soon after fertilization is intimately linked to normal dorsal axis specification. The cortex can be dissected from the egg to analyze its composition and activity or to clone associated RNAs. This protocol describes a procedure for isolating the vegetal cortex of the fertilized egg.
