Microdissection: Explant and Transplant Assays in Xenopus laevis
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
When analyzing any developmental process, important questions are those relating to the formation of different cell types. What makes a cell decide to become a particular cell type? What cell interactions are involved in this decision? The “commitment” of cells to a particular lineage is also called “specification” or “determination.” Analysis of the cell interactions, or inductions, required for tissue-type determination is a critical step in the identification of the genes that control the process. Lineage commitment and inductive interactions can be assessed by explant or transplant assays with embryos from Xenopus laevis.
