A collection of standard techniques for using Xenopus oocytes and oocytes/egg extracts to reconstitute biological and cellular processes. This work focuses on the versatility of frog oocytes and egg extracts in cell biology and signal transduction, and covers the major uses of oocytes/extracts as experimental models.

This work is a collection of standard and cutting-edge techniques for using Xenopus oocytes and oocytes/egg extracts to reconstitute biological and cellular processes. These readily reproducible methods take advantage of the oocyte's impressive protein abundance, its striking protein translation capacity, and its breathtaking possibilities for the assembly of infectious viral particles by single cell injection of multiple RNAs. The authors focus on the versatility of frog oocytes and egg extracts in cell biology and signal transduction, and cover all the major uses of oocytes/extracts as experimental models.

1. Resources for genetic and genomic studies of Xenopus
Steven Klein
2. The physiology of the Xenopus ovaries
Stephen Hammes
3. Oocyte isolation and enucleation
Shawn Xun Liu
4. Xenopus tropicalis oocytes: more than just a beautiful genome
Nick Duesbery
5. Oocyte expression with injection of purified T7 RNA polymerase
Michel DeWaard
6. Visualization of the cytoskeleton in Xenopus oocytes and eggs by confocal immunofluorescence microscopy
David Gard
7. Multiphoton laser scanning microscopy as a tool for Xenopus oocyte Research
James Lechleiter
8. Imaging Ca2+ signals in Xenopus oocytes
Ian Parker
9. Chromosomal DNA replication in a soluble cell-free system derived from Xenopus eggs
Johannes Walter
10. Chromatin assembly of DNA templates micro-injected into Xenopus oocytes
Genevieve Almouzni
11. Pre-mRNA splicing in the nuclei of Xenopus oocytes
Yi-Tao Yao
12. Chromatin immunoprecipitation for studying transcriptional regulation in Xenopus oocytes and tadples
Jiemin Wong
13. Cytoplasmic mRNA polyadenylation and translation assays
Raul Mendez
14. Xenopus egg extracts - a model system to study proprotein convertases
Kathleen Shannon
15. Analysis of molecular chaperones using a Xenopus oocyte protein refolding assay
John Heikkila
16. Ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation in egg extracts
Thierry Lorca
17. Introduction to nucleo-cytoplasmic transport
Reiner Peters
18. Use of Xenopus oocyte nuclei and nuclear envelopes in nucleocytoplasmic transport studies
Reiner Peters
19. Nuclear pore complex (NPC) structure and plasticity revealed by electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy
Ueli Aebi
20. In vitro study of nuclear assembly and nuclear input using Xenopus egg. extracts
Douglas Forbes
21. Use of intact Xenopus oocytes in nucleocytoplasmic transport studies
Nelly Pante
22. Studying the mechanosensitivity of voltage-gated channels using oocyte patches
CE Morris
23. Oocytes as an expression system for studying drug and pesticide receptor/channel targets
David Sattelle
24. Microtransplantation of membranes for neurotransmitter receptor over-expressing cells to Xenopus oocytes
Fabrizio Eusebi and Richardo Miledi
25. Reconstitution of Golgi disassembly by mitotic Xenopus egg extracts in semi-intact MDCK cells
Fumi Kano
26. Exploring RNA virus assembly in Xenopus oocytes
Raul Andino
27. Studying apoptosis in vitro using the Xenopus egg extract reconstitution system
Sally Kornbluth
28. Signal transduction of egg fertilization: focused proteomics on membrane/lipid rafts
Ken-ichi Sato
29. Localized sampling, electrophoresis and biosensor analysis of Xenopus laevis cytoplasm for subcellular biochemical assays)
Christopher E. Sims
30. Measuring PKA activities in live oocytes
Jing Wang
31. Using Xenopus oocyte extracts to study signal transduction
Joan Ruderman
32. Oocyte extracts for the study of meiotic M-M transition
Keita Ohsumi
33. Studying spindle dynamics in Xenopus egg extracts
Rebacca Heald.