Reconstituting Nuclear and Chromosome Dynamics Using Xenopus Extracts
- 1Program in Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104;
- 2Department of Cell Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104
- ↵3Correspondence: susannah-rankin{at}omrf.org
Abstract
Extracts prepared from the eggs of frogs, particularly Xenopus species, have provided critical material for seminal studies of nuclear and chromosome dynamics over several decades. Their usefulness for these types of analyses lies in several important characteristics: stockpiled nuclear components, absence of endogenous DNA, and intact and functioning signaling networks. These factors have allowed detailed molecular analyses of many aspects of chromosome biology, including DNA replication, checkpoint signaling, epigenetic control, and chromosome condensation, cohesion, and segregation. In this introduction, the preparation and application of Xenopus egg extracts for the study of chromosomes and chromatin are described in detail.
Footnotes
-
From the Xenopus collection, edited by Hazel L. Sive.
